Central California farmers market faces racism backlash after banning Asian vendors

Bethany Clough, The Fresno Bee on Apr 14, 2025

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FRESNO, Calif. — Asian food sellers were notified last week they can no longer sell at River Park’s two farmers markets.

The vendors — selling everything from Lao sticky rice with steak to Filipino chicken adobo — were told they could no longer do business at the Fresno shopping center’s farmers markets on Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons.

The move stems from a complaint from a competing brick-and-mortar Asian restaurant at the shopping center.

News of only Asian food sellers being pushed out of the popular events took off on social media over the weekend, spurred by posts by many of the vendors.

Miski Rustic Peruvian Cuisine is a regular farmers market vendor at River Park, selling Peruvian food. Owner Miguel Quispe defended his neighboring Asian food vendors with an Instagram post over the weekend calling the move “racist.”

He told The Fresno Bee in a phone call Monday: “I think it’s incredibly discriminatory, racist, unfair. It undermines what the farmers markets are about, which is inclusivity, bringing different cultures to the forefront.”

Update from River Park

Monday afternoon, River Park released a statement saying it planned a broader review of participants in the farmers markets that might compete with shopping center tenants, “regardless of background.”

But vendors were still reeling from the news that they had lost access to one of their most popular events.

Sticky Rice on Wheels started selling at River Park five years ago — always at the Tuesday farmers market and sometimes at the Saturday one. When Natalie Sakkakhanaune-Simmavong, who handles scheduling and other behind-the-scenes tasks for the Lao food trailer, got the news, she was shocked.

“My first thought was, ‘My God, can they do that?’ No Asian food?” she said. “My heart still hurts. I felt literally ran over by a truck. I felt really hurt.”

Reaction from the public was swift on social media.

“Absolutely shameful,” said one commenter on El Jabalito food truck’s Instagram post.

“Is this not discriminatory?” said another on a Facebook post from Bread and Butter, a Filipino bakery that got its start at the farmers market before opening its own bakery.

Complaints from restaurants on site

Vendors said the directive came from River Park, not the two organizations that handle the farmers markets. The Tuesday farmers market, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., is organized by the California Fresh Farmers Market Association, which also handles two other markets in town. Fresno Street Eats, which organizes food truck events in and around the greater Fresno area, organizes the Saturday event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Vendors were told they were no longer invited — verbally or via text — through farmers market organizers, they said. Sakkakhanaune-Simmavong shared the text she got from Fresno Street Eats founder Mike Osegueda that said: “I just got a call from River Park that because of complaints from restaurants on site, we’ll have to eliminate all Asian food from our events effective immediately.”

They did not identify which restaurants made the complaint. But Lin’s Restaurant Group and its four restaurants in River Park put out a statement on Instagram on Saturday. The company owns Spicy J’s, J-Pot, J-tea, and sushi spot O-iza.

“We are not aware of any such ban, and we have never raised any concerns or complaints about food vendors operating in the area,” it said, and went on to say it supported local businesses.

The only other Asian restaurants in River Park are P.F. Chang’s and the little dessert shop Fuwa Fuwa (which specializes in Japanese pancake desserts not commonly found at the farmers markets).

P.F. Chang’s referred The Bee to its corporate headquarters, which did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

River Park executives did not return several messages seeking comment, and Osegueda was not immediately available for comment Monday.

What’s next for farmers markets at River Park?

California Fresh executive director Peter DeYoung said Monday morning that “our goal has always been to create a family friendly, multi-ethnic ethnic celebration on a weekly basis.”

The nonprofit organization has a conditional-use permit with River Park in which it has to follow its rules, he said.

DeYoung said his organization and Fresno Street Eats were asked to sign the statement that River Park wrote and that went out Monday afternoon.

After stating that all three organizations value the “richness of culture and cuisine” in the “rich multi-cultural communities of the central valley,” it said a broader review of participants in the farmers markets would start soon to ensure they didn’t compete with shopping center tenants.

“They are going to do a thorough review of all food vendors and crafters to make sure that they are in not in direct competition with the Shops at River Park — the restaurants and the shops,” DeYoung said.

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