Win a tote bag and market cookbook!

You could win a colorful Ferry Plaza Farmers Market organic cotton tote bag with a copy of The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market Cookbook inside! To enter, just send us your name ideas for a new service we'll be offering at the Tuesday farmers' market. Starting in late January, CUESA's market chef, Sarah Henkin, will be on duty to share culinary tips with market shoppers. She'll also be offering samples of seasonal dishes, handing out recipe cards and answering all manner of culinary questions, such as "How should I store potatoes?" and "What the heck is puntarella?"

What should we call the booth? Send your name ideas to Julie Cummins by Monday, January 12. The new name and the contest winner will be announced on January 16.

Resolve to support local food in 2009

Is the locavore movement going mainstream? This recent AP article suggests that suburban moms are just as likely to integrate local food into their diets as "artisanal-cheese sniffing foodies". And while we're glad to hear it, we also hope this growth means that more eaters are committing to S.O.L.E. (sustainable, organic, local and ethical) food for the long haul.

Interested in helping expand awareness about local food? Consider giving your time to CUESA. Read more about the volunteer opportunities available here >

Meet other friendly market shoppers and help us divert over 90% of market waste from the landfill: volunteer to help man our Waste Wise Stations! The market needs waste-wise volunteers every weekend in order to keep the program running. Even if you can only give a few hours of your time, we'd be thrilled to have you involved! Email Sandra Norberg for more information.

OPENrestaurant/Slow Food Nation dinner at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Hear from the organizers of Slow Food Nation and the urban farming community as they co-host OPENrestaurant, a socially engineered informal dinner created by a collective of restaurant professionals. Participants will share a simple meal while chewing on the question: How can the urban landscape be more productive? Entry to discussion is free, meal costs $20/$15 general/YBCA members. Learn more or buy tickets here >

Every year, the farmers and food purveyors at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market take steps toward becoming more sustainable. Here are just a few of the changes in the works for 2009:

• 2009 marks a new year and a new creamery for St. Benoit Yogurt, which just opened a facility in Sonoma County's Two Rock Valley. The creamery is now located on the farm where the cows are raised, putting an end to the need to transport milk and reducing the fossil fuel used in the process. According to owner Benoît de Korsak, the new creamery will also recycle the water it uses in the yogurt-making process to keep the surrounding pastures green during the dry summer months.
  
  
• This spring, Hodo Soy Beanery will launch operations at a new certified organic production facility in Oakland (while Hodo has always used organic soy beans, their products are not yet certified). The new facility will allow Hodo to make more tofu, which owner Minh Tsai says fits in well into Hodo's larger goal of bringing organic Asian products to mainstream consumers.
  
  
• Star Route Farms is planning to switch to more permanent boxes for their deliveries – since waxed cardboard isn’t recyclable. Owner Warren Weber says they also plan to cut down on water use by expanding their drip irrigation system. The bad news: Star Route will not be increasing its use of solar electricity this year as planned, but will instead be replacing the 26 solar panels that were recently stolen from their Bolinas location.

• Redwood Hill Farm will be installing a new lighting system that will include motion sensors, timers, and more energy efficient lights, reducing the electricity used to light their facility by 70%.The company is also working with their yogurt cup manufacturers on a cup made from less plastic that they hope to begin using this year.

• Allstar Organics is known for growing many varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  However, after losing the bulk of their 2008 crop to two different summer freezes, farmersJanet Brown and Marty Jacobson will be planting fewer tomatoes this year and more cold-resistant foods, like greens and peas, as a way of adapting to a less predictable climate.
   
• Happy Quail Farms plans to begin using radiant heat in the greenhouses where they grow their cucumbers and other vegetables as a way to use less energy.
  
  
• Far West Fungi will also be retrofitting their heating system — and switching to more efficient gas-based system — to keep their mushrooms warm this winter.  
  
  
• Jesse Kuhn from Marin Roots Farm will begin leasing 20 more acres, which will allow him to expand the amount of organic produce he provides to his customers.
  
  
• Eatwell Farm is focused on reducing their fossil fuel use on the farm and energy use in general. This year, farmer Nigel Walker says his goal is toreplace his farm pickups with electric trucks. He also hopes to eventually run the majority of his remaining vehicles on recycled biodiesel made by his own on-farm processor (right now around 30-35% of the fuel he uses for his delivery trucks and tractors is biodiesel, but he hopes to bring that number up to 70-80% in the near future).  

Learn more: Last year, CUESA took an important step in developing both a Sustainable Agriculture Framework and Sustainable Vendor Framework, as a way to inspire our market sellers, educate consumers, and guide our vision for the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and our programs. Stay tuned for more, but for now you can read the complete frameworks here >

This is the most up-to-date information about which sellers will be attending the market as of Friday. If there are no changes to a seller's status, they will not be listed. You'll find a list of which farmers regularly attend each market here. Please understand that there are often last-minute changes—it's the nature of farming!

Saturday, January 3

In: Bernard Ranch, Brokaw Nursery, Brooks & Daughters Sprouts, Critical Edge, Della Fattoria, McGinnis Ranch, Star Route Farms
Out: Andante Creamery, Apple Farm, Bella Viva Orchards, Blossom Bluff Orchards, Chan Nursery, Core Elations, Downtown Bakery, June Taylor Company, Knoll Farms

Tuesday, January 6

In: Chue's Farm, Critical Edge, Hodo Soy Beanery, McGinnis Ranch

Out: Bella Viva Orchards, Blossom Bluff Orchards

Returning, plentiful and/or at their peak this month:
Blood oranges, plant starts, kale, nettles, green garlic, cruciferous vegetables, flowering quince branches, chicories, root vegetables, tulips, pea sprouts, narcissus, kumquats, braising greens, Cara Cara oranges, baby lettuces, kumquats, Napa cabbage.

Winding down/limited supply:
Avocados (should be plentiful again in February), Brussels sprouts, pastured eggs, fresh goat cheese, persimmons, pomegranates, apples and pears (from cold storage only right now)

Vendor and value-added farm products not to be missed (weather willing): Sierra Beauty applesauce from June Taylor, beef jerky from Marin Sun Farms, liverwurst from Fatted Calf, dried sweet marjoram from Allstar Organics

Featured recipes for January:

Smoked Trout, Grapefruit & Watermelon Radish Salad from cookbook author Laurel Miller

Wild Mushroom Bisque from cookbook author Susan Spungen

Pan-Seared Marin Sun Farms Flank Steak with Shaved Farmers’ Market Vegetable Salad, Sautéed Potatoes, and Green Garlic Aioli from Erica Holland-Toll of Lark Creek Inn

French Toast with Lemon-Ricotta Filling and Fresh Citrus Compote from Thy Tran