Lively Evening Farmers Market in Chico

Chico is a charming, community minded, environmentally conscious college town near the western foothills of the Sierras north of Sacramento. It is surrounded by mile after mile of orchards and farmland. It's a town you'd think might have a good farmers market -- and it does.

Here's my report on my June 28, 2007, visit to the evening market in Chico, where the farmers selling their fruits and vegetables are part of a full-fledged street festival that fills several blocks downtown on Broadway until 9 p.m. every Thursday from April through October.

It was interesting to see that perhaps two-thirds or more of the farmers selling at the market are Southeast Asian, reflecting the influx of Hmong and other Indochinese immigrants into California's Central Valley, where many have taken up farming.