Sunday Supper Reception ~ October 3

• Knoll Farms Fig and Liberty Duck Sausage from Kory Stewart, Americano
• Dungeness Crab and Pumpkin Flan with Pumpkin Seed Pesto from Chris Jones, the girl and the fig
• Lamb Meatball and Friarelli Pepper Spiedino from Liza Shaw, A16
• Pork Sugo Sliders from Sharon Ardiana, Gialina

The above are just a small sampling of the 30 delicious bite-sized hors d'oeuvres that chefs from around the city will serve at CUESA's Sunday Supper reception (full menu here). Guests will graze, nibble and taste their way through the ground floor of the Ferry Building while enjoying cocktails and an array of locally produced beer and wine. All proceeds will benefit CUESA's work to support a local, sustainable food system. This year, everyone who buys a reception ticket before September 13 will be entered to win a seat at the four-course dinner upstairs. Buy tickets for the reception ($75) or reception + supper ($200)

The Cooking Channel at the Ferry Building ~ September 8

The newly launched Cooking Channel has created a one-of-a-kind ice cream truck to satisfy fans’ cravings for the flavors of summer. The truck is touring the country partnering with local businesses and here in San Francisco visitors will be treated to a scoop or two of Scream Sorbet. They'll also be showing highlights from the new cable channel, and Aida Mollenkamp, host of the show Food Crafters, will be on site to greet visitors. Come to the front of the Ferry Building on the south side next Wednesday, from 11 am to 3 pm, for your very own frozen treat!

Dairy Lovers' Farm Tour ~ September 17

A tour like no udder! Travel with CUESA to the rolling hills of Petaluma. We’ll visit two dairies: Achadinha Cheese Company, where Donna Pacheco makes award-winning cheeses by hand with milk from her own goats, and Saint Benoit Yogurt, located at the Diamond M Dairy, where Benoit de Korsak crafts small batches of organic French-style yogurt from Jersey milk. Tour attendees will see the goats and cows in their pastures, learn about how they are raised and milked, and get a close look at the cheese- and yogurt-making processes from start to finish. The tour includes lunch made with farmers market ingredients. Buy tickets (only 5 left!).

Heirloom Apple Event at 18 Reasons ~ September 9

Gravenstein, Hudson's Golden Gem, Northern Spy.  The names are as evocative as the tastes. And yet, in a country that celebrates apple pie, small family apple farms struggle to stay alive. Join 18 Reasons and KQED to watch Applewise, a short film about apple farming in Virginia. Afterwards, farmer Tim Bates from The Apple Farm will talk about his own experiences as an heirloom (and biodynamic) grower in California. Learn more.

Celebrate Cocktail Week at the Ferry Building ~ September 22

The next Farmers Market Happy Hour will be one of several events happening during SF Cocktail Week. The night will benefit both CUESA and the newly formed Barbary Coast Conservancy of the American Cocktail, and will feature an array of drinks made with summer produce. The event will undoubtedly sell out, so get your tickets now. See a Facebook photo album from last year's event (log-in required).

Shopping with the Chef: Laurence Jossel and Gonzalo Guzman

Market Manager Lulu Meyer ran into Nopa's Laurence Jossel and Nopalito’s Gonzalo Guzman. Laurence and Golzalo had already done most of their shopping for the day, but with the season in full swing they couldn't resist a few impulse buys. Read more on the 7x7 website.

Sustainable Coffee Discussion at Peet's Coffee & Tea ~ September 9

Join Doug Welsh, Peet’s Roastmaster and head coffee buyer, for a discussion with Roberto Mata, visionary leader of the Coopedota cooperative in Costa Rica, known for high quality coffee and innovative sustainable practices now being replicated throughout the country. The event takes place at 6 pm at Peet's in the Ferry Building and includes a tasting of their new Alta de Dota roast.

Critical Edge out, Hapa Ramen in on Tuesdays ~ Starts September 7

Starting the first week of September, Critical Edge Knife Sharpening will no longer be attending our Tuesday market. (Bob's last Tuesday is August 31.) On the bright side, Critical Edge will still be in on Saturdays and Hapa Ramen will be serving their deluxe noodle bowls and sandwiches on Tuesdays starting September 7th. Taste Catering's booth will also extend their stay in the market until September 9th.

Saturday, August 28 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Kara Lind, Kara's Cupcakes

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Marie Simmons, author of Fig Heaven

Tuesday, August 31 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:30 'til whenever the food runs out - Market chef Sarah Henkin will give out recipe cards and samples of a simple meal made with market ingredients. She'll also be on hand to offer advice for all your seasonal meal planning.

Saturday, September 4 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Shekoh Moossavi, Shokolaat

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Mary Kuntz-Cote, formerly of Baywolf and Vivande Porta Via

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

As the locavore movement gains momentum, the opposition gets louder. Every few months or so, an article comes out that supposes that eating locally is a dogmatic practice based solely on a simple equation. People eat local food, such articles proclaim, simply because they think that cutting down on food miles is energy efficient. And while it’s becoming increasingly clear that the issue of energy use in the food system is infinitely complex, this core idea – that eating locally is about math – is simplifying, dismissive, and counterproductive.

The latest such article is "Math Lessons for Locavores," by Stephen Budiansky in the New York Times. And ― perhaps more noteworthy than the article itself ― the wave of responses (published in a coordinated effort on Grist.org) is enough to get any fledgling local food lover fired up. As these perspectives imply, there are many thoughtful ways to respond to questions like, “Isn’t this whole local food thing just hype?” What follows are excerpts; read the complete collection of articles here: Food fight: Do locavores really need math lessons?

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Budiansky argues that we should be advocating for raising crops in "places where they grow best and with the most efficient technologies." I remember hearing all about this economic argument in graduate school; it's called "comparative advantage."

In the real world, here's what happens ― and what the sustainable food movement, locavores among them, is working to change: North Carolina becomes the second-largest home of pork in the country, not because pigs have some particular penchant for the Outer Banks, but because the state's lax labor laws appealed to pork producers and so did the government's incentives to lure companies like Smithfield.”

Anna Lappé, author of Diet for a Hot Planet

At its heart, the movement is about relationships. When you buy food at the store, your purchasing decision rests mainly on marketing claims. But when I pick up my weekly box of produce from Farmer Phil, I know exactly how and where he grew my food, and that his values are consistent with mine.  

Jill Richardson, author of Recipe for America

I have noticed that oil supplies are peaking. In 20 years, I have no reason to assume that this massive fossil-fuel-based system will be able to find the oil it needs to bring foods to local stores, let alone whether I will be able to afford the price of that energy. I want to bring those sources of uncertainty a little closer to home, where I can see them.

Ken Meter, executive director of the Crossroads Resource Center

When I am tasting my breakfast of scrambled local eggs with the first good tomatoes of the season, I'm not really doing any math whatsoever ― I'm thinking of the farmers and the well-treated workers, and of the amazing flavor of my meal.

When we ask folks to eat locally, we are asking them to eat whole foods that are rarely processed. If the only thing that encouraging eating locally accomplished was getting people to eat more whole, real food, and less processed non-food, we would be taking large strides toward getting our nation healthier.

Jennifer Maiser, founder of Eat Local Challenge

The two companies involved in last week's egg recall were relatively small as far as these things go, controlling only about 1 percent of the U.S. egg supply. In contrast, virtually our entire meat supply is controlled by four ― soon to be three ― companies: Tyson, Cargill, Smithfield, and the Brazilian powerhouse JBS, which is vying for a Smithfield takeover...

What does it mean when so few companies control so much of our food? It means that unless we happen to live in a place with a lot of local farmers and the infrastructure to process and distribute their products, we have virtually no control over what we're eating or feeding to our kids. If these companies choose to raise meat using hormones and antibiotics (and they do), or grow corn from genetically-modified seed (and they do), then that's what we'll have access to. And if one thing goes wrong at one of those companies, we all risk being affected.

So here's my message to Mr. Budiansky: The local foods movement is not so much about choosing between what's grown here and what's grown elsewhere. It's about having any sort of choice at all.

Elanor Starmer, Food & Water Watch

Market Update

Seasonality Synopsis for August