Underground Markets and Government Priorities

Ann Arbor Farmer's Market

San Francisco tends to operate in a pretty unique fashion. Their so-called Underground Market, equivalent in theory to DC’s Grey Market, was such a huge success that it drew thousands of individuals to visit. In fact, it became so large that it could hardly be considered underground at all.  For the unfamiliar, these types of markets are illegal because the food vendors do not have proper permitting. The market aims to bring the highest quality vendors without proper certification together to give them an opportunity to sell their goods and potentially become certified to sell. The process of certification is costly and can be confusing for those without a brick-and-mortar store. These markets give small businesses the ability to test their products, marketing, and branding without making substantial investment in a risky market.  From what I have personally witnessed, the vendors at the DC Grey Market take great pride in their products and could speak to every ingredient they used and its quality. Frankly, the food was all pretty incredible. It’s unfortunate, then, that the Underground Market in San Francisco was shut down by the health department.  This happened earlier this year in June and the market has yet to reopen. Come to think of it, the Grey Market hasn’t happened in recent months either.

What’s incredible to me is that FDA administrators like Michael Taylor and city and state public health departments continue to closely monitor items which they deem risky such as unlicensed food products and raw milk, yet, there is clearly a large market for such items. People have been purchasing these products and know and understand the risks. Is this a safety issue? Considering that Cargill continuously sickens its customers with salmonella-tainted turkey and the FDA and USDA have yet to get involved besides casually requesting a recall twice, I think it’s interesting that the government entities responsible for monitoring the safety of our food have yet to penalize any large corporations for poisoning their customers but send undercover agents to spy on raw milk producers. The government priorities as it relates to food safety need to be reevaluated and the risks of non-commercial food should be reassessed.

You can read more about the Underground Market here:  San Francisco’s Underground Food Scene: Sidesaddle Kitchen