The Hidden Problems of Farmers Markets

A closer look at the struggles and successes of Bay Area farmers.

“Even though farmers markets have grown in popularity in recent years, there have been problems due to expensive supplies. It reached a point where a farmer had to create a GoFundMe so he could afford to grow his tomatoes for one more month.”

In my interview with Thomas Broz, the founder and owner of Live Earth Farm in Watsonville, California, he said something that stood out to me: “The farm is open for a customer to come and visit.” By actually going to the farm, you can see how the food you’re eating is produced. In the supermarket, you don’t always know where the food is coming from. But at the farmers market, you can make sure everything is up to your standard.

Live Earth Farm was founded in 1986, and they use something called regenerative farming. Breigha Sawyer, a development officer at Farm Discovery, which works with Live Earth Farm, explained how they still have most of the native plants still at the farm and use practices that make sure there is little erosion, which can cause a lot of dust that may affect other farms.

As Breigha says, “It means knowing where not to plant. Instead of using really flat fields, we use fields that are on a hill. This prevents flooding and erosion so not all of the land is farmed.”

Regenerative farming takes into account the health of the land, livestock, and people, making it superior to traditional farming, which maximizes the amount of produce usually at the cost of the health of the food and the soil.

Thomas Broz of Live Earth Farm teaches kids about regenerative farming in summer camp.

If you have not been to a farmers market before, it is a place where local farmers get together to sell their products. Farmers markets create an alternative option to supermarkets, where you can meet the farmer who's selling you their food. You can socialize and support the local farmers at the same time.

Erica Bianchi Pirnik, who is one of the owners of BR Beef, a family-owned and operated beef business located in the heart of San Benito and Santa Clara Counties, mentioned how farmers markets are their main way to sell their beef. Farmers don’t always have the option to sell their products to supermarkets: “There’s kind of a monopoly on grocery stores where it's only 3 or 4 people who sell directly to grocery stores for beef.” This leaves the farmers only able to sell their produce and meat to restaurants and farmers markets.

BR Beef setting up their stand at Gilroy's farmers market.

This is a problem that many farmers face. CivilEats writer Lisa Held reports that it’s really hard for a new farmer to make it to the big leagues because “there are fewer, larger farms, and the smaller ones are being squeezed out.” Shad Dasher, an onion farmer in Georgia, advises people not to become farmers because “with 40 acres he can’t make a profit selling his onions to supermarkets anymore.”

Farmers markets offer a healthier and more organic alternative to supermarkets. On top of that, the farmers market is a place of community; you can chat with the farmers to see what methods they use to grow their food and can make bonds with the people there.

As the USDA states, local farmers market can be “home to many families that have been coming to the market for generations.” Local means that your food isn’t transported across the country: “The key difference between farmers markets versus supermarkets has to do with transportation. Most farms that supply produce to grocery stores pick items while they’re still unripe. Then, they transport them an average of 1,500 miles from farm to store,” according to data provided by the Lancaster County Farmers Market website.

Farmers markets have more care in their produce than supermarkets since they personally meet every customer they serve. In an interview with Live Earth Farm, they told me that they let customers pick strawberries themselves, which helps the community come together and know exactly where their food comes from.

The Mountain View Farmers Market features over 70 vendors.

Farmers markets have been around for a long time. The oldest known records of farmers markets date back 5,000 years to ancient Egypt! The people there would sell their goods to merchants and travelers passing through the Nile River. The farmers markets were first introduced to America in the 1600s but only sold meats, produce, and baked goods.

Over the years, farmers markets have expanded to include more things. In Growing Food, Cultivating Community, Robinson and Hartenfeld show that farmers markets got popular because it was a reliable way to sell their produce. “Since the 1970s, the amount of people producing food for sale at farmers markets has grown. By 2005, more than 3,700 farmers markets were operating in the United States, growing in number by nearly 50 percent during the previous 10 years. And some 19,000 farmers sold their produce only at Farmers Markets.” 

Even though farmers markets have grown in popularity in recent years, there have been money and supply problems. It reached a point where a farmer had to create a GoFundMe so he could afford to grow his tomatoes for one more month. “In the 30 years I’ve been farming, I’ve never been in quite this hard of a position,” he wrote. “I am looking forward to an avalanche of dry farmed tomatoes to bail me out but I need to tread water for another month.”

One reason water is so expensive is because of the Bay Area heat and drought. Kulwant Johl, a peach and almond farmer, says that peaches stop growing when the temperature is above 100 degrees. This caused many of his peaches to be too small to send to canneries, which require certain criteria to be met. “An entire load of peaches can be rejected if 5% of a bin of them are too small or overripe. Both of which,” Johl says, the heat is causing.”

Similarly, vineyards are facing the same problem. This has caused a greater demand for water in vineyards and row crops to be up by 4.4 percent. This forces farmers to stop growing crops that require lots of water, like alfalfa, and install more drip irrigation systems to save as much water as they can. Cannon Michael, president and CEO of Bowles Farming Co. in Los Banos, CA, says that he started growing more crops that require less water, like carrots, onions, and garlic.

In contrast, when I was in Spain visiting my uncle Pedro Luis Royo Sauco, a farmer in Illueca, Spain, he showed us around his farm, where we noticed multiple hoses pouring water nonstop into a ditch he made that went around his entire farm. Coming from the Bay Area, I thought doing that would be very expensive, but I was surprised to hear that he paid just 50-100 Euros a year for unlimited access to water.

Meanwhile, that tomato farmer’s GoFundMe goal of 50,000 dollars was for just one month so he could afford everything until his crop was ready to harvest.

This stark contrast between the Bay Area and Spain further highlights how hard it is for farmers in the Bay Area to make a living. On top of having limited places to sell their produce, they have to face the Bay Area’s overpriced environment.

Yet, the food at farmers markets can benefit the buyer because of the fresher produce, being able to ask about the process behind what you’re buying, and having food that wasn’t shipped in from thousands of miles away.

Shopping at a farmers market not only helps support the farmers but builds a relationship with you and the community by having direct interaction with the farmer, allows you to socialize with other people at the market, and even can show you something new about your local culture that you didn’t know.

Local shoppers in Los Gatos are enjoying a Sunday morning at the farmers market.

Works Cited

Barnard, Cornell. “Bay Area farmers' market vendors struggle to recover profits after setbacks from epic winter storms.” abc7NEWS, https://abc7news.com/bay-area-farmers-winter-storms-storm-impact-on-market-san-francisco/13073781/.

“Farmers Markets vs. Supermarkets: Benefits of Local Produce.” Lancaster County Farmers Market, https://www.lancastercountyfarmersmarket.com/blog/farmers-markets-vs-supermarkets.

Held, Lisa. “As Grocery Stores Get Bigger, Small Farms Get Squeezed Out.” Civil Eats, https://civileats.com/2023/01/17/grocery-stores-consolidation-kroger-albertsons-small-farmers-supply-chain-market-demand/.

Kurtis, Alexander. “California’s farm belt sees thirstier crops — and more pressure on water supplies.” San Francisco Chronicles, https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/california-farmland-water-18889745.pHp.

Moeller, Kayla. “Northern California peach farmers struggling with heat's impact on crop.” CBS News, https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/northern-california-peach-farmers-struggling-with-heat/.

Neal, Arthur. “‘Meet Me at the Market’-The Evolution of a Farmers Market.” USDA, https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2013/08/07/meet-me-market-evolution-farmers-Market.

Robinson, Jennifer Meta and J.A. Hartenfeld. The Farmers' Market Book : Growing Food, Cultivating Community. Indiana University Press, 2007.

Wells, Madeline. “'Really terrifying': SF restaurants' favorite tomato farm is in trouble.” SF Gate, https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-restaurants-favorite-tomatoes-trouble-19568284.php.