Summer Sausage and Perfect Punch class ~ June 26

Get ready for your July 4 barbecue with the latest CUESA class. Meat master Ryan Farr will teach sausage-making and grilling, purveyor Steve McCarthy will discuss sustainable meat, and mixologist H. Joseph Ehrmann will demonstrate how to make farmers' market-inspired cocktails. Participants will learn to make four different types of sausage using local certified humane heritage breed pork. Farr will explain what cuts are best; show how to grind, season and stuff the meat; and offer techniques for grilling the finished sausage. Learn more >

CUESA’s Second Annual Iron Chef Grill-Off ~ June 27

Four local chefs will be battling it out on the grills: Mark Sullivan of Spruce, Andrew Swallow of Mixt Greens, Taylor Boetticher of Fatted Calf, and Elizabeth Falkner of Orson. Chefs will use grass-fed beef from Marin Sun Farms to concoct their best burgers, and each will create a surprise side dish with ingredients from the market. A limited number of mini-burgers will be available for a $2 donation. Learn more >

Eatwell's Nigel Walker at Macy's ~ June 10

Few chefs bring fresh local ingredients to life like Delfina’s Craig Stoll. His preferred produce comes from Nigel Walker of Eatwell Farms, a farmer on the cutting edge of sustainable food production. Join Craig & Nigel as they take Eatwell’s veggies to new heights. A $10 donation to CUESA will get you a seat at the demonstration, a sample of the featured dish, and a glass of wine from Benziger Family Winery. Doors open at 5:30 pm and the presentation begins at 6:00.

For the Love of Ramen ~ June 24

Join the Asian Culinary Forum as a panel of noodle experts explore how a dish born of extreme need after World War II was transformed into a meal of luxury, endless regional specialties, and then, finally, an iconic convenience food. Panel includes Eric Nakamura, publisher and co-editor, Giant Robot magazine; Andy Raskin, author, The Ramen King and I, George Solt, assistant professor of history, New York University; and Thy Tran, director, Asian Culinary Forum. 6:30 - 8:30 pm in the Ferry Building. Learn more >

Reduced July 4th hours

Planning your July 4th weekend and wondering where you might get last- minute corn, ground beef and watermelon? You might like to know that the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market will be open that Saturday from 8 am to noon.

 

Saturday, June 6 ~ Spring Breakfast — sold out!

No cooking demos today.

Tuesday, June 9 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:00 - 1:00 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, June 13 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Anna Davis, Houston's Restaurant

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

Food, Inc. director Robert Kenner talked to CUESA recently about what he learned while making a hard-hitting film about the increasing corporate control of America’s food system.

CUESA: What do you think about the term “conventional agriculture”?  Does it reinforce the idea that when people are not buying sustainably produced food, they’re doing what’s "normal"?

Robert Kenner: If you call chemical-laden agriculture conventional, yes. But it’s important to realize that’s only been in existence for 40-50 years. For ten thousand years “conventional” was the opposite of what it is now. The world’s food has been fundamentally transformed in a way that these agribusinesses want to keep you from seeing. And that was the most shocking thing for me in making Food, Inc. I knew there were big factory farms out there, but I didn’t know agribusiness was essentially keeping us from really talking about it. So the idea that this highly mechanized, often unhealthy system is “conventional”? There’s something Orwellian going on there.

CUESA: Who is the film’s target audience?

RK: I want to reach people who haven’t thought about where their food comes from. I’m not going after highly educated people who read about this all the time. I think this is an issue that can really reach people.  

I think it’s a minor miracle that we get these three meals a day — and I thought that tracing where it all comes from would make an interesting story. I was also curious about the industrialization of the system. We spend so little on food — less than at any time; I wanted to know how that was possible. Of course, I learned that there’s this incredibly high cost that comes with that “cheap food.”

CUESA: Even those who are involved in the sustainable food movement will be impressed by some of the footage you include in the film. Can you tell us about how Monsanto has responded to the film?

RK: Monsanto just created a whole page on their website dedicated to Food, Inc. They’re coming after us. They refused to be interviewed and now they’re claiming that their voice wasn’t heard.

CUESA: What changes do you see on the food horizon?

RK: I’m a total pessimist but I’m starting to feel optimistic. I feel like these things are seeping up. If we get angry enough and if awareness spreads beyond progressive urban areas, I think change will follow and people like Tom Vilsack will be ready to listen. Obama really didn’t care about food, not because of lack of interest but because there were too many other disasters on his plate — and that’s changing. Because you can’t care about health care and not care about food (nearly one out of every three Americans has diabetes, for instance). You can’t care about the environment and have water not be drinkable in Iowa, or a giant dead zone caused by agriculture in the Gulf of Mexico. You can’t care about energy issues or workers’ rights either — not without caring about food.

I think this is a movement that can spread to other things; the food revolution will be about much more than food — just like the financial crisis was about so much more than real estate.

CUESA:  Why try to comment on so many facets of this system in a single film?

RK: I was really hoping to connect the dots between these issues. But it’s really about the bottom line and about the bottom line gone berserk. It’s about Corporate America being willing to serve you food that’s not good for you — on so many levels —  in the same way that they can sell you a bad mortgage.

CUESA: What did you learn about corporate organics in this process?

RK: I think it’s really tough for the small farmer to have a successful business. That is the big challenge — all the laws are designed for larger corporations. And that’s going to be the challenge in this country; it goes beyond food.

Gary Hirshberg [C.E.O of Stonyfield Farms, which is now owned by Groupe Danone] was very proud of the fact that many small organic producers had been bought out by larger companies. That, to him, was a sign of success. He’s a complicated character — so it fills the film with certain ambiguities.

CUESA: How did you get access to Wal-Mart?

RK: I was so relieved to get a corporation that would speak to me. I spent two years trying to get them and it really was because of Gary that they agreed to it. Obviously Wal-Mart’s wrongdoings are well documented and I have no sympathy with how they treat their workers and all that. But I felt that it was important to use them to show the power of the consumer and how we can even change a company the size of Wal-Mart.

What I don’t say [in the film] is even if they make changes for the good, it’s wrong to have that much power. It’s part of the monoculture. The same thing that’s happening in crops is happening in corporations.

Food, Inc. opens in San Francisco on June 12. Watch the trailer >

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, June 6

In/returning: Glashoff Farms, Green Gulch Farm, G & S Corn, Sierra Cascade Blueberries, Mountain Ranch Organically Grown
Out: Apple Farm, Critical Edge, Rainbow Mountain Farm (for the season)

Tuesday, June 9

No changes

Returning and plentiful this month (weather willing):
Nectarines, strawberries, raspberries, Armenian cucumbers, basil, corn, garlic and leek scapes, summer squash, Little Gem lettuce, haricots verts, snap peas, radishes, peppers, spinach, wax beans, cherries, cauliflower, beets, leeks, nopales, squash blossoms, artichokes, fresh herbs, pullet eggs, new potatoes, tomatillos, apricots, pickling cucumbers, fresh lavender, heirloom roses

Winding down/limited supply:
Pastured chicken, hot house tomatoes, sweet pea flowers, blueberries (possibly gone by July), fava beans

Value Added and Vendor items not to be missed:
Fruit- and herb-infused syrups from June Taylor, almond milk from Lagier Ranches, Plant Crack fertilizer from Flatland Flower Farm

Farms/Vendors that may be returning this month (weather willing):
Green Gulch, G & S Corn, Candy Cot Fruit Co., Woodleaf Farm, Payne Farms, and Ridgecut Gristmills (new vendor).

Featured Recipes for June:

Bordeaux Spinach, Fava Bean, and Basil Salad with Egg Yolk Vinaigrette and Roasted Garlic Crouton from Sarah Henkin, CUESA Market Chef (May 26, 2009)

Zucchini and Mint-Stuffed Squash Blossoms from Brian Streeter, Cakebread Cellars

Sous Vide Duck Breast Cooked in a Crock-Pot with Star Route Spinach and Hamada Farms Bing Cherries from Bruce Hill of Picco and Bix Restaurants

Stone Fruit Bruschetta with Crème Fraîche Ice Cream from Elise Fineberg, formerly of Taste Catering