Democracy in Produce

Americorps volunteer Jackie Hsieh teaches a Healthy Cooking class on Tuesday afternoons to St. Anthony Medical Clinic patients who are interested in learning about food and cooking, losing weight, or just getting healthier in general. Jackie gets vegetable donations each Friday from a group of farmers at the Heart of the City Farmers’ Market in the Civic Center (the oldest farmers’ market in San Francisco), which she uses both for her cooking demonstrations and as incentives to give to patients to take home.

This week, attendees of Jackie’s cooking class will receive vegetables from the Tenderloin People’s Garden, a project of Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC). Garden Coordinator Nella says that anyone is welcome to get free produce at the Tenderloin People’s Garden, because it is a garden “of the people, by the people, for the people.” The bounty this week included lacinato kale, collard greens, mustard greens, red Swiss chard, and parsley. Altogether it was 12 pounds of fresh produce harvested in about 20 minutes. Nella says people don’t believe her when she tells them they can harvest 200 pounds of produce, but the 12 pounds donated for Clinic patients hardly made a dent in the beds of greens.

Each of these crops is a nutritional powerhouse, especially the collard greens, which Nella says is the number one crop for nutrient value. Any of them can be sautéed with some onions, garlic and olive oil, but she also recommends tossing the chopped mustard greens into some broth for a great vegetable soup.

Thank you to the Heart of the City Farmers’ Market, to the Tenderloin People’s Garden, and to all of the other groups who contribute to making healthy living a real possibility for our patients.