Mark your calendars! Sunday Supper is October 4

In just 6 weeks, we'll be bringing together farmers, chefs, artisans and farmers' market lovers for a gala reception and five-course feast to benefit CUESA, and we want YOU to be there. Are you crazy about the work CUESA does to educate consumers and support farmers? Then why not be the first to buy tickets?

Preservation Celebration Classes

2009 has been the year for do-it-yourself (DIY) food projects. As fall approaches and Bay Area produce reaches its peak, food lovers are brushing up on the skills they need to make the bounty of local food last well into the long months of winter. CUESA is joining this DIY movement by offering a series of classes as part of our Preservation Celebration.

Sauerkraut Made Simple~ September 9
Kathryn Lukas, founder and kraut maker at Farmhouse Culture will lead a two hour hands-on kraut class that will include history, science, health benefits, and a jar of kraut to take home. This evening class runs from 5:30-7:30 pm and costs $30. Buy tickets >

Cheese, Please!  Making Mozzarella and Ricotta ~ September 10
Travis Flood, chef at Piccolo Teatro, will lead a class in making mozzarella and ricotta using curd sourced from vendors at the Ferry Plaza. Participants will take home the cheese they make, as well as some curd to practice their new skills at home. This class is co-hosted by Urban Kitchen San Francisco, runs from 5:30-7:30 pm. More info >

Panel: The Fruits of Their Labor ~ September 10

Truly sustainable food is not only healthy, humane, and environmentally sound, but also socially just. In honor of Labor Day, CUESA is sponsoring a panel to highlight the workers who feed us. Four experts will tell success stories of advancing working conditions in the fields and discuss how concerned eaters can stand up for fair food. Panelists include: Sandy Brown, co-owner of Swanton Berry Farm; Alida Cantor of California Institute for Rural Studies; Alegría De La Cruz, staff attorney for Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment; and Maisie Greenawalt of Bon Appétit Management Company. The panel is free, open to the public, and will be followed by a short reception with farmers’ market snacks.

Almonds and Olives Farm Tour ~ September 11

Take a tour with CUESA to learn about two distinctly Californian tree crops: almonds and olives. Our first stop will be G.L. Alfieri Farms in Ripon, where Gary Alfieri will show us around his almond orchard and diverse table grape vineyard, and take us to the shelling plant that processes his almonds. Our next stop will be Sciabica and Sons in Modesto, where we'll meet with two generations dedicated to bringing extra virgin olive oil to market and visit the orchard where the olives are ripening on the trees. The bus tour goes from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm and costs $25, including lunch. Sign up here (tickets are going fast!) >

Next Kitchen Table Talks installment on school lunches ~ August 25

The Child Nutrition Act, which governs the National School Lunch program, is up for reauthorization this year, and there's still time to have our voices heard to ensure our children have access to healthy, quality food. Speakers Colleen Kavanaugh of Campaign for Better Nutrition and Lena Brook, a grassroots parent advocate, will discuss what can be done to get real food in our public schools. Get more details here >

San Francisco Street Food Festival ~ Tomorrow

La Cocina and 7×7 are bringing the foods of San Francisco’s streets to Folsom Street for one day only. The day-long block party will bring together micro-entrepreneurs, informal food vendors and renowned chefs to celebrate great street food, entrepreneurial spirit and the vibrant communities of San Francisco. It’s free to attend, but if you want to avoid the lines, think about buying a passport. The event is a benefit for La Cocina's small business incubator program.

Q & A with the director of "Pressure Cooker" ~ Tonight and Tomorrow

Pressure Cooker, the inspiring documentary about the culinary education of Philadelphia high school students, will be playing in Berkeley and San Francisco the last week of August. The film's director will be in town to answer questions both Friday, August 21 (S.F.), and Saturday, August 22 (Berkeley). Learn more about the film here >

Pie Ranch Benefit Dinner: Dinner with Adelaide ~ August 29

Join the Pie Ranch crew for a delicious, multi-course meal benefiting their work with Bay Area high school youth. Dinner will feature the inspiring creations of local chefs, using fresh local foods from Pie Ranch and nearby farms. Experience the bounty of the land directly from the soil to your plate. Learn about their food system education and farmer training programs and meet Adelaide, their resident cow and honorary hostess for the evening. Learn more >

Marin Organic presents: Marion Nestle ~ Tomorrow

Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating, is the most respected nutritionist in America today. Her book Food Politics was given the James Beard Award, the top award for food writing. She'll be giving a free author talk at Point Reyes Books in Point Reyes Station tomorrow at 7 pm

Get 10% off admission to the Bioneers Conference

Bioneers—a leading source of breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet—presents its 20th annual conference on October 16-18, 2009. This premiere environmental conference features social and scientific innovators who share new ideas and tools that enable people to catalyze positive change in their own communities. This year's conference will feature Michael Pollan, Permaculture expert Brock Dolman, and master farmer Bob Cannard, among others. To save 10% off of nonmember prices, just use coupon code AFFINITY10 while registering. (Offer is valid on theater tickets for one, two, or three days and expires August 31.)

Saturday, August 22 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Chris Cosentino, Incanto

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Scott Youkilis, Maverick

Tuesday, August 25 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:00 - 1:00 pm - CUESA's market chef Sarah Henkin will be giving out recipe cards and samples of a simple meal made with market ingredients.

Saturday, August 29 ~ Market to Table

10:15 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Jean Johnson, author of Cooking Beyond Measure: How to Eat Well Without Formal Recipes

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Daniel Clayton, Nibblers Eatery and Wine Bar

12:00 Hurricane Katrina anniversary gumbo demonstration
Poppy Tooker, author of the Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook

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

This week's feature is by CUESA intern, Becky Tsang

Being born into a farming legacy comes with certain expectations. Case in point: when Josh Thomas was in college, a coach looked on in horror as the oldest Thomas son went to Burger King. The coach is still a customer at the Thomas Farm stand and has never stopped giving Josh flak about the incident. “He just could not believe it,” remembers Josh. 

Josh’s parents, Jean and Jerry, started Thomas Family Farm back in 1971, and Josh and his younger brother Patrick grew up helping to run it sustainably long before that was trendy or marketable. But following in his father’s footsteps was not always in his plans; farming had seemed like too much work. Like many of today’s second wave of organic farmers, Josh and his wife Kari took over the farm in 2004 because there was no one else to keep it running.

“My dad announced that he was in his last year, so I was either going to do it, or it would fade into the sunset,” he remembers. Josh had spent years pursuing a filmmaking career while working on the farm, but he also had an entrepreneurial streak, and farming was a way to avoid having to work for someone else. “I decided to go for it,” he says.

In an industry where the average age is 57, second-wavers willing to continue what their parents leave off are seen by many as crucial to maintaining the availability of sustainable food. Like Josh, today’s new farmers have smaller operations than average, and are more likely to hold off-farm jobs then earlier generations. "I think everyone has something else that they do, or they kind of go crazy," he says. Josh still works on films in winter, when the farm work slows down; his documentary, “Farm Show,” about the largest agriculture expo in the country, screened at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in 2004.

Father Jerry Thomas was a founding member of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). No chemicals, fertilizers, or pesticides of any kind have been used on the Thomas farm – instead, a regular stream of rich compost builds up the soil, and natural predators control pests. Another key ingredient is biological diversity; the Thomases started out growing apples, but Jerry had an experimental streak and broadened the scope after the apple crash of the late 1970s. Today the farm has the longest grower certification list in Santa Cruz County, with everything from Brazilian feijoas to Korean red hot garlic in the mix.

That diversity makes for a flexible business model. On top of fruit and vegetables, the Thomases have devoted half of their acreage to cut flowers, which have a higher profit margin than produce and provide a buffer when the economy is good. Produce sales, on the other hand, balance weak flower sales in recession years.

Locally grown, organic flowers offer many of the same benefits as their edible counterparts — reductions in chemical exposure, lower fuel emissions, and safer conditions for farmworkers — but are less likely to be in the spotlight. In the US, 62.4% of flowers are imported, mostly from South America, where damaging floriculture leads to water pollution and sick workers. In part, as an effort to bolster the local flower market, the Thomases have discussed transitioning to growing only flowers, but in the end, their stomachs have the final say. “We like to eat the food we grow,” says Josh, “and it’s just good to have both.”

Is farming as much work as Josh thought it would be before he took over Thomas Family Farm? Yes. "It’s always that feeling of one more thing to do than you have time for in a day," he says. "But it is rewarding — and that’s the aspect that, when I was younger, I didn’t really see."

You can find Thomas Farm at the Thursday Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, or at nine other markets around the Bay Area.

Pictured above, from the top: Patrick(Left) and Josh Thomas; Josh Thomas with his son Montgomery; and Josh Thomas driving the Thomas Farm truck.

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, August 22

In: Apple Farm
Out: La Cocina, Hog Island Oyster Company

Tuesday, August 25

In: La Tercera

Thursday, August 27

In: Lagier Ranches

Returning and plentiful this month (weather willing):
Grapes, tomatillos, cucumbers, apples, summer squash, Valencia oranges, nectarines, peaches, pluots, radishes, basil, sunflowers, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, Asian pears, grapes, zinnias, duck, pullet eggs, cucumbers, eggplant, mint, nopales, peppers, pears, squash blossoms, smoked fish, wheat, baby corn, onions, lettuces, okra, figs, grass-fed beef, plums, tomatoes, melons, dahlias, new potatoes, peanuts, wax beans, shelling beans and Romano beans

Winding down/limited supply:
Mulberries, fresh lavender, peas, fresh garbanzo beans

Value Added and Vendor items not to be missed:
Chicken stock from Mountain Ranch Organically Grown, fresh salsa from Happy Girl Kitchen, tayberry conserve from June Taylor, sauerkraut from Farmhouse Culture

Featured Recipes for August:

Shaved Cucumber, Radish & Bottarga Salad with Zinfandel Vinaigrette from Chris Cosentino, Incanto

Fire Roasted Eggplant Soup from Sondra Bernstein, the girl and the fig

Stewed Okra, Corn & Tomatoes from Sharon L. Anderson, Purple Plum Restaurant

Summer Fruit Crostata from CUESA's Market Chef, Sarah Henkin

Cocktail ~ Midsummer Dream from Erick Castro