To market, to market.....

Because I am writing a funky little column for a nationwide on-line local color thing (I don't know what to call it, actually), the concept of farmers markets has been on my mind lately.  The latest one is here, but you might have to scroll a page or two to find it:  http://www.examiner.com/food-and-drink-in-san-francisco

The Alemany Farmers Market, which I visited yesterday, is not just the oldest one in SF, it is the oldest farmers market in California.  Started in 1943, it was a way for people with war-time "victory gardens" to sell their surplus home-grown crops to those who did not have means or space to have such a garden.  In other words, once everyone on your block had all the zucchini they could use from your garden, the farmers market was your next stop.  You could sell that zucchini and anything else you grew in abundance to people in other neighborhoods, and in turn you could get oranges and apples from their trees.  Vegetables in exchange for fruit, all grown in the same square mile.

Zip forward 68 years and what do we have now?  A huge "locavore" movement, where people want to eat food produced as close to home as possible.  This is what the original farmers markets were all about.  Just think, the local food movement was born out of the need to share what came out of one's garden.  Then, as the 1950's and 60's rolled along, all that fresh food was put on the back shelf in favor of frozen and processed food, which was (or so the marketing department wanted you to believe) much more convenient and better for you.  Jolly Green Giant frozen green beans or canned Del Monte green beans had to be better than those from the garden because, well, just because.

And now the local and seasonal food movement, the darling cause of elite foodies, is back.  Not for the same reasons, not because of an excess of produce and the need to share it, but because it is "the right way to eat."  I don't argue with that, but it just cracks me up, how so many think this is an original idea.  Ha!  

But back to the farmers market subject.  The SF market at the Ferry Building is, as we all know, an obvious example of the physical beauty of fresh produce.  Stroll through it on a Saturday morning and everything looks vibrant and attractive.  The produce is almost like art, the colors are eye-catching, the arrangements are symmetrical.  Things smell good, look good, feel good.  People come from miles away to hang out at the market, making it an entire day's destination. That market is less of a farmers market and more of a movable feast, a rather expensive feast at that.

Then go to the Alemany Farmers Market on Saturday morning.  Totally different crowd,  not so many tall white people with cool hats, not so many over-priced strollers with cute babies.  Most of the shoppers are of different ethnic backgrounds and the produce is different as well.  The prices are a whole lot cheaper than the Ferry Building and the produce is still organic.  The stalls are painted with bright murals but they are concrete stalls, in contrast with the tables and white canopies of the other market.  It is just a different scene, in almost every way.  It is really a market where farmers sell their products to people in that neighborhood.

Gosh, that's a lot for a Sunday morning!  The coffee has certainly done its job on me!  Enjoy the day.