Farmer's market vendors in San Francisco grapple with uncertainty over tariffs
Uncertainty of tariffs and trade between key trading partners is forcing some farmers and local producers to increase their prices as President Trump hits pause on 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which supply a host of materials for American farming methods.
At the Heart of the City Farmers Market at Civic Center, affordability is key. Serving a neighborhood with limited access to fresh, affordable produce, the market is a vital resource for low-income families.
But with rising supply costs, farmers find themselves caught between soaring expenses and the need to keep prices low for their customers.
Joel Aguayo of Castellanos Farms knows this struggle firsthand. His farm offers a variety of fruits, including mandarins, grapefruits, and oranges, but the rising cost of materials is squeezing his bottom line.
"I feel like once the prices go up, they're never going to come back down," Aguayo said. "And it's not like we can just raise the price on produce, because then the people won't be able to afford it. The farmers are eating the cost."
At Castellanos Farms, planting season has arrived, but tariffs and supply chain disruptions with Canada, Mexico and China have already pushed up the prices of essential materials like drip tape and metal stakes by at least 30%. Despite these challenges, Aguayo remains committed to keeping prices low.
"We're not complaining, we're just talking about it," he said. "We have to buy it. There's no other way around it."
While some farmers, like Aguayo, are absorbing the increased costs, others have no choice but to raise prices. Uriel Castillo, another vendor at the farmers market, said he has resisted price hikes for as long as possible but can no longer avoid them.
"Maybe raise the prices a little bit," Castillo said. "You can see on my table, the prices are very, very low. I think I'm the only one, but I need to go up now. We need to do that."
The economic uncertainty is making it difficult for farmers to plan ahead. Dan Sumner, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Davis, said it's still too early to determine the full impact of tariffs and supply chain disruptions on local farmers.
The worst thing right now is the uncertainty of it," Sumner said. "What we do know — and there's no debate about it among economists — is that putting on tariffs raises costs for consumers and producers, and the economy as a whole loses."
For vendors like Castillo, the uncertainty is unsettling.
"We are nervous right now," he said. "If we increase prices, it's going to be bad for everyone."
Despite the economic pressures, Aguayo prefers to focus on his work rather than politics.
"We're busy working at the farm and at the farmers market to even know what's going on," he said. "Hopefully, it turns out for the best. Hopefully, customers have more money in the long run, and we're able to jump the price up a little bit — even like 50 cents helps out a lot."
If costs continue to rise, farmers worry that it won't just be their profits at risk—it could also mean the loss of affordable produce for the communities that need it most.
