So Long, Mission Bay Farmers' Market

There’s no sign that the Mission Bay Farmers’ Market will return anytime soon, despite an effort among booth owners to self-organize. Last December, the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) unexpectedly announced that it would suspend UCSF’s Mission Bay Farmers’ Market activities in 2020.

With steadily low turnout and nearby construction thwarting the market’s success, the PCFMA posted a statement on both the MB Farmers’ Market Facebook page and the UCSF Campus Life Services website that December 18, 2019 would be the last event at Mission Bay. The organization said it would reevaluate the need for the market at the end of this year.

The producers and tenants of the MB Farmers’ Market, who have been forced to move their business elsewhere, had reportedly expressed interest in self-organizing with a petition circulating in the beginning of January for UCSF to exclusively handle the market operations.

Synapse has not been able to track down the petition, and Tamara Villarina, Manager of Retail Services of the UCSF Campus Life Services, told Synapse that UCSF has yet to receive such a petition.

She added, however, that two of the market vendors did express concerns to the department about the closure.

Villarina said UCSF Retail Services often uses surveys to gauge the thoughts of the UCSF community and would be willing to send out a survey about the Mission Bay Farmer’s Market this summer.

The market shutdown will not lead to any loss of revenue to UCSF, said Villarina, as the market vendors pay their stall fees directly to the PCFMA, not UCSF.

The nearest farmers’ market to the Mission Bay campus now takes place at the Chase Center on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.