San Francisco, Marin County – a large selection of organic produce

I loved all of the bits of San Francisco and Marin County I saw; Marin County is located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the State of California.

IMG_2096

I loved the buses in San Francisco – very stylish.

IMG_2102

I loved the houses in San Francisco.

IMG_2116

And once again as in NYC and Michigan, I was very impressed by the large range of fresh, seasonal and local produce in food shops, supermarkets, Farmers’ Markets, eateries and in restaurants.

IMG_2020

This demonstrates that many of the residents are highly conscious and supportive of quality, fresh organic produce and health.  But I  am also aware that although I travelled to many different neighbourhoods in San Francisco that appeared to be representative across a variety of cultures and economic demographics, I may not have seen the total picture.

IMG_2052

It was such a pleasure to see artisan goods in Downtown SF and the neighbourhoods beyond. The packets of beans in the photo above are heirloom varieties and many of them are very ancient types.

IMG_2018

There were large barn-like  supermarkets that concentrated solely on organic food and some of the little shops, (equivalent to some of the Health shops found in Australia) were very well stocked with organic produce.

In Marin County and not just in specialist food stores there are large sections of organic produce in supermarkets; in the very large Whole Food supermarkets there were also displays of brought home ready-to-eat foods.

IMG_2025

And  salads.

IMG_2024

The cheeses looked freshly cut, packaged and clearly labelled; it came from all over the world.

IMG_2028

Fresh and dried fungi and mushrooms of all sorts were in The Ferry Building .

IMG_2023

And there were some exotic varieties.

IMG_1986

In restaurant menus, I particularly enjoyed seeing combinations of cuisines (fusion food) and dishes with  unexpected ingredients (for example there was a a salad of kale, strawberries, croutons and goat gouda  and the oysters were combined with finger limes, pickled mustard seeds and Madras curry).

IMG_2167

I valued observing that in some restaurant menus the producers were also mentioned (for example California Olive Ranch olive oil or Mariquita Farms heirloom tomatoes etc.)

Below, some Vietnamese Fusion Food.

IMG_2011

Japanese fusion food.

IMG_2089

This bean curd dish (Asian) was accompanied with broccoli rabe (an Italian vegetable) sautéed with caramelized shallots and lemon grass.

IMG_2091

Braised green leafy vegetables with red peppers and black garlic.

IMG_2083

Ready to eat or take home oysters with prepared sauces.

IMG_1985

Or to eat there.

IMG_1976

And even at the San Francisco airport the range of organic and fresh and local food was impressive. I could have bought good quality bread and a lump of local cheese and I would be given a plate, cutlery, order a glass of Californian wine and sat down to enjoy it. On this occasion, I selected one of several types of coconut waters.

 

IMG_2177

What do I think about the range of food available in Australian airports? Not much, and we could do so much better.

IMG_2178

And one last thing. I enjoyed seeing deer roaming freely in home gardens in Novato in Marin County where my friends live.

Deer in Buckeye Court