Students and Westwood Village residents stroll along Broxton Avenue, stopping to taste a sample of a nectarine or rum cake.

The Westwood Village Famers’ Market, though small, attracts loyal customers and newcomers alike.

Open all year from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Wednesday, the market took up shop on Broxton Avenue between Weyburn and Kinross avenues a little more than two years ago.

Beyond stands of locally grown vegetables and fruits, the market also offers a variety of local food, crafts and bath products. Most vendors accept credit cards, and customers are encouraged to use their own bags to carry their purchases.

Kelsey Milano, a third-year theater student, comes to the market weekly.

She said she prefers the market’s locally grown food, such as strawberries and cherry tomatoes, to the offerings at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.

“The prices are just as reasonable (as Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods’) but everything tastes better and the food is local,” she said.

And the atmosphere of the Village’s market is simply more enjoyable than shopping at a supermarket, Milano said. She said she has become familiar with the vendors and always runs into at least one other student she knows while shopping.

“I look forward to it every week,” Milano said. “It’s something nice to do with my friends.”

The market, however, still needs more support to develop, said Mario Ramos, an employee for Honey Pacifica, an organic honey stand.

Ramos said the Village’s market could use help in attracting more customers.

Although she shops at the market whenever she is in Westwood on Wednesdays, Jennifer Hernandez, a fourth-year Chicana/o studies student, said the Village’s market is not student-friendly.

Compared to other markets she has visited, Hernandez said the Westwood market’s food is of a lower quality and it can be expensive for student budgets.

Further developing the market is on the current agenda for the new Westwood Village Improvement Association, said the association’s executive director Andrew Thomas.

While the association has a vision for the improved market, Thomas said they have yet to finalize any of the changes they will make.

“As it exists now, we would like to see it livelier and with a greater diversity in merchants and food,” he said. “Everybody thinks it can approve, it’s just how to go about it.”