A new S.F. farmers' market opens in the Bayview

Organizers of a new farmers’ market kicking off in San Francisco's Bayview hope to start a food revolution in the neighborhood.

The weekly market at the Southeast Community Center made its debut on June 1, with 15 vendors offering fresh produce like leafy greens and bright red nectarines and hot foods such as empanadas and plantains, as well as artisans and a neighborhood vinyl record shop selling its wares. A volunteer with the University of San Francisco's seed library project handed out seeds for chiles, squash and strawberries for visitors to plant at home.

DragonSpunk, a community gardening and food-access nonprofit, is organizing the market in conjunction with the Southeast Community Center at 1550 Evans Ave., which is owned and operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The center's deputy director, Larry Berry, said efforts to establish the farmers’ market began soon after the site was completed in 2022, when a community survey showed demand for one.

DragonSpunk founder Isaiah Powell (left) and his partner, Danielle Fernandez, carry a table at the new farmers’ market at the Southeast Community Center in San Francisco.

Past efforts to establish a farmers’ market date to 2005, when the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association, a nonprofit promoting farmers’ markets, established a market on the corner of Galvez Avenue and Third Street that proved unable to sustain itself. In 2017, the group launched a market on the corner of Yosemite Avenue and Keith Street that ran from August through October of that year.

Berry's staff had worked on starting a farmers’ market at the site, but prospective partners turned them down. Berry noted the importance of having a farmers’ market in the community, which, as of 2019, met the U.S. Department of Agriculture's criteria for a "low-income, low-access" food area, previously known as a "food desert." (A Lucky supermarket across the street opened around the same time as the center.)

When DragonSpunk approached the center with its own proposal, Berry felt the group's work around District 10, which includes community gardening and microgreen cultivation workshops, and its leadership — specifically partners Isaiah Powell and Danielle Fernandez — made for the right fit.

Jaime Medina of Medina Berry Farms helps customers during opening day of the Bayview Farmers’ Market.

During the pandemic, Powell, a transplant from Brooklyn, N.Y., helped start an urban garden on Diana Street on a blighted lot that for years had been covered by waist-high weeds and bags of garbage. Volunteers at the garden, which he's now left for a site across the Caltrain tracks, grew food to give away to neighbors.

Powell hopes the market can incubate a neighborhood movement for food sovereignty, a term that has come to mean the empowerment of people to grow their own food and have greater control over where their food comes from. At the market, staff of the Bayview community co-op, a group seeking to open a community-owned grocery store in the neighborhood, handed out fruit from Black- and brown-owned farms. Powell said he is looking forward to giving out fruit trees and bags of nutrient-rich dirt at the market for people to take home.

In the meantime, Powell was happy to see people buying fresh microgreens and nodding their heads to upbeat remixes of "Rough Times" by the Sunburst Band. The DJ, Annias Bernstine, cradled his small dog named Prince while playing music from his laptop. It was only 4 p.m. on the market's launch day, but the vibe was festive with people dancing by the speakers as others bit into grilled mushroom skewers and juicy peaches on the market's concourse.

"We’re bringing back the dynamism that used to characterize the city," Powell said. "It's really a party. It's a fellowship we have here."

The market featured several Black-owned businesses such as Robust Microgreens, which sold fresh mustard and alfalfa sprouts; Colombian food pop-up Sukulenta, selling spicy beef empanadas; Bayview-based pop-up Alkaline Family serving vegan "fried chicken" made with mushrooms; and popular bakery Rize Up, offering its sought-after sourdough loaves blended with fragrant masala and purple ube.

Bayview resident Darius Baron, owner of vegan and gluten-free bakery Raydiant Vybes, was happy to sell his brownies and cookies to his neighbors, he said, as he hasn't found many opportunities to have a presence in the neighborhood.

"It's very good to come home and provide for our own community," he said. "It brings a sense of purpose."

Garryn Wagner, 11, helps Maya Visconte pick out Brussels sprouts from the Mountain Fresh Farm stand during opening day of the Bayview Farmers’ Market at the Southeast Community Center.

The market hit a few snags on Day 1. As strong gusts swept through the market, some vendors had trouble keeping their tents grounded. Berry noted people have asked about parking since the market takes up the majority of the center's rear parking lot. The center is located next to Muni bus routes and the newly extended T line.

The market in its current form will run through the end of November. However, Berry said he would like to expand the market next year and keep it running.

Powell hopes the market can establish itself at the center and embed itself into the neighborhood. To that end, he energetically introduced neighbors to vendors. He passed out flyers for the nearby Speakeasy Ales and Lagers taproom. He hopes to create a community that will fully support the vendors and nearby businesses.

"We all need to come up together," he said.

Customers walk through the Bayview Farmers’ Market on its opening day.

Southeast Community Center Farmers’ Market. 1550 Evans Ave. 3-7:30 p.m. Thursdays.

This story has been corrected to reflect that workers at the Bayview community co-op are employees.

Reach Mario Cortez: [email protected]