Greenhouse Grown Farm Tour ~ Sunday, April 20

Spend a day visiting two farms that rely on greenhouses to help grow their crops: Bruins Farms in Winters and Orangewood Farm in Rumsey. This all-day bus tour costs $25 and will include lunch. Click here for more information and to buy tickets >

Waste Wise Market Celebration ~ April 22 and 26

We're kicking off our new Waste Wise Market initiative with a heap of fun activities at our Tuesday and Saturday markets. Click here to see the schedule of events >

Waste Wise volunteers needed!

Help CUESA green the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market! We are launching a Waste Wise Farmers' Market program on April 22 and 26, and we need your help to make it a success. Our team of Waste Wise station monitors will play an essential role by teaching customers about our new three-bin system (recycling, compost, and trash) and ensuring that materials go into the right bin. As a Waste Wise volunteer, not only will you help divert waste from the landfill, you'll also help teach thousands of shoppers to become more waste wise. We need volunteers every Tuesday from 9:30 to 2 beginning April 15th, and every Saturday from 7:30 to 2 beginning April 19th. For more information, please contact CUESA's volunteer coordinator at ashleigh@cuesa.org.

Public meeting about development on the waterfront ~ April 14

The Port of San Francisco is considering development options for Seawall Lot 351, a parking lot at Embarcadero and Washington Street that currently provides visitor parking for the Ferry Building and the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Interested citizens, neighbors, shoppers, and the development community are invited to share their ideas for development criteria for the project, including appropriate uses and the character of the development, at a meeting on April 14 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit the Port's website for the project >

Saturday, April 5 ~ Market to Table

10:30 am ~ Meet the farmer
Warren Weber of Star Route Farms

11:00 am ~ Seasonal cooking demonstration
Liza Shaw of A16

11:45 am ~ Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Georgeanne Brennan, author of A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France

Saturday, April 12 ~ Market to Table

10:30 am ~ Farmhouse cooks
Nigel Walker of Eatwell Farms will talk about his farm and demonstrate recipes using ingredients grown on his land in Dixon.

11:00 am ~ Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Karla Oliveira of Conscious Eating Cuisine and co-author of Tassajara Cookbook

All programs will take place in front of the Ferry Building on the north side.

On April 22 and 26, CUESA is launching a new Waste Wise Farmers’ Market initiative. We plan to significantly reduce the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market’s environmental impact by composting and recycling most of the materials discarded at the market and reducing the number of plastic bags that leave the market. In last week’s e-letter, we introduced the program. Today, we’re focusing on compost. Read on to learn all about compost, and find out how you can turn your throwaways into a valuable resource for farms.

What is compost?

Compost is formed when organic matter (material that comes from plants or animals) decomposes aerobically (with oxygen). The resulting nitrogen- and carbon-rich substance can be added to soil to improve its structure, provide and hold soil nutrients, prevent erosion, and encourage beneficial insects and microorganisms.

Why compost?

When compostable food scraps and yard debris are sent to the landfill, not only are their valuable nutrients wasted, but they can actually cause environmental harm. In the landfill, organic materials decompose anaerobically (without oxygen), releasing methane, a greenhouse gas that is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Landfills account for 34% of methane emissions in the United States. Meanwhile, America is losing its soil fertility and topsoil at alarming rates. When food scraps are recycled, either in a backyard compost pile or as part of a municipal composting system, they are turned from waste into a resource and used to enrich gardens and agricultural lands.

In San Francisco, that’s exactly what’s happening when you put your orange peels, biodegradable forks, and coffee cups in the green bin. Every day, the city sends about 300 tons of compostable materials to Jepson Prairie Organics composting facility in Vacaville. The materials are screened to remove contaminants (mainly plastics) and spread out in long windrows. A mere 60 days later, the materials have become compost. This compost is used on productive lands throughout the Bay Area, including some farms that sell at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Capturing the organic resources from the market and redistributing them to farms offers a tidy and elegant solution to the waste problem: your coffee cup could end up becoming part of your tomato!

Composting as part of our Waste Wise Market

At the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, more than 90% of what ends up in our garbage cans is compostable. Those resources, when not captured for composting, are wasted and contribute to greenhouse gases instead of renewing soils. Beginning April 22, all compostable items discarded in the green bin at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market will join the materials of many San Francisco households and restaurants at the Jepson Prairie composting facility. Our new Waste Wise initiative will divert an estimated 78 tons of compostable materials from the landfill annually!

To make our market—and our food system—more sustainable, we need your help. We hope you will work with us to create less waste, and put your food scraps, food-soiled paper, and biodegradable serviceware in the green bins at the market and at home.

What you can do

1. Reduce waste. Composting your paper cups is a great idea, but it’s even better to bring your own reusable cup (or plate, napkin, etc.). Each paper cup takes trees and energy to manufacture, so the most sustainable choice is to avoid single-use products whenever possible.

2. Compost at the market. Beginning April 22, Waste Wise stations around the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market will include three bins: green for compost, blue for recycling, and black for garbage. Bins will be clearly marked and include information about what belongs in each bin. Waste Wise stations will also be attended by volunteers who will be happy to help you choose the right bin!

3. Compost at home. The San Francisco Department of the Environment will have representatives on site during our Waste Wise Market launch to help you learn what can go in the green bin at your home. You can also check out the links below to find out about composting in your backyard or with a worm bin.

4. Reduce wasted food. According to a study by the University of Arizona, American households throw out an average of 1.28 pounds of food per day. Annually, this adds up to 467 pounds per year per family. This food loss costs the average family of four at least $589 per year. Keep better track of what’s in your fridge, use leftovers creatively, and learn to use as much of a vegetable or animal as possible.

5. Volunteer to teach others. Waste Wise station monitors are needed to help shoppers sort their discards into the recycling, compost, and garbage bins. Contact ashleigh@cuesa.org for more information.

What’s compostable?

Composting is not as hard as you might think. If it is food or a food-related paper product, it can go in the green bin. Plastic straws, cup lids, and other plastics are not compostable, so please take a moment to remove these items from their partner paper products. Breaking up isn’t always easy, but in this case, it is the right thing to do. When the green bin gets contaminated with too much non-compostable plastic, we have to throw the whole thing in the garbage! For your reference, here's a list of what's compostable:

All food
fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, shellfish, bones, rice, beans, pasta, bread, cheese, and eggshells, oyster shells, burritos (without foil wrappers), etc.

Food-soiled paper
waxed cardboard, napkins, paper towels, paper plates, paper cups (without lids) paper milk cartons, tea bags, coffee grounds/filters

Plants
floral trimmings, tree trimmings, leaves, grass, brush, weeds

Biodegradable food serviceware
This includes paper plates, paper coffee cups, and "bio-plastics," which look like plastic but are made out of corn, soy, potatoes, or other organic materials.

How do you tell the difference between plastic containers and cutlery and the compostable look-alikes?
Many of the new compostable to-go containers in use inside the Ferry Building, at the farmers' market, and throughout the Bay Area look like plastic, but they are made from corn or other biodegradable materials. The easiest way to tell the difference is to check the bottom of the to-go ware container for labeling. Some are compostable; others go in the recycling bin.

If it is compostable, it will say “Compostable” or “PLA” and you can put these in the green bin. Sometimes these compostable items (such as the cups from Alive! Restaurant) have a green stripe to make them easier to identify.

Disposable cutlery may also be compostable, but unfortunately, forks, spoons and knives are rarely labeled as compostable. If you are unsure, check with the vendor who gave you the cutlery or bring it to a Waste Wise station for assistance.

Effective April 22, all rigid plastics, such as bottles, tubs, and lids, can be recycled in the blue bin in the City of San Francisco. Anything that is not recyclable or compostable goes in the black bin.

Resources for learning more

Recycling and Composting in San Francisco - Learn about the city of San Francisco's composting and recycling programs >

Jepson Prairie Virtual Tour – See the step-by-step process of how food scraps become compost, written by our Waste Wise consultant, Janice Sitton of Good Green Graces >

Natural Resources Conservation Service composting page - Learn how to compost in your own backyard, or even in your apartment >

This is the most up-to-date information about which sellers will and won't be attending the market as of Friday, when we send this letter. If there are no changes to a seller's status, they will not be listed. To find out which farmers regularly attend each market, click here. Please understand that there are often last-minute changes--it's the nature of farming!

Saturday, April 5

In/returning: Cap'n Mike's SF Lox Sandwich, Happy Quail Farms, Redwood Hill Farm, Tierra Vegetables
Out: Apple Farm, Bernard Ranches

Tuesday, April 8

In/returning: Ella Bella Farm
Out: The Peach Farm

Returning this month (weather willing): Torpedo and Stockton red onions, English peas, snap peas, and snow peas, rhubarb, basil, raspberries, squash blossoms

Plentiful: Spinach, asparagus, avocados, green garlic, spring onions, kumquats, nettles, broccoli, rapini greens, artichokes, baby turnips, carrots, strawberries, mizuna, radishes and radish greens, fava beans, pastured eggs, chard, baby beets

Winding down/limited supply: Brussels sprouts, tulips, citrus

Farms/Vendors that may be returning this month (weather willing): Ella Bella Farm, Happy Quail Farms, Shogun Fish Co., Balakian Farms

Recipes for April

Strawberry Ceviche from Chris Borges, Taste Catering

Marinated Fresh Baby Artichokes from Linda Carucci, author of Cooking School Secrets for Real-World Cooks: Tips, Techniques, Shortcuts, Sources, and Hints

Spinach Salad a la Grecque from cookbook author Joyce Goldstein

Spring Greens Puree with Homemade Sourdough Crackers from Jessica Prentice, Wise Food Ways