CDFA secretary sees award-winning food recovery program

California's food and agriculture secretary got a firsthand look at a famed San Francisco produce market.

Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, recently visited and was given a tour of SF Market, a wholesale produce market home to 26 merchant businesses and an award-winning food recovery program, according to a news release.

The tour showcased the critical fresh food infrastructure that the market has provided for the Bay Area.

Ross and other CFDA staff engaged with several of the market’s merchants, some of which have been family-run for more than three generations, said the release. Ross also saw the market’s award-winning food recovery program in operation.

Program staff works with merchants to recover an average of 4,000 pounds of surplus food per day and distribute it to community organizations at the front lines of the region’s food security challenges, according to the release. Since 2016, the program is rapidly approaching a milestone of 7 million pounds of produce distributed to neighbors in need, filling a critical gap in the food access landscape in San Francisco.

“The SF Market is a good resource for the state of California and a critical part of our fresh food supply chain,” Ross said in the release. “It is amazing to see it and all the merchant businesses in their work to improve access to food.”

Added Eli Zigas, president of the SF Market board of directors: “We are honored to welcome these leaders from the CDFA. Our organization represents so much more than just produce. It provides the connection between rural farmers and urban consumers in the city and provides the infrastructure, programs and relationships that help hundreds of farmers grow their businesses within the Bay Area.”