The second San Francisco Underground Farmers Market sprang up last night like a chanterelle after the spring rains, and like a chanterelle that grows where chanterelles were known to grow last year, it was instantly overwhelmed by eager gourmets who like to go the extra mile for handcrafted local food. There was soon a line around the block to get in the door, a process slowed by the necessity of signing a waiver before entering.
Unlike the Grand Lake Farmers Market or the market at Ferry Plaza, the Underground Farmer's Market is not certified. ForageSF, the organization primarily responsible for hosting the market, say they want to showcase small producers who can't afford a commercial kitchen but still make great food. Also unlike most neighborhood farmers markets, the Underground Farmers Market primarily focuses on prepared foods and value-added products, like fresh baked bread, homemade jam, locally cured meat, fermented sauerkraut, artisan chocolates, and so much more. Finally, the Underground Market is unique because it doesn't happen weekly, but rather whenever and wherever the organizers and vendors decide to gather. The first one was on December 17th and hosted around two hundred people, according to the ForageSF website. This one was bigger, volunteer Stephen said—much bigger.
Possibly some of the growth was due to the publicity surrounding the December event. The first market attracted a visit from the health department, who had been tipped off by someone from a rival certified farmer's market, according to Iso Rabins of ForageSF. Rabins said the health department officials "were very nice" and gave them tips on how to avoid citation in the future. Thus the waivers—everyone who enters the Underground Market has to sign up for a free membership. That way, the market isn't so much a market, but a private event hosted by a club, for its members—it's more like a church bake sale.
This air of subversiveness, the sense of skirting the law, possibly added to the market's appeal. Hundreds of people crowded into the tiny space at 17th and Capp in the Mission, all hoping to taste some secret blood-orange and clove marmalade and perhaps take home some defiant bottles of home-produced kombucha. The crowd seemed bonded in the desire to stick it to Corporate Food—and to get their hands on some of the most exclusive gourmet foods, including some available nowhere else.
The crowds were so thick, in fact, that it was difficult to move, and sometimes hard to get a good view of the foods on offer. What I did get to taste, though, was exquisite. It would take too long to list all the delicious things I tried, but here are some highlights:
Acorn flour brownies by John Farais of Oakland's Indigenous Edibles were an unusual, and delicious, treat. Processing acorn flour is extremely time consuming, but the resulting meal has a delicious, nutty flavor and is rich in protein and beneficial fatty oils. Acorns are a truly sustainable food source—producing them means sustaining the native oak woodlands that support so much of North America's wildlife. Farais's brownies were utterly delicious, especially the one he said was made from native Mesoamerican ingredients—it tasted spicy and warm, like Mayan hot chocolate.
Kettle corn from Lane Kennedy was another tasty surprise—it looked like caramel corn, but tasted mildly spicy and smoky as well as sweet. The secret was chipotle powder. When I tried it, I couldn't help but exclaim "Wow" and Kennedy dutifully recorded my reaction for posterity. Her table was in the far back corner, and she said she was doing well at the market considering her position. Not everyone made it that far back through the crowd, but those who did were the serious ones.
Jeff Tidwell's little table of kraut had sold out well before I got to him. Impressed, I asked him how much of his fermented vegetables and fruit he had brought. "Six jars," he replied. I still got a chance to taste some of his wares from the sample jars he had open. Pickled shallots and asparagus were delicious, but the pickled green tomatoes filled my mouth with tangy flavor. I wished I had made it to the back corner earlier!
Patricia Algara of Berkeley had the only table of fresh vegetables, and one of the most beautiful tables as well. She offered fresh greens from her backyard, including such exotics as Japanese spinach.
Jams and kombucha drinks were the most populous items among the diverse offerings. Slow Jams offered a delicious lemon curd and a really amazing white and pink grapefruit lavender conserve. I also tasted sugar-free blueberry jam and Susan Marjanovic's decadent chocolates made with agave syrup. I only got to try one of the kombuchas—Rana Chang of House Kombucha told me about her novel idea for a distribution co-op; local artisans should get in touch with her if interested in teaming up to get your products into stores.
There were also meats at the market. I also tried homemade beef jerky from Cornucopia Wellness's Marisol Kim, who told me that her products were made with 100% pastured grass-fed cattle. The jerky was tender and flavorful and entirely unlike any store-bought jerky; it was the difference between a thinly-sliced prime rib and a salted piece of show leather. Marisol said her delicious jerky lasts two weeks at room temperature or a month if refrigerated. I did not get the chance to try the wild boar ossobucco that Iso Rabins was working diligently on, or the corned beef sandwiches being lovingly prepared in the corner closest to the band. For those who do eat meat, reducing our impact means not only eating less meat but meat from animals that have been raised sustainably and humanely.
Local foods will be key to developing a truly sustainable food system. Local and small-scale food networks are more resilient, more efficient, and more ecologically healthy. What the Underground Market shows is that they can also be more pleasurable.
The Underground Market taps into a growing current of eco-hedonism. Doing what is right for the planet doesn't have to mean wearing a hair shirt and eating tasteless oat bran crackers—in some cases, it means more time, more sensual pleasure, and more enjoyment. More people are realizing this every day, in Oakland and worldwide.
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