20
Jun 11
ForageSF Closes Underground Market
In a letter to ForageSF members, founder Iso Rabins declared the Underground Market is permanently shut down. While not unexpected, words can’t overstate what a loss this is to both the community and to countless food entrepreneurs. The East Bay Underground Market still stands as one of the best experiences we’ve had since moving to Oakland 6 years ago.
In Iso’s own words:
I started the Underground Market in 2009 as a reaction to the high bar of entry that has been created to start a food business, something that I experienced personally. Starting in a house in the Mission with seven vendors and 150 eaters, the market has grown to feed over 50,000 people and help over 400 vendors get their start.
As many of you have heard, the health department came to the last Underground Market on July 11th and served us a cease and desist letter, stating they no longer considered the market a private event.
The market was able to function to this point because it was considered a private event (hence the market sign-ups). We organized it in this way following a suggestion by the health department. Everyone who walks through the door is a member who knows they are eating un-certified food , so technically the health department doesn’t have to be involved.
They have decided (apparently with pressure from the state level), that the market is no longer a private event, and can therefore not continue as it has. We have requested a meeting with the city attorney for a definition of what a private/public event is exactly, so we can determine where the line is, and continue running the market.
This was not an unexpected event. We’ve known that it was only a matter of time until someone became upset about the popularity of the event. Because we’ve been expecting it doesn’t mean that we accept it.
Over the last year and a half The Underground Market has grown into a supportive community of makers and eaters. We see that in the 30-50 new vendors that apply every month, bringing samples of foods they clearly poured their hearts into, and the thousands of people who walk through the door each month to eat that food.
Our goal is to keep this momentum going. We would like to see the market continue to exist much as it has because we feel that it provides a necessary venue for people starting new food businesses. We’re interested in providing a space for entrepreneurs who for a myriad of reasons are not able to abide by the regulations put in place. The regulations, upfront costs, red tape, and lack of clarity in procedures all too often stop amazing food from ever being eaten.
The market is used in different ways by different people. Some are home cooks that have always wanted to sell, but for various reasons have not been able. Cocotutti is a prime example. She sold her first chocolates at the market over a year ago, and has since won national awards, moved into a commercial kitchen, and is approaching markets to stock her goods. KitchenSidecar worked at a bio consulting job, with a food blog on the side, before she found the market. Now she cooks full-time, caters, holds her own dinners, and collaborates on a Vietnamese pop-up restaurant called Rice Paper Scissors with another vendor, Little Knock. Nosh This was working as an architect before he was laid off and turned to the world of candy. Following his recent appearances in the New York Times, his wholesale accounts have exploded, he has moved into a commercial kitchen, and is working to make “Bacon Crack” a household name.
These are a few examples of people whose business, and some would say lives, have been changed because of their exposure at the market. People who have been able to earn money for themselves instead of populating the unemployment rolls. People who are contributing to the local economy while at the same time expanding the local food community.
We want the Underground Market to be a space for food entrepreneurs to get started on a small scale. And we want to continue to offer them more resources to move forward. We have seen the need for some time to have a space where vendors can produce their wares commercially. A space where we can hold classes on food safety/business, have commercial kitchen space for vendor use, retail space for them to sell, and café space with rotating chefs for them to cook. This space will be a hub, a place where people can come together around the wealth of food being produced in our city. We are starting work on looking for a space/getting details together on the project, and will send more information out soon.
On a personal note, I want to say that I really appreciate all the support people have shown. From emails from friends to tweets from strangers, you have all shown that you think the market is an important event and that you want it to continue.
This shutdown is an opportunity to find a workable model that can help not only The Underground Market in SF, but similar markets all over the country. The precedent we set here will ripple across the country. It will effect not only San Francisco vendors, but vendors nationwide. From cottage food laws to street food, we’ve seen an explosion of opportunity for small entrepreneur food businesses pop up over the last several years. We will continue to move forward toward our goal of keeping the market open, and our struggle can be an opportunity to find yet another way to help this movement grow.
Thank you,
Iso Rabins
founder, forageSF——- How to be involved ——–
Contact your local city supervisor or:
- Call or email the Mission District supervisor, David Campos
David.Campos@sfgov.org
(415) 554-5144There are also more tangible ways to get involved, especially if you have legal expertise, so please email us if you’d like to get help out:
1. Keep the Underground Market
- Legal and political organizing expertise, email markets@foragesf.com
2. forageSF incubator project
- Investors, designers, contractors, lawyers email iso@foragesf.comWe want to hear what you think, so if you have any other ideas, questions, or suggestions, please email iso@foragesf.com. To stay up to date on what’s happening, follow our blog at foragesf.com/blog.
16
Jun 11
Poop Burger Real, Gives New Meaning to #2 Combo
Do you know the term “sewage mud?” No? Keep it that way. Progressive (i.e. batshit crazy) Japanese scientist Mitsuyuki Ikeda has found a way to transform sewage mud (i.e. human poo) into food. As in something you eat. Now I’m no expert, but I think this is what foodies call “gross” and “I’m not fucking eating that.”
To his credit, Ikeda admits that some people will have a psychological aversion to eating poop. But, as Casey Chan notes, he’s wrong. ALL people will have a psychological aversion to eating poop.
15
Jun 11
A Vote for Fresh Food is a Vote for Human Rights
Availability of fresh, healthy, affordable food is a cornerstone of basic human and civil rights. Yet in the so-called “food deserts” of East and West Oakland, these rights haven’t been upheld. Grocery stores are scarce. Liquor stores and fast food chains dominate the landscape. Without resources, many residents are forced to accept these unhealthy food options. Others must travel as far as Emeryville to find basic produce like tomatoes or apples.
Denying affordable food alternatives to the neediest sections of society is not only illogical, it is immoral, forcing families to either choose lower quality food or no food at all. Healthy food is as important as clean water, clean air and safe homes. A city as progressive as Oakland, one that bills itself as “The Model City” must use its civic and political power to encourage fair distribution of food resources to all of its districts.
In the short term, Oakland must focus first on building new grocery stores in impoverished areas. A recent USDA study verifies what we already know: liquor stores and convenience stores consistently charge higher food prices compared to larger grocery chains. Not only that, a separate National Health Institute report finds that low-income communities have only half of the grocery stores per capita as their high-income neighbors. The same report also notes a measurable correlation between malnutrition and child violence, atop other health woes such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension.
The city has responded by relaxing its commercial zoning laws, making it easier for chain grocers to build in East and West Oakland. Economic incentives such as a sales tax or property tax breaks can help the effort, but long term success demands advocacy and education. To truly be a model city, Oakland must encourage all its residents — particularly its most needy — to reject the instutionalized classism of food deserts and embrace the right to fresh, healthy, affordable alternatives. Oakland must believe that something as simple as an apple can not only effect physical change, but real social change as well. One grocery store has the power to provide better health and safer streets to an entire neighborhood. Amazing things can grow in the food desert if we’re willing to provide it an oasis.
