In the end… December 9, 2009

In the end we designed our posters and placed them in the windows of Start Market and Geary & Hyde Market. These two corner stores are located down in the Tenderloin and both sell fruit. We wanted to put these posters up so that people walking by will think about the last time they ate an apple or any fruit for that matter and consider going inside to buy some fruit, a.k.a. natural sugar, for their bodies.

Our Action

Here is some documentation of our action. These are pictures of our poster in the windows of Star Market and Geary & Hyde Market down in the Tenderloin.

Star Market

Geary & Hyde Market

Our Poster

As the Fruit Force we decided to create interesting posters to get people excited to eat fruit. These posters will be hanging in the windows of the two corner stores that we have decided to help out down in the Tenderloin. These two stores are Star Market and Geary & Hyde Market.

Helpful Websites

Neighbors Project- Chicago
http://www.neighborsproject.org/pages/about/2.php http://www.neighborsproject.org/pages/food___liquor/22.php

How to Increase Produce in Your Local Corner Store
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Increase-Produce-in-Your-Local-Corner-Store/

SFGATE Article Trouble with putting Grocery Store in Tenderloin
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/28/BARD11TSUL.DTL&type=printable

Discover the Produce Peddler in San Francisco and San Mateo’s Thriving Downtown
http://www.foodgal.com/2009/10/discover-the-produce-peddler-in-san-francisco-and-san-mateos-thriving-downtown/

Retail Food Availability Survey
http://www.sfphes.org/HIA_Tools_Retail_Food_Availability.htm

Organic Consumers: Food Justice in San Francisco
http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/fresh071604.cfm More Fresh Produce in Bayview!

More Fresh Produce in Bayview!
http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/04/more-fresh-produce-in-bayview/

The Site: The Tenderloin December 7, 2009

The Fruit Force decided to bring fresh fruit to local corner stores in the Tenderloin. The Tenderloin is an urban, low income, and dirty neighborhood. There is a lack of fresh foods and plants. Two of the biggest problems in the Tenderloin are drug abuse and a very high crime rate. The Tenderloin is a small, densely populated neighborhood in downtown San Francisco. In addition to its rich history and diverse community, there is significant poverty, homelessness, and crime. It is known for its immigrant communities, single room occupancy hotels, and a large homeless population.

History of the Tenderloin

One of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, it became notorious for its concentration of illegal bars, or “speakeasies” during Prohibition. The neighborhood earned its name from the words of a local police captain, who was overheard saying that when he was assigned to another part of town, he could only afford to eat chuck steak on the salary he was earning, but after he was transferred to this neighborhood he was making so much money on the side soliciting bribes that now he could eat tenderloin instead. Another version of that story says that the officers that worked in the Tenderloin received a “hazard pay” bonus for working in such a violent area, and that is how they were able to afford the good cut of meat.

Research Failures

• Our original questions did not work
• Two liquor stores refused to talk to us
• We realized that interviewing the public was unnecessary & not as important as we thought
• We went in thinking that none of these stores sold produce
• We were surprised by the number of produce markets in the area

Research Successes

• We managed to talk to a couple of store managers & owners in great detail
• Useful information was found
• Probable approval of our posters
• Our hypothesis about the frequency in which kids buy fruit was proven to be correct
• We were able to reroute our questions
• We experienced the community

Corner Store Interviews

Geary & Hyde Market
(corner of Geary & Hyde)
We interviewed Singh, the storeowner.

• Geary & Hyde Market has been selling fruit for about 3 years.
• They sell mostly apples & oranges.
• They get their fruit from the San Francisco Produce Market and sometimes from the Restaurant Depot.
• Geary & Hyde Market has sold other kinds of fruit before, but other kinds of fruit, like watermelons, go bad faster. –“Solid fruit is best”
• They sometimes sell organic fruit. Organic fruit usually sells faster.
• Singh buys good & organic fruit for the store whenever he sees it.
• He said that not many kids buy fruit. They buy mostly chips and candy.
• Yes, you can use Food Stamps to buy fruit.

Star Market
(corner of Geary & Leavenworth)
We interviewed the manager/storeowner.

• Star Market sells organic bananas.
• Some weeks they sell more bananas than others.
• They only sell bananas because there is not enough space in the store. If they were to sell more items it would be more expensive for them. There is produce that is sold down the street & this makes it harder to sell fresh fruit at Star Market.
• They get the bananas from a Mexican produce store in San Bruno.
• Kids do not buy any fruit from the store. They just buy candy & other sweets.
• They would be interested in putting posters up about healthy food options & produce. They had a lot of questions about the size of the poster & told us that they could not be too big. They also told us they would have to see the posters to approve of them. If they liked them they would put them up in their window.

What We Learned!

Before we went to the Tenderloin, we assumed that there was little or no produce to be found. However, when we were there, we found that there was already produce being sold at many different stores! Because of this, we quickly revised our questions and made them more relevant to the actuality of the community.

We also learned through experience that many people were willing to help us with our research and answer our questions, but at the same time, there were also many people that had absolutely no interest and did not want to talk to us at all.

Revised Questions: Interacting with the Public

1. What kind of fruit do you sell?
2. How long have you been selling fruit at this store?
3. How come you do not sell any other kinds of fruit?
4. Where do you buy the fruit?
5. How often do you do this?
6. Is it organic?
7. How often do your customers buy fruit?
8. Do any kids buy fruit? How often?
9. Can you use food stamps to buy the fruit?
10. Would you be interested in putting posters up in your window about healthy food options and produce?