I loathe this market... and here's why:

The only customers that acted with any consideration for others were those over 35; virtually everyone younger was "plugged in", less than half-aware of the world around them and pretended as if they were the only living things on earth. Smug does not begin to describe the attitude, but again, this is Hollywood, where metrosexual wimps abound.

This is an enormous farmer's market, selling just about every kind of edible delight you can imagine, and the quality is superb. The tomatoes I mentioned earlier were excellent--but they were NOT three times as good as the ones I buy in the supermarket, though they cost three times as much. So did the broccoli I bought, which was not noticeably tastier than supermarket broccoli. What's worse is the tops turned yellow in only two days.

Of course, the Hollywood metrosexual wimps claim that "organically grown" produce contains more nutrition, though they have zero scientific research to back this claim. Granted, the growers don't use pesticides (or so they say), which means you can eat your produce without washing it first, as long as you don't mind that a hundred other people-- Hollywood metrosexual wimps no less--handled it before you, and God only knows where THOSE hands have been! Otherwise, pesticides wash off. So basically, when you buy organic foods for three times (or more) the price of those sold in supermarkets, you are wasting your money, and only a fool would do this. But once again, this is Hollywood, where fools cluster like pimples on a teenage boy's face.

Amazingly, the Hollywood Farmer's Market sells meat. I expected to see nothing but gluten-free vegan offerings that would turn a goat's stomach, so this was a pleasant surprise... and then I saw the prices. Over $10/lb for pork shoulder picnic roast? Are you kidding me? I could buy the same roast down the street at Jon's when it's on sale for one-tenth that price! And I defy anyone with taste buds to tell the difference between the two roasts in a blind taste test. Even if the farmer's market roast IS better tasting, it DOESN'T TASTE TEN TIMES BETTER!

Considering the massive scale of this temporary market, the layout on Ivar Avenue is about as idiotic as you would expect for Hollywood. First of all, every vendor parks his or her car along the street, then they set up their stands alongside their vehicles, on both sides of the street. This makes for a very narrow lane, so you have to elbow your way through a crowd of people--and keep in mind that more than half of these people are oblivious because they are plugged in, they are in a terrific hurry for no reason at all, they tend to take up as much room as humanly possible and expect you to clear a path for them and they have a God's-gift-to-the-world attitude because they are young, liberal and think they know everything without the benefit of any experience and an extremely narrow education (not to mention that most are graduates of LA City Schools and are therefore only marginally literate). The whole time I was there, I used my considerable girth to clear a path, I stared down yuppies that expected me to move out of their way and my elbows got a real workout. This was the highlight of my day.