Sustainable Agriculture as Sustainable Development

John Ling, Ferry Building Gets Preservation Award, San Francisco Chronicle (October 4, 2003).

Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), Sustainable Agriculture A-Z (available at http://www.ferryplazafarmersmarket.com/sustainable_ag/A-Z/index.php).


In the first group breakout discussions, my group and I discussed the idea of a weekly outdoor farmer’s market in downtown Berkeley. A farmers market would take into account all of the key elements of development desired in Berkeley: environmental sustainability, avoidance of cookie-cutter chain stores, and retail affordability, as farmers markets sell healthy food at relatively low costs. In this vein, I began researching the recently redeveloped Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market in San Francisco.

The Ferry Plaza was considered a hugely successful development project on San Francisco’s waterfront, credited in part for helping to “bring up” the area around and below Market Street. The SF Ferry Plaza houses a wide variety of restaurants, wine bars, food-related retail and, of course, the ferry terminals. In addition, the structure of the Ferry Building itself is noteworthy; the building received an award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in recognition of its status as a (preserved) historic landmark.

Most significantly, not only is the Ferry Plaza now home to the farmers market, it is also home to the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), the entity which sponsors and manages the SF Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. CUESA addresses all aspects of sustainable development: from water use to soil building to labor rights. Something similar may appeal to Berkeleyans.