Local organics at work

Half Moon Bay Orchids are sold at the farmers market. Photo by Charlotte Hoppen
Half Moon Bay Orchids are sold at the farmers’ market. Photo by Charlotte Hoppen

BERKELEY, Calif. — On a foggy Saturday morning while many in Berkeley are still sleeping, more than 60 vendors are setting up their stands under white canopies on Center Street here for the weekly downtown farmers’ market. The market opens up at 10 officially, but the sellers arrive by 9 and stay until 3:30.

The market features organic food and drink vendors. Many of the products are locally grown and packaged fresh nearby. The products range from fresh produce to fried food, pastries, seafood and candy.

Simon Gottlieb is a salesperson for the Three Twins Ice Cream stand. He is also the father of one of the founders of the company. Gottlieb started out his career by making and delivering the organic ice cream.

Three Twins started as a small shop in San Rafael, Calif., and now Gottlieb and his son have begun to expand across the country. The company still distributes organically grown products, but Gottlieb has big plans.

“Right now, we are in all of the Whole Foods across the country,” he said. “We’re almost everywhere.”

He said they began with just four flavors: Madagascar Vanilla, Cookies and Cream, Bittersweet Chocolate and Mint Confetti. Now, Gottlieb said, “We have over 100 flavors, three sandwiches, single serves, 21 pints and six quarts.” His favorite flavor is still Madagascar Vanilla.

Not all sellers have food stands: Michael Hsien sells Half Moon Bay Orchids each week. He makes about 60 sales per week at the market; he is also involved with the growth of the orchids at the local nursery. It takes about two years for each orchid to fully develop before selling, he said.

Hsien enjoys the sense of community he is involved in at the farmers’ market. Another who enjoys selling there is Rebekah Swanson, who works for Massa Organics. “I’m actually new to the Bay area,” Swanson said, “but I’ve worked in farmers’ markets my whole life.”

Massa Organics products include rice and almond butter. “Berkeley is a very health-conscious area,” Swanson said. “It’s a wonderful thing to know it’s healthy and to stand by it.”