The Line Up

I love the sounds and feels of the Farmers Markets.. All Foodies do! You can’t take a bad picture fill of colorful produce and exciting people. When I first started my tour company we visited one of the first markets in California and the one that Julia made famous on the new at the time Food Network. The Santa Barbara: Saturday Market. I still take students to the Coda Street Market as you do get some things you cant find in stores or other markets.

One Sunday while in San Francisco I was taking a 2-day course with Denise Vivaldo of www.foodfanatics.com . The day prior I had taken a few of the out of town-ers to the Ferry Building Market to take pictures and eat for lunch.. When I arrived to the class I saw that there was a market right next store..The Civic Center Market.. I was 15 minutes early and thought I would walk the length of it.. Against the wall area the Line up was about 150+ people.. Wow I thought.. what are the selling.. No what were they giving away.. Government cheese? No some of the people looked well to do.. The line was full of everyone, everything, every ethnic, Asian, tall, short, male, female, black, white, straight, gay, old, young, poor, rich.. Name it they all were in line. (Would have been a perfect place to conduct statics except one group) Ok now as I walk towards the front to see what in the world was so important to line up and pass up the just in season strawberries… Live Chickens! Humm.. I am not against seeing where your food comes from at all. In France the heads of the chickens are still on the whole chickens when you purchase them at the market. I was just thinking.. hundreds of people in a large city buying live chickens. Yes. I understand that we all buy live Lobsters but Chickens.  We all have heard the stories of Grandma on the farm cutting the chickens head off and the body runs around the yard.

Many thoughts came to mind. Can you imagine first how to prepare the bird for cooking? If you are one of the poor in the line I was wondering how much the savings was.. If your one of the rich and wanting a fresh fresh bird.. How much different is the taste? San Francisco has many high-rises. Today you hear sounds of a live chicken in the condo next to you.. Tomorrow a bag of feathers in the dumpster.. Or do you make pillows? I can see chickens at a rural market. I saw little chicks for sale at market on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean last year.. 

I posted a very shorten note on this last year on my facebook.. Not to ruffle feathers since I am sure I do have some PETA followers, Foodies and such.

The comments were interesting.. One said, “If you see FOOD Inc. (the movie) you would want to see where your food comes from.” to ‘I will take my chicken in plastic wrap”

By the way.. The chickens are no longer sold at this market but at the Chinatown  Market. 

Comments

[Heather]

LOL! I have no idea why they aren't sold anymore! I remember our time fondly!