First 50 Freebies in February!

Starting this Tuesday, Febuary 2nd, early weekday market shoppers will be rewarded just for showing up. The First 50 Freebies in February giveaway was designed as a reward for market customers who brave the cold and/or rain to find the freshest local food. It's also an incentive for everyone living and working nearby to get away from their desks and daily routines to experience the winter bounty. Beginning at 10 am, each Tuesday and Thursday during the entire month of February, a fresh farmers' market treat will be waiting at the information booth for the first 50 people who come to claim it. Featured items will be announced via our Twitter feed and Facebook page that morning. Come get your freebies!

Produce to the People: New Ideas for Local Distribution ~ March 2

There are now over 5,000 farmers markets in the U.S., yet still only a small percentage of Americans regularly eat fresh produce from local farms. Join CUESA and Kitchen Table Talks for a lively conversation about inspiring models for getting fresh, local food to more Bay Area residents. The panel will include: Grayson James, executive director of Petaluma Bounty, Melanie Cheng, founder of FarmsReach, and Christine Cherdboonmuang, coordinator of Healthy Farms/Healthy Communities for Oakland’s East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) and the Oakland School District. The panel will be moderated by Michael Dimock, President of Roots of Change. The conversation will begin promptly at 6:30 pm and will culminate with refreshments and a reception from 8:00 to 8:30 pm. The event is free and open to the public. Learn more >

Michael Pollan Video Now Online

If you missed Michael Pollan's latest appearance at the Ferry Building, you might be interested in watching the video. In it, he speaks about his new book, Food Rules: An Eaters Manual and shares several of the stories behind the collection of reader-generated rules.

California Culinary Academy Farmer Series ~ February 11

Thanks to a recent collaboration with CUESA, the California Culinary Academy (CCA) is hosting a series of farmer lunches and dinners in the student restaurant, Carême 350. The prix fixe meals mark the culmination of each class' culinary education and will feature produce grown by a local farmer (this month it's Everything Under the Sun). The next event in the series is February 11 and includes lunch from 11:30 am to 1 pm and dinner from 6 to 8 pm. Reservations are available through OpenTable.com.

Market Manager Named "TasteMaker"

Market Manager Lulu Meyer was recently recognized in 7x7 Magazine's SF Tastemaker list, as one of "the food stars who keep our city shining bright." As the mover and shaker behind the Thursday market, Lulu is responsible for "this years hottest addition to the Finacial District's lunch circuit." And if you're trying to keep up with Big Eats SF list ("100 things to eat + drink before you die"), it's worth noting that you can now also knock four items off the list just by coming down to the Thursday market: 4505 Meat's chicharrones, Namu's Korean tacos, Scream Sorbet, and RoliRoti's Porchetta sandwich. See the feature >

Goodbye Galaxy Granola

Galaxy Granola has opted out of the 2010 market year. They will be missed and we wish them the best of luck. Hopefully they'll consider returning in the future!

Happy Girl Classes in 2010

Happy Girl Kitchen has announced their class schedule for the next year. The artisan company has hands-on classes on everything from pickling and fermenting to cheese making. Sign up early to get a spot before the classes fill up. See the class schedule here >

The following is excerpted from a speech Thaddeus Barsotti made as part of the Successful Farmer plenary at this year’s EcoFarm Conference. In 2000, Thaddeus and his brothers, Freeman Barsotti and Noah Barnes, inherited Capay Fruits & Vegetables from their mother, Kathleen, who had farmed the land since 1976. At the time, Thaddeus was a college student; he is now responsible for the growing, packing, and harvesting of the farm’s products.

My debut into farming was [the summer of] 2000. My mother had just ended her battle with breast cancer and we were left with a 90-acre farm, a CSA that delivered 350 boxes a week, one wholesale contact, a few farmers markets, and an empty checking account.

While I did grow up on the farm watching my parents run the operation, I really didn’t learn that much. The summer crops were not ready to harvest but they were healthy. It was a long summer filled with hard lessons. I have a vivid memory: it was late summer and the fig crop looked terrible. As I put more water onto the fig orchard, the trees continued to turn yellow and dry up, eventually falling off the trees. Yes: this was how I learned that figs lose their leaves in the fall…I began to ask myself if I had paid attention to anything as a child.

This is how my skill set as a farmer developed. These lessons were being learned all over the farm by all of us. We went though our growing lessons, our harvesting lessons, our packing lessons, our cooling lessons, our trucking lessons, our wholesaling lessons, our CSA lessons, etc. And now, after ten years of lessons, we’re willing to hint at the possibility that just maybe we have a legitimate produce company. But we don’t want to jinx it.

It was difficult, but the reality is: we took the easy path. In contrast I often think about that crazy group of people who, in the 1970s, saw a problem with their food system and set out to change it. My parents' generation, many of whom are in this room, deserve the credit for significantly reshaping our food system. Hats off to all of you.

My generation was lucky. We received a developed food movement, the knowledge of more sustainable farming techniques, and the confidence that the public is willing and eager to support better ways of producing and distributing food. With this gift comes the challenge of continuing the food revolution that many have toiled for so long to develop.

A major challenge I see is getting new farmers into farming careers…I routinely speak with people who want to farm for a living but can’t find a way in. Unfortunately it’s easier to become a doctor or a lawyer than it is to become a farmer earning a decent living.

I also see a major demand from the general public to see a food system broken into smaller more localized units that manage food from the field to the table. I’ve never understood why the term food "safety" has been attached to huge factory farms and processing facilities. While these operations have mastered the ability to make cheap food, their impacts on the health of the local environment, local economy, and a consumer's ability to make decisions about the food they buy, can be described as nothing less than food danger.

One of our CSA customers called me with a question. She was a new mom who wanted to make baby food with the carrots in her CSA box, and she wanted to know if the carrots were grown in a field that was high in nitrates. I explained to her the fertility history of the field, we chatted for a while and we both agreed that the carrots would be fine to feed to her baby. Most of the produce sold in the US does not give the consumer this level of knowledge of the product, but I believe that consumers are ready to receive this kind of information.

Our generation has a tool that we’re only beginning to see the power of; we’re able to manage massive amounts of information and communication more efficiently and effectively than anyone had ever imagined. We are challenged with the task of convincing consumers to support a food system that goes beyond the definition of organic.    

As more consumers realize that the Internet will allow them to pinpoint their power as a consumer to individual farms, the demand for these types of farms will increase. It will not be easy; it will not happen over night, but I believe that our society with ultimately succeed in the task of connecting local farms to local consumers.

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 30

Returning: Capay Fruits and Vegetables, Hayes Street Grill, Juniper Ridge, La Cocina, Hayes Street Grill/Vicolo Pizza
Out: Flatland Flower Farm

Tuesday, February 2

Returning: Hog Island Oyster Company (their Ferry Building Marketplace shop is closed for the week), Snyders Honey

Thursday, February 4

Returning: Hog Island Oyster Company

Returning and plentiful this month (weather willing):
Grapefruit, root vegetables, chicories, cruciferous vegetables, kumquats, lettuces, Asian greens, fennel, cabbages, nettles, sunchokes, pea sprouts, green garlic, blood oranges, collard greens, cherimoyas, tulips, flowering branches, winter squash, onions, spinach, Meyer lemons, radishes

Winding down/limited supply:
Potatoes, eggs, Brussels sprouts, avocados (apples and pears are also available in limited quantities from cold storage this time of year)

Farms returning this month:
Brokaw Nursery

Vendor and value-added items not to be missed:
Dried tomatoes from Everything Under the Sun, hot pepper flakes from Allstar Organics, Meyer lemon yogurt from Saint Benoit Yogurt

Featured recipes for January

Green Garlic Soup from Erica Holland-Toll, formerly of Lark Creek Inn

Capunet- Piemontese Cabbage Rolls from Staffan Terje of Perbacco (December 13, 2008)

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