A steady stream of families, older adults and working professionals pick out groceries on tables outside a bright blue van, grabbing everything from fresh tomatoes to eggs in the mid-morning Los Gatos sunshine.
They joke with each other, look at recipe lists and chat about new products like Cinnamon Toast Crunch waffles. But this isn’t a typical farmers market or grocery store — all the food is free and often unlimited for anyone who needs it.
Homelessness and hunger nonprofit West Valley Community Services recently launched its newest “park-it market” outside of the Los Gatos Library at 100 Villa Ave. to expand its services to residents struggling with the cost of food. The market — a refrigerated van that carts hundreds of dollars of groceries — parks outside the library every second and fourth Thursday of the month between 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Shoppers don’t have to meet any requirements to get groceries from the van, which Sutter Health funded with $180,000…