Farmers market returns to downtown San Jose as vendors brace for impacts of tariffs

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Lopez Family Farm in Fresno has a booth at the new farmers market in downtown San Jose, which was launched by the city of San Jose and the Regional Farmers' Market Association.

Maria Lopez said the family business is bracing for impacts from President Trump's tariffs, though a lot is still unknown and changing.

"To be honest, we're kind of up and down because they say one thing, and then later on they change their mind," Lopez said. "So basically, to be honest, we don't know exactly how it's going to hit us, really hard or soft, but.. the prices are going to go up no matter what, because the cost of labor is going up too."

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President Donald Trump's tariffs are hitting everything from big businesses to those who do their business on main street such as farmers markets.

Paolo Obillo, of the Regional Farmers' Market Association, said their vendors are talking about the impacts of the tariffs.

"Vendors do feel the tariffs in a small or large way depending on how they operate," Obillo said. "Farmers, of course, with their repairs for equipment, their vans, their tractors, right, and with the breads and hummus, their containers, who knows where they're made from, where they're getting them imported from so the vendors themselves have expressed a spike in some of their overheard regarding the tariffs."

One of the vendors that sells baked goods said they're seeing an increase in the prices of bags and plastic gloves from China but they're not passing those costs onto consumers yet.

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Gary Gragg, owner of a nursery in Richmond, now sells locally grown avocado trees starting at around five feet tall as tariffs may drive up prices.

The farmers' market is one of the few places to buy fresh fruits and vegetables in downtown San Jose.

"The last time we had a regular Farmers Market was 2022 and I think what happened is foot traffic took a while to return from the pandemic," said Nathan Donato-Weinstein, San Jose Downtown Manager. "And so for the better part of the last year, we've been working with the Regional Farmers Market Association and the San Jose Downtown Association to really analyze, are we ready for a farmer's market again? And so after looking at the data and the trends, we really think that time is now."

The market is taking place every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Hammer Theatre Plaza in Paseo de San Antonio in San Jose.