CUESA presents two cocktail events in May

Spring farmers' market cocktail night >
CUESA and the organizers of SF Cocktail Week present an evening of farmers' market cocktails. For just $30, guests will imbibe 2 full-sized signature drinks, taste 12 rum- and cachaça-based cocktails featuring the best spring fruit the market has to offer, and nibble on bites from local restaurants. All drinks are created by mixologists from bars and restaurants including Bourbon & Branch, Conduit, Rye, and 15 Romolo.

Hands-on artisanal cocktail class >
Learn to make 2 spring drinks with acclaimed bartender and author Scott Beattie and hear about small batch distilling from Lou Bustamante of St. George Spirits and Hangar One Vodka. Scott will personally instruct each guest on techniques including side recipes, garnishes, foams, rim sugars and salts. Drinks will feature Hangar One vodka and fresh, seasonal fruit from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. (The photo above is from Scott's book Artisanal Cocktails: Drinks Inspired by the Seasons from the Bar at Cyrus).

Renewing America’s Food Traditions with Gary Nabhan and Ashley Rood ~ April 29

Gary Paul Nabhan's book Renewing America's Food Traditions is based on the premise that our diverse food heritage is a treasure, and that eaters play a vital role in keeping it alive. The book is a journey across our continent’s 13 distinct "food nations" that details endangered foods and brings them to life with cultural histories, folk traditions, photographs, and recipes. In this conversation with contributing writer Ashley Rood, Nabhan will offer tidbits and tales of renewal from the book, discuss biodiversity in California, and remind us how our food choices make a difference. The event is $10, runs from 6 to 8:30 pm, and ends with a tasting of heritage foods from the market. Buy a ticket >  

Toast (and nibble) the Best of the Bay ~ April 25

Mingle with market managers from New York, New Orleans, London, Barcelona, Seoul and elsewhere while enjoying the best food and drink the Bay Area has to offer. This tasting event will spotlight local restaurants (Delfina, Fish and Farm, Perbacco, Bix, Greens, etc.), farmers’ market vendors, wineries and breweries. It coincides with Project for Public Spaces’ 7th International Public Markets Conference, which brings together over 200 of the world’s best market operators. Tickets are $75. Learn more >

Pork on Your Fork

Join Slow Food Delta Diablo at Brentwood’s Ennes Ranch for an educational community event designed to put you in touch with your food. Participants may observe or take part in the slaughter of 2 pigs (participants will pay extra to join a master class), enjoy the park-like atmosphere and kids’ activities while lunch is prepared, partake of a fresh family-style meal, and purchase pork packages by bidding in the silent auction. Proceeds will support local ranchers and benefit projects of Slow Food Delta Diablo. Learn more or buy tickets here >

Open Garden and Plant Sale ~ April 26

After a 10-year hiatus, Flatland's garden sale is back. Market vendor Flatland Flower Farm will be offering tomatoes, peppers, herbs & unusual perennials on Sunday, April 26 from 10:30 - 3:30 at their farm in Sebastopol. Contact Flatland for more info >

Saturday, April 18 ~ Market to Table

10:15 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Charles Vollmar, Epicurean Exchange

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Janet Fletcher, author of Fresh from the Farmers' Market: Year-Round Recipes for the Pick of the Crop

Tuesday, April 21 ~ Food Wise Booth

12 - 1 pm - Sarah Henkin, CUESA's market chef, will be giving out recipe cards and samples of a simple meal made with market ingredients. She'll also be available to offer advice on all your seasonal meal planning.

Saturday, April 25 ~ Spring Festival

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Matt Elias & Leslie Peng of Eccolo

9:30 am - 1:00 pm Edible Gardening Demonstration
Local garden designer Maria Finn will be onsite to talk about how you can plant your own edible plants in urban areas. She will also have strawberry plants available for kids to plant (while supplies last).

All programs take place in CUESA's Dacor teaching kitchen, in front of the Ferry Building on the north side.

The market is beginning to slow down after a busy spring Saturday and Food Runners volunteers Keith Goldstein and Seth Acharya are pushing their cart through the back plaza. In a low, deep voice Keith bellows his now-famous refrain: “Food-run-ners! Bring out your food.” First on the cart are two full boxes of citrus from Tory Farms, then a bag of pastries from Downtown Bakery, a few loaves of bread from Acme, and two bags of tomatoes from Bruins Farm. It’s a slow start in a sparse time of year, but Keith isn’t discouraged.

“When I first started, I’d get a box of mushrooms and a bag of wilted greens,” he says. Now, after 15 years, he’s established relationships with many market sellers, most of whom are happy to hand over any perishables they can’t sell. In the summer, that can mean as much as a thousand pounds of fruit and vegetables. Before Seth came on board, Keith says he'd often find himself literally running to get all the food before the market shut down. (He used to pack his pick up truck so high with food, he says he had to stick to the flat streets on his delivery routes for fear something would fall out.)

Founded over two decades ago by chef Mary Risley of Tante Marie’s Cooking School, Food Runners is a city-wide network of over 200 volunteers who pick up perishable food from more than 250 restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, farmers’ markets and catered events and deliver it to those in need. Between gathering the food and dropping it off at soup kitchens and shelters, Keith and Seth volunteer for around 3-4 hours, nearly every Saturday. They bring the bulk of their food to the Martin De Porres House, which runs a soup kitchen, and Rafael House, a residence for homeless families. On especially bountiful days, they also make drop offs at several city-run shelters.

Nancy Hahn, Director of Operations at Food Runners, says the commitments that volunteers like Keith and Seth make are becoming more and more crucial as many San Francisco residents feel the crunch. Hotels are seeing their business shrink and the percentage of corporate catered events has also decreased, meaning there’s simply less food to go around.

“We’re getting more calls from the directors of shelters reporting greater demand; with their own budget cuts they’re getting less and it’s not like our donations are increasing,” says Hahn. “One food pantry that we’ve served for a number of years...when we first started helping them out there would be 150-200 people in line, and now they’re reporting lines as long as 600. And that’s just in a few years.”

Today’s sustainability model involves reducing waste — a strategy that, if done right, can also go a long way toward reducing hunger. Many Ferry Plaza farmers don't expect to sell 100% of their perishable product every week. So it only makes sense that the what's left should be eaten rather than composted. And the fact that most soup kitchens immediately cook the food they receive makes them prime candidates for produce that may not last on most customers' countertops. “The stuff that we deliver is generally eaten within 24 hours of delivery,” says Keith.

Unlike fruit in supermarkets that’s picked green to prevent damage during long-distance transit, food at the farmers' market is sold at its freshest. “I bring my produce so ripe that I end up losing some of what I don’t sell,” says Bill Crepps of Everything Under the Sun. “It gets bruised from customer handling. I dehydrate it when I can, or donate it to Food Runners.”

Fresh produce is often the first thing sacrificed when a family’s budget shrinks. Ounce for ounce, fruits and vegetables are more expensive than carbohydrates or protein. And according to the SF Food Bank, around 150,000 San Franciscans have some kind of gap in their nutritional needs. 

“I’m amazed how often I’m told by the shelters, ‘Oh we don’t have the money for vegetables, we have to concentrate on protein,’ says Keith. "so what Food Runners does is such a great supplement.” 

 

Related Event:
A New National Food Policy — But What About the Hungry?
Thursday, April 23, 6:00pm
How can we create a food system that is good, clean and fair for all? This panel will examine the future of food in our city, state and country and the impact reforms may have on the hungry. Panelists include: A.G. Kawamura, California Department of Food and Agriculture; Paula Jones, San Francisco Department of Public Health; Paul Ash, San Francisco Food Bank; and Michael Dimock, Roots of Change. Learn more or buy tickets

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, April 18

In/Returning: Critical Edge Knife sharpening
Out: Tory Farm, Apple Farm

Tuesday, April 21

no changes

Plentiful /returning this month (weather willing): Torpedo onions, chicories, cabbage, Stockton red onions, fresh goat cheese, English peas, rhubarb, basil, raspberries, squash blossoms, dandelion greens, fresh bay leaves, miners' lettuce, hot house tomatoes and cucumbers, spinach, asparagus, avocados, pastured goat, green garlic, spring onions, kumquats, nettles, broccoli, rapini greens, artichokes, baby turnips, carrots, strawberries, mizuna, radishes and radish greens, fava beans, pastured eggs, baby beets, Belgian endive

Winding down/limited supply: Brussels sprouts, tulips, citrus, lilacs, hyacinth

Farms/Vendors that may be returning this month (weather willing): Happy Quail Farms, Balakian Farms, Lucero Organic Farms

Value Added and Vendor items not to be missed:
Tallow soap from Marin Sun Farms, Japanese maples from Rainbow Mountain, Natilla from Bodega and Yerba Santa Goat Cheese

Featured Recipes for April:
Spring Greens Puree with Homemade Sourdough Crackers from Jessica Prentice, Wise Food Ways

Asparagus Salad with Charred Onion Vinaigrette, Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Burrata, Wild Arugula and Speck from Jamie Lauren, Absinthe Brasserie & Bar

Chicken with Arugula, Artichokes and Natural Pan Juice from Keith Hammerich, Culinary Arts Instructor, City College San Francisco

Cocktail ~ La Fragola from Jon Gasparini, Rye