San Francisco gardeners get to sell their produce

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Vegetable growers in San Francisco got a break this spring when the city's Board of Supervisors approved legislation allowing gardeners to sell their produce either directly to consumers or to local restaurants. Previous zoning laws prohibited selling home-grown produce without a costly permit and a hearing in front of the city Planning Commission.

The new ordinance allows for the sale, pickup and donation of fresh food and horticultural products grown throughout the city. It also allows for the sale of "value-added products," such as jams, pickles or pies where the primary ingredients are grown and produced on site in all areas except those zoned exclusively for residential uses. Growing food or horticultural products for personal use remains unregulated.

Ed Lee, San Francisco's mayor, who signed the new ordinance into law, called urban agriculture a "more enlightened thing to do. A lot of our ordinances, in my opinion, are out-dated and we need to modernize them."

Eli Zigas, of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, said the new law "not only encourages people to connect with food and build community by cultivating fruits and vegetables in their neighbourhoods, but also allows gardeners to earn a little extra cash to make a living selling what they grow."

The San Francisco coastal region is marked by cool and foggy weather. The growing season is March to November with summer temperatures averaging 24 C. Gardeners recommend cool-season or short-season varieties, noting that they get disappointing results if they plant heat-loving varieties. BF