Category — San Francisco

I just got back from Africa, and am recovering from travel sickness. But am feeling almost back to normal enough to post these events! Check out free cooking demonstrations and information straight from farmers at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, sponsored by CUESA. All events take place in the Dacor teaching kitchen in the arcade north of the Ferry Building’s clock tower.

• Saturday, March 17 ~ Market to Table events
  10:30 am – Meet the farmer Maria Catalan of Catalan Farms
  11:00 am – Cooking demonstration & book signing Ann Cooper, Renegade Lunch Lady and author of Lunch Lessons* Books for sale courtesy of Book Passage

• Saturday, March 24 ~ Market to Table events
  10:30 am – Meet the farmer Roscoe Zuckerman of Zuckerman’s Farm
  11:00 am – Cooking demonstration & book signing Charles Vollmar of Epicurean Exchange

The Organic Trade Association has these suggestions to give as gifts during Valentine’s Day which includes organic chocolates, organic flowers and organic fibers. Here are some local ideas:

Flowers

• Flatland Flower Farm a local flower farm near the Bay Area, with ordering online
• Organic Bouquet one of the largest organic flower delivery companies
• California Organic Flowers another Californian flower grower with online shopping

Chocolates

• Dagoba Chocolates, one of the leading organic chocolate companies
• Chocolate Covered Sweets and Gifts, a local store on 3977 24th Street in Noe Valley highly recommended with organic and vegan selection

Considered the oldest farmer’s market in the Bay Area, Alemany Farmer’s Market is located in Bernal Heights area of San Francisco. Though this market is not as upscale as the Ferry Building, it has a local flair with ethnic food and much more affordable prices that the Ferry Building including certified organic produce.

The Alemany Farmer’s Market is open on Satursdays only from 6am on. Located at 100 Alemany Boulevard, San Francisco at the junction of 101 and 280.

On Sunday, October 8, over 40 of the Bay Area’s most celebrated chefs will collaborate in preparing a spectacular five course meal using local, sustainable and seasonal ingredients from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. This is the fourth year for CUESA’s Sunday Supper gala and some of the restaurants include: Farallon, The Slanted Door, Fifth Floor and Zuni Cafe. Click here to register and learn more.

Yesterday, I got my CSA box for the month from Capay Farms’ Farm Fresh to You program. All the produce is organic and locally grown through Capay or one of their partners. I’ve been with them for about half a year and so far I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. You just let them know what box size you want, and whether you want the mix of veggies/fruits. They come and deliver straight to your door each month or week depending on your preference.

For $21.50 a box (I get the smaller box), you get 4 veggies and 2 fruits. This week I got about 1 lb of heirloom tomatoes, 2 lbs of star frinson red pears (see picture to the left), 1.5 lbs of organic grapes, 2 lemon cucumbers (never seen this before!), and organic bok choy. In the picture below, I stir fried the bok choy for dinner today in fresh ground garlic and ginger and then tossed some salt, soy sauce and sesame oil to complete the dish. Give this CSA program a try! They deliver to most of the Bay Area.

I usually throw out junk mail right away. But today I started looking at the grocery ads from my mail and was surprised at Mollie Stone’s insert. It seems like they’ve finally caught on to the buy organic, buy local campaign. In their ad for this week, they’re selling organic produce from local California farms and labeling some of the sources. $1.99/lb organic heirloom tomatoes seems like very good price (compare to Whole Foods at $3.99/lb). Although Mollie Stone’s is not my top choice of supermarkets, this is a great step and it makes me to consider stopping there. Mollie Stone’s has seven locations in the Bay Area.

Thanks to Om Organics‘ resource directory, here are companies that deliver organic meals to your door in the Bay Area:

• Aubergine Service: Catering, meal delivery Area: San Francisco & East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, Albany & El Cerrito) p/e: 510.704.8847, joan@auberginecatering.com Specialty: Vegetarian & meat options.
• Convergence Catering Service: Catering, meal delivery Area: Bay Area p/e: 831.469.4643, converge@convergencefoods.com Specialty: Vegetarian & vegan options.
• Cook SF Service: Meal delivery Area: San Francisco p/e: 415.513.5328, info@cook-sf.com Specialty: Vegetarian and meat options. Specializing in California cuisine.
• Dining In SF Service: Meal delivery Area: San Francisco, Marin, East Bay, Peninsula p/e: 415.255.2433, traci@dininginsf.com Specialty: Vegetarian & meat options.
• Marcus Rios Service: Catering, personal chef, meal delivery Area: Bay Area p/e: 415.350.3113, marcus@chefmarcusrios.com Specialty: Customized vegetarian or meat menus
• Peal Cuisine Service: Meal delivery Area: San Francisco p/e: 415.826.2133, pealweb@gmail.com Specialty: Gourmet vegetarian & vegan options.

Often people in SF go straight to Whole Foods, the Ferry Market or local food store to get produce. My favorite place in the city is Rainbow Grocery. It’s a co-op with all natural, some organic and only vegetarian food. It’s like a wholesaler (Costco) with bulk foods, local produce and a big selection of personal care and vitamins.

People bypass this not so glamorous looking warehouse building, but once you step inside, you’ll find an awesome array of foods for a good price. I found organic safflower oil, 3 varieties of organic bulk soy sauce and olive oil. The produce was extremely fresh, mainly from local farms.

Don’t miss this place! Located on 1745 Folsom St (@14th St) in San Francisco.

I had lunch with a my friend Lis at work the other day and she recommended checking out West Side Organics. Given that she works 12 hours a day, she told me that she wanted only one place to shop for both produce and groceries that were organic. Westside Organics was voted Best Home Delivery Service of 2005 through San Francisco Magazine.

Pro: You can get both produce and groceries straight to your door, better than a CSA that just does produce. Prices seem reasonable, though not a huge discount like Rainbow Grocery or CSAs.

Con: It doesn’t specify which farmers they source from locally or nationally. However, if your hours are as bad as Lis’ and you don’t mind that the produce isn’t local; this might be for you.

As a long time vegetarian, there are few places like Greens. The view of the Golden Gate bridge, a cool funky converted Fort Mason building, and organic food mainly from Marin’s Green Gulch Farm.

You can also take a nice hike in the Marin Headlands and walk through the farm, Green Gulch, where the organic produce from Greens comes from. There is a zen monastery, and a walk to the coastline, and a forest. Walking on the Green Gulch trail to the ocean and through a loop in Marin is one of the best in the area.

Pro: Great view, fresh local organic food, cool room, easy free parking lot in Fort Mason

Con: Not good for meat eaters, too pricey for dinner (brunch is reasonable)

Over the past year, I’d been helping out a very cool non profit called Om Organics. Their Executive Director, Melanie Cheng, taught me a lot on the organic food industry, especially the importance of buying from local farms. We know the benefits of buying organic, but buying from local farms helps the Bay Area economy, lessens the environmental impact of shipping, and gets us the freshest and most varied selection of food.

Check out Om’s cool site for events, newsletter and other interesting facts on buying organic. This is truly one of the best sites for the Bay Area.

My old roommate, Muy, in San Francisco told me about a cute store called Giggle which sold baby gifts both online and through its store in the Marina. I decided to buy my friend Jenny’s baby an organic clothing set and organic cotton bibs…and I was honored to have the outfit I bought for my friend’s baby to be the newborn’s first outfit!

Pro: Less toxins on newborn babies, great gift for parents, convenient online shopping

Con: A bit expensive, selection is limited