Stop stalling farmers market accessibility

As the child of Indian immigrants, Jan. 26 has always held a special place in my heart as India’s Independence Day. This year, the day carried a double purpose, as it also marked the return of the USC Farmers Market.

The farmers market spans across McCarthy Quad, filled with rows and rows of fresh produce, locally made treats and delicious meals. There are few joys in life that compare to sitting under the sun and enjoying a pupusa from one of the vendors at the market.

However, like most economic structures, farmers markets are significantly more complicated than they seem. While farmers are set free by the lack of regulatory practices, low-income consumers pay the price for the lax structure of farmers markets.

From the perspective of the vendors, farmers markets offer a direct line to their consumers, cutting out the corporate middlemen who often shortchange farmers.

In the popular New York Times podcast “The Daily,” reporters learned about the economic hardships ranching families have experienced over the last few years. Steve Charter, a third-generation cattle rancher, explains that 85% of the meatpacking industry is controlled by only four major companies.

As a result of this monopoly, corporations force farmers to sell their cattle at an astoundingly low price only to turn around and inflate the cost of beef in grocery stores. At the end of the year, Charter and other family ranchers are lucky to break even when they sell their cattle.

Ranching is one of the many sectors of agriculture dominated by corporate control. Economists use a concept known as the concentration ratio to measure and describe the corporate control over a certain industry; they estimate that if an industry’s concentration ratio is 40% or more, corporations can use their power to force out smaller competitors and inflate prices for consumers.

From poultry to corn, every aspect of agriculture has a concentration ratio of over 40%. This level of corporate control increases the cost of farming and decreases the prices at which farmers can sell their goods.

In the meantime, consumers pay higher-than-ever costs for their produce. Rather than fulfillment of the promise to use corporate efficiency and new technology to bring down the cost of food, consumers have seen the cost of their food remain stagnant or even increase as corporate profit grows.

This phenomenon was only worsened by the coronavirus. As consumer prices for everything from toilet paper to beef skyrocketed, farmers’ profits decreased even as demand increased. Even in these unprecedented times, consumers and farmers struggled financially to make room for corporate profits.

This is where farmers markets come in. Instead of blindly hoping for fair corporate pricing, farmers and ranchers can sell directly to the people eating their food. This transaction is the best of both worlds: Consumers pay fair prices, while farmers do not have to worry about the middlemen eating into their profits.

The beauty of a farmers market lies in its simplicity. By creating a casual space for transactions, farmers and consumers can come together to help one another. However, this lack of regulation makes it harder to ensure accessibility for community members reliant on food stamps.

Though some farmers markets accept Electronic Benefits Transfer or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, these markets must be specifically licensed. Since farmers markets have fewer administrative structures, many lack the resources or incentive to receive such licensing.

Many low-income individuals live in food deserts where they do not have healthy and affordable meals. A local farmers market could make a big difference in such a community. They have the power to bring fresh, healthy and affordable ingredients much closer to community members.

However, farmers markets that do not accept SNAP or EBT only worsen conditions in a food desert. They would serve as competition for any newly opened farmers markets or grocery stores in the area, thus disincentivizing developments that could aid low-income community members.

Like most things, farmers markets are not all good, nor are they all bad. From the farmers’ perspective, these markets serve to regain control over a corporate-dominated industry. However, the residents who are most in need of access to food are those who cannot enter the space.

As consumers, it is our job to protect the good that these marketplaces offer while pushing for more equitable practices. Like with most capitalist structures, there is work to be done.

Reena Somani is a senior writing about food and its social implications. Her column, “Good Taste,” runs every other Tuesday.