Market closes

For 22 years the Chula Vista Farmers’ Market has provided the community with fresh food and a healthy alternative.
On Jan. 26 the Farmers’ Market provided these options for the last time as the Third Avenue Village Association announced the markets closure earlier in the week.

“We had hoped we could continue on but financially it just was not feasibly,” said Luanne Hulsizer, TAVA’s executive director.

Hulsizer said the decision to shut down the market had weighted on her for the past two years as the market operated with an estimated loss of more than $7,000, and TAVA had to subsidize the Farmers’ Market by the profit of other events .

One of the reasons the market could not maintain a profit is that consumers brick-and-mortar retailers would offer organic and local produce available at their establishments at lower prices than the local farmers could allow, Hulsizer said.

Hulsizer said she has for the past few weeks she was waived any fees that the Farmers’ pay to be part of the Farmers’ Market.