Ferry Building: Fruits of Labor

After a series of profound rainfall, we arrived at the San Francisco Ferry Building greeted by the rare occasion of warm sunlight. There, we
encountered Julie, a representative of CUESA ( Center For Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture) which is an organization committed to establishing
a sustainable food system by the incorporation of farmers markets and educational programs into the public. The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market managed by
CUESA marked a fine distinction of the local and global agricultural markets; the inner building sold products shipped from around the world while the outer
building had vendors and farmers selling their locally grown produce.
Through Julie, I learned many advantages along with disadvantages that derived from buying and selling at a local farmers market. As for
disadvantages, Julie mentioned that local farmers struggle with excess produce because they need to bring a lot more than they would sell in order to attract
consumers. This disadvantage directly represents how Von Thunen’s model explains the root issue with “excess produce”. Due to the short distance between a
local farm and the market CBD, we can find high perishability crops such as carrots, bananas, and strawberries being sold at the farmers market. However,
these high perishability crops sold in the local market would rot in a very short amount of time. Thus, these high perishability crops, could be an unstable,
inconsistent source of income if left unsold. To the benefit of the local farmers, on the other hand, consumers who buy their produce in a certified farmers
market helps local farmers earn more than they would as a farmer of a large corporation. Julie stated that farmers part of a large corporation only make
10% of what they sell! I thought the highlight of the advantages I learned from Julie was how heartwarming it is to hear that Julie and other local farmers
we’ve encountered described their jobs as a “labor of love”. Complimenting their labor of love, CUESA, in coalition with its vendors and farmers, utilizes the
“excess produce” at the end of the day to support homeless shelters and retirement homes as fruits of their labor!

Seller’s Pledge and California’s Climate
Classification
Sustainable, under CUESA’s definition mentioned in the article
handout, is an encompassing term that describes practices of food
producers as economically sound, socially just, humane, and economically
viable. Around each one of the farmers market shops, I saw that each unit
was represented by a sign pinned up reading, “We Grow What We Sell”.
Within the farmers market managed by CUESA, all the farmers, ranchers,
and food artisans take what is known as the Seller’s Pledge. Under the
Seller’s Pledge, food producers at the farmers market ensure
sustainability. During my interview with Rebecca who is an affable young
part-time worker at County Line Harvest, I learned that all their produce
are grown and cultivated through sustainable measures such as using
natural fertilizers and non-chemical pest control methods. For this
reason, she states County Line Harvest takes pride in their certified
organic agricultural produce. In other words, their crops are non-
conventional and GMO free.
Because of California’s recent drought situation, I asked how the
drought affected County Line Harvest’s overall production. Without a
doubt, Rebecca said that although the California drought was the most
severe around mid state, it has definitely slowed their production rates
despite being located in Sonoma and Riverside county. Rebecca notably
says that California, especially during the summer, tends to be very hot
and dry. In relation to the Koppen climatic classification system, most of
California is classified as mediterranean climate, a climatic region where
rainfall is highly unlikely during summer days supplementing the lack of
water from the recent drought. With that said, the mediterranean
climatic region also includes wet, cool winters. Portrayed by the tireless
rainfall in the last few months, this characteristic of the climate definitely
benefited the irrigation method County Line Harvest utilizes to draw out
water from their nearby reservoir.
Inner Ferry Building: Locally Produced?
The first shop my group and I visited within the
Ferry Building was Beekind, a shop decorated with a
wide selection of honey sticks and stored honey within
mason jars. Beekind also had a variety of non-edible
products such as beeswax candles and honey scented
hand lotions. In our interview with Roxanne, the vendor
of Beekind, we learned that although the honey they
sell are primarily transported from local hives within
California, some of their honey such as the “Italian
Chestnut” and “Italian Truffle” are imported from
Italy. Connecting to the concept of luxury crop, honey
is an expensive produce unnecessary for survival. Many
of the stores at the interior of Ferry Building, in
contrast to the farmers market sell products made
from imported luxury crops such as coffee made from
Burundi coffee beans, and chocolate made from Papua
New Guinea cocoa beans. Another distinction I noticed
between the two markets is the economic activity role
the vendors play. The majority of the vendors at the
farmers market engage in primary economic activity
extracting whatever they produce. Conversely the
vendors at the inner markets, like Roxanne,
demonstrate tertiary economic activity by selling
manufactured products directly to consumers.
 With their farms located within
Riverside and Sonoma county, County
Line Harvest, according to U.S Drought
monitor, face an abnormally dry
drought in Riverside. On the other Sonoma County: No drought
hand, County Line Harvest’s Sonoma March 19, 2017
county farm has fully recovered from a
previously severe drought status.
Despite Riverside’s current abnormally
dry state, in comparison to the other Sonoma County: Severely dry Stockton County: No drought
counties previously deemed extremely
dry, Riverside has remained relatively
constant in its state.

How Has The Drought Impacted California?

Located about 80 miles away from
the Ferry Building is the
Zuckerman’s Farm at Stockton
County. According to the U.S November 17,2015
drought monitor, the county
suffered extreme drought
compared to County Line Harvest’s Stockton County: Extremely dry Riverside County: Abnormally dry
farms. Currently, the county is
free from drought over the course
of two years. The map portrays
how the gravity of the drought, as
Rebecca mentioned, manifests along
mid California impacting the area Riverside County: Moderatrely dry
with extreme drought.