Our seasonal markets are closing

The end of October marked the closing of our seasonal Thursday night and Sunday markets and this year we are closing them not just for the season, but indefinitely. It is with great reluctance that we are saying goodbye to these markets, and the difficult decision was made only after thorough surveys, data analysis, and reviews. Unfortunately, the majority of sellers participating in these two markets have been suffering financially due to low sales. Currently, neither seasonal market is sustainable for either the sellers or our organization. We sincerely thank all of the sellers who have participated in the markets and the shoppers who have supported them!

Last chance to purchase tickets for Gourmet Wine Cellar event!

This is your last week to buy tickets for Gourmet Wine Cellar's benefit for CUESA. Click here for details >

Ferry Building Fungus Festival

On Saturday, November 25 and Sunday, November 26, the Ferry Building Marketplace, Far West Fungi and Ferry Plaza Farmers Market will celebrate culinary mushrooms! Festivities begin on Saturday at 10 am with a range of free events including Mushroom Growing Tables, Meet the Mushroom Farmer Talk with John Garrone of Far West Fungi, Mushroom Cooking Demo with Chef Bryan Waites of Medicine Restaurant, Music, Mushroom Displays and Children’s Coloring Table. The weekend event will benefit the Mycological Society of San Francisco.

Eating Locally, Thinking Globally panel discussion ~ November 15

Join the New College Center for Education and Social Action and Food First for an evening of education addressing global, national and local food justice. Click here for more information >

Saturday, November 11 ~ Market to Table events

10 am - Meet the producer
Bill Crepps of Everything Under the Sun - Bill started farming over 17 years ago after he completed graduate school, where he studied alternative farming techniques. He has always been an environmentalist and began farming organically to put his ideas and beliefs into practice. Bill has experimented with a wide range of crops over the years... more >

10:30 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Charles Vollmar of Epicurean Exchange

Saturday, November 18 ~ Market to Table events

10 am - Meet the Producer
Cowgirl Creamery

10:30 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Laura Werlin, Cookbook Author

Thanksgiving is a holiday about food and gratitude. In 1621, when the original event that we invoke every fourth Thursday of November took place, colonists and Native Americans celebrated a successful harvest. According to written accounts, the days-long feast featured eel, plums, goose, leeks, watercress, cabbage, corn and venison. Celebrated informally for over two hundred years, Thanksgiving was proclaimed a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The president opened his proclamation thus:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added…

Unfortunately, one hundred and forty three Thanksgivings later, our proclivity to “forget the source” from which our bounty comes seems to have increased. Many of us never learn our food’s source in the first place.

These days, instead of celebrating our regional harvest on Thanksgiving, many strive to perfect a formulaic meal, scarcely reminiscent of the first feast. The ingredients for our dishes, instead of coming from land with which we are intimately familiar, originate from supermarkets, the likes (and unfailing bounty) of which would have been unimaginable in 1621. Modern-day turkeys are often raised in crowded warehouses and fed grain that contains antibiotics and filler that sometimes consists of fat and feathers. The birds have been so selectively bred for large meaty breasts that many of the males are too top-heavy to properly walk. And unless you order well in advance, there may be no local, free-range turkey to be found.

This year, we invite you to celebrate Thanksgiving by preparing a sumptuous feast that reflects your region’s agricultural bounty using produce grown and raised by local farmers. Why not serve Persimmon and Arugula Salad alongside your grandmother’s famous mashed potato recipe? How about some local seafood like oysters or petrale sole? Why not put any local thing on your Thanksgiving table, for that matter, that will bring you joy and fill you with appreciation to buy, cook, and eat? And for dessert, there’s no reason not to go the time-honored route: pie bakers will find both apples and pumpkins in abundance at the farmers’ market.

Several groups the continent over have proposed a similar challenge--the 100-mile Thanksgiving. To learn more, visit www.100milediet.org.

To find seasonal recipes from local chefs, click here >

This is the most up-to-date information as of Friday when we send this letter. Please understand that there are always last minute changes--it's the nature of farming!