The San Francisco State University Farmers Market is a place were you can ditch your trek to the grocery store, and have fresh and organic produce, vegetables and other fresh foods such as tamales, right at your doorstep. For some reason I was always oblivious to the fact that the Associated Students Inc. holds this market every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in front of the Humanities Building. I suppose it was because I merely didn’t have any classes on Thursday; however, this semester after my Thursday morning class, a wonderful aroma of sizzling kettle corn and the sight of colorful fruits and vegetables greeted me as I walked outside.
The farmers market here on campus provides a wonderful assortment of vendors, which usually includes; Sunrise Farms, Ma Petite Cherri Bake Shop, Humus Heaven, Donna’s Tamales, Way to Life Foods Granola, and Gold Rush Kettle Corn. The products available for purchase here are much cheaper and tastier than Trader Joe’s, and the vendors offer a friendly smile and pleasant conversation as a free bonus. It has become a healthy tradition to do my grocery shopping at the market once a week. However, some may ask why I bother buying an apple at the market, when I can buy a box of them at Trader Joe’s… apples are the same everywhere right? Wrong. Sunrise Farms, from Orosi, CA, near Fresno, sells produce that is literally fresh from the farm. According to vendor Roberto Jimenez, the produce is picked “one day before.” Their produce also has the healthy feature or being all-organic. “We’re registered organic, we don’t put wax on our oranges, and we don’t use pesticides,” Jimenez commented. That’s a huge plus, considering you may have no idea what an orange has been sprayed with, or how long its been sitting on grocery store self.
Some people may think that healthy foods sometimes aren’t tasty, but that can be further from the truth. For example, after I sampled a juicy and sweet orange from Sunrise Farms, I made my way to the Humus Heaven booth. This vendor provides locally made snacks such as humus and crackers, a yummy and more health conscious alternative to chips and dip. The company is based in San Leandro, and makes multiple flavors of humus such as red pepper, artichoke and chickpea. The ingredients are simple and “are homemade and have no preservatives,” vendor Andrew Crawford said. He grinned as he continued, “they’re tasty, and also made with a lot of love.” That’s why it’s so nice to shop at the market; you are supporting local businesses that really care about what they make, and care about the integrity of their product. You can’t buy that a grocery store.
Armed with this information, hopefully more people will flock to this lovely little farmers market, and become exposed to some of the best low-fat, gluten-free and organic foods that the Bay Area has to offer. Bye bye Trader Joe’s and Safeway!