Michele StuevenProsperity Market, the mobile farmers market spotlighting Black farmers, food producers and chefs is celebrating Black History Month and its third anniversary with a free pop-up event at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park on Saturday, Feb. 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Founded amid the pandemic and social unrest of 2020 by makeup artist Carmen Dianne and fashion designer Kara Still, Prosperity Market has now expanded throughout the city, and is launching a farmers market-on-wheels in the form of a mobile trailer later this year.
Taking place in NHM’s Nature Gardens, the event will host more than 30 vendors and Black-owned businesses from Southern California and beyond, including Farmer Ken, Ghost Town Oats, My Daddy’s Recipes by Chef Nekia Hattley, All Chill Ice Cream, IGH Gardens, and Chef Brandi Biggles. There also will be a photo booth, DJ, and a kid’s corner hosted by Teach To Reach, a local educational center that provides STEAM-based camps, classes and enrichments for children.
Courtesy Prosperity Market
They started with 15 vendors at the first market. Now, depending on the location, they have more than 40 vendors on the online marketplace and are thriving with nationwide shipping, delivery and satellite pickup locations in Inglewood and North Hollywood. They’ve introduced Prosperity Bucks, which is free money they give away at their pop-up markets for guests to spend with the vendors. Prosperity Market also gives Prosperity Bucks to a housing complex in South L.A. for formerly unhoused seniors so those with a limited income can still shop and support the businesses.
“When we started this, we weren’t remotely connected to the food space,” Dianne tells LA Weekly over the phone. “We were out of work for months during the pandemic, watching what was happening to our community. We wanted to find a way to help create an economic impact and circulate dollars within our community as well as support and uplift Black-owned businesses and farmers. It was timely because food access is not a new issue, but now there were long lines, empty shelves and grocery stores closing, which just exacerbated that food accessibility. We wanted to bridge the gap and put the two together. We never dreamed we’d be hosting pop-ups at the African American and Natural History Museums or SoFi Stadium.”
The market has made an impact on both the community and business vendors. Prosperity Market offers workshops and resource programs to help fill in the gaps when it comes to marketing and business support, as well as financial counseling. A lot of what they do is on the back end, to help the business owners be prepared to grow and scale their business.
Prosperity Market in Hollywood
“We’ve seen a lot of growth from our vendors and that’s a nod to the platform that we’ve provided them,” says Dianne. “Many have gone on to sell in local stores outside of our market like Gloria’s Shito Ghanaian Vegan Hot Sauce, which is in several stores now, including Surfas Culinary District.”
And while social media has helped raise awareness for the concept, Prosperity Market’s success also came from a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and pounding the pavement.
“Instagram and social media is just part of it,” says Still. “It takes those extra steps like visiting stores, schools and other markets to let them know we’re showing up in the neighborhood and sharing the stories of who we are and connecting with people to come out. Those other parts are crucial. We go out to block clubs and local businesses to tell them what we’re doing, especially when you’re trying to reach seniors and low-income communities.”
To reach even more people across the southland, the next big pet project is the team’s mobile trailer, which made its debut at the L.A. Auto show last November and, after a few more final touches, will hit the road later this year. A mobile unit was the original vision for the market and has brought Still and Dianne full circle.
Market trailer at the LA Auto Show (Courtesy Prosperity Market)
Inside the market trailer (Courtesy Prosperity Market)
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