Market Memories: Emily Dellas

April 26, 2013

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market supporter Emily Dellas shares her memories.

I love the farmers market, and it’s been a part of my Saturdays since the very beginning. I’m 34 now, so if it’s 20 years old, I guess I would have started going when I was 13 or 14. I used to go every Saturday with my mom. I remember when it was in the lot in front of the Ferry Building, and then down the street a bit, in front of Landor (we still really like that location).

I used to love when they’d feature a particular ingredient at the market, like tomatoes. Every tomato vendor would submit samples, and you could walk through a tasting tent, trying all 20 tomatoes, and then head back out to purchase, being absolutely certain you’d come home with the tomatoes you deemed to be the best.

I remember the older guy with the excellent stone fruits who never handled money, but he trusted you to leave what you owed, and pushed a wooden slot down for you to make your own change. 

I attended college back East and then lived in NYC, and trips back to the Bay would be planned around the market. When I’d return to college at the end of January, a good half of my suitcase would be filled with fruits and vegetables that I could not find on the East Coast and wanted to share with friends. Victor of Bella Viva Orchards sent me care packages in college to keep me in supply of unsulphured dried fruit. 

I’ve always had a love for produce, and the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market both fueled and focused my adoration, and kick-started my education about ingredients, how they grow, and the stories of the farmers who grow them.

Topics: Community, Farmers market, Market Memories