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Kathy Ford of Ford's Market in Bayview with the Food Guardians.
Photo by Joe Prickett |
by Kenneth Hill for SEFA Food Guardians
For many years, Bayview has been regarded as San Francisco's Black Mecca for black businesses and enterprise. Back in the 1970’s you could find an array of Black-owned businesses - from dry cleaners, to tax preparation services and even small full-service grocery stores selling an array of grocery items, including fresh produce.
But over the years, as the demographics of Bayview have changed, so has the vast majority of business ownership. Today in Bayview there are still Black-owned businesses around, but not as nearly as many as there were in the 1970’s.
Since the large demographic shift in Bayview, it’s been
really difficult for Black business owners to stay afloat and evolve with the
demand of the community. But with help from Southeast Food Access Working Group
and Bayview HEAL Zone initiative, Black business owners are getting much
needed help to keep up with the changing demands of the community.
The number one goal of business owners is to make money.
Before venturing into a business, most businesses owners do a considerable
amount of research before opening up shop. Some of the research may include a
needs assessment to determine whether or not a business is needed in the
community as well as an assessment to determine financial gain for the
business.
This is in part true for Black corner store owners Kathy Ford, who succeeded her parents as owner
of Ford’s Grocery, and Bob, the owner of Surf Side (better known as Bob’s) in the community. Before opening their stores in Bayview
30 plus years ago, they both saw a need for places in the community for people
to purchase food.
“The people up in West Point and Harbor didn’t have a store
close by to get to and the buses didn’t
come often, so I knew a corner store was needed and would do fine,” said Bob.
With the need being immensely evident, Black business owners
Kathy Ford and Bob opened their corner store businesses and selling a vast
array of foods that were of demand by the community.
“When my mother and father first opened Fords we sold meat,
fish, breakfast food and produce” said Kathy Ford.
This reality has changed for Kathy Ford’s and Bob’s
businesses over the years. During the last two decades they’ve seen peoples’
buying patterns change - from customers coming to pick up a few steaks, a bag of
beans, as well as a couple bunches of collard greens, to a bag of chips and a
soda.
When asked what she thought contributed to the change in
peoples shopping patterns, Ms. Ford
said, “I don’t know…I really don’t
know. But what I do know is that we need to change. We need to get back to
eating collard greens, and healthy food in general.”
The change Kathy longed
for would come in due time.
From a social justice perspective, not having access to
fresh affordable produce and healthy food is unfair. Until recently, finding
produce and healthy food items in Fords Grocery was like trying to find water
in the Arizona desert. The shelves were full of processed, high fat, salty
products, and there was not one single piece of produce. But Ms. Ford was for
ready for some change at her store.
On January 16th and 17th of this year,
Ford’s Grocery became the second corner store owner to participate in the
Healthy Retail Conversion Program, and is now offering fresh affordable produce and other healthy food products.
Lee’s Market in Bayview was the first corner
store to bring healthier food and fresh produce into the store in July 2012,
and continues to work with the Food Guardians on store improvement.
The Southeast Food Access Food Guardians, through the
Healthy Eating Active Living Zone initiative funded by Kaiser Permanente, work
with small businesses to increase access to fresh produce and healthy food for
the Bayview community in an attempt to level the playing field for all Bayview
residents. The Food Guardians hope to work with Bob’s or other small stores in
the near future, if funding allows.
Getting produce into Ford’s Grocery was done through a
comprehensive 3-legged approach called Retail for Community Health and
Sustainability, which involves Community Promotion and Awareness, Retail
Technical Assistance, and Policy-Supported Incentives and Regulations.
I
Promotion & Awareness: The SEFA
Food Guardians, who are Bayview Hunters Point residents, are the core of the
promotion and awareness leg. The Food Guardians promote the changes of the
retail project before, during and after the store redesign is set. This is done
by conducting various surveys and assessments, promoting the changes at community events, writing news articles, and
developing district-wide healthy marketing strategies to let the community know
about the healthy changes.
II Technical Assistance: Stores that
participate in the healthy store redesign project are allotted a host of
technical assistance support. The technical assistance is provided by Sutti and
Associates, a retail redesign consultant
firm with over 35 years of experience in the industry. Sutti provides expertise
in developing schematics, produce
maintenance, and product merchandising -
not only to the participating stores owners, but also to the Food Guardians so
that they can continue to provide ongoing technical assistance to the stores in
the long term.
III Policy Supported Incentives and Regulation: It
is hoped that these pilot healthy retail efforts result in the establishment of
a citywide program that would bundle together the promotion and awareness piece
with the technical assistance piece, and provide incentives such as tax breaks for
small businesses making the effort to carry produce, healthy food items while
decreasing the sale of junk food, alcohol and tobacco.
This effort gives Black business owners and other small business owners in the Bayview a fighting chance to change their business models to accurately reflect the community’s new ways of thinking in terms of food. The Healthy Retail Conversion program gives business owners an optimistic outlook in terms of their business’ prosperity in a new market.
According to Scott Schaffer, business consultant with Sutti Associates, “Produce can generate just as much money as alcohol and tobacco, if not more. It’s all about the way you run your business.”
A 2009 study showed that the bird was able to recognize individual humans, particularly noting past intruders or threats. 
Tom (pictured, far left) took the lead on installing a new sign at the Quesada Garden. That sign has already become a distinctive feature of the expansive community project. Others in the group helped with jam-making, gardening and taking inventory of Quesada Gardens T-shirts and tote bags. Thank you Adriana! (pictured, 2nd from left). 
Robyn Brault (center picture) spoke at the Cinco de Mayo event Quesada Gardens Initiative held at the Bridgeview Teaching and Learning Garden (which rose from a rocky hillside with LOTS of help from USF students and faculty, including Annette Smith and Karl Paige Community Hero award-winner Professor Seth Wachtel). Robyn Brault talked about a concept she learned in Professor Erin Brigham's Catholic Social Thought class. Quesada Gardens is "subsidiarity" in practice, she said. Changing the world where we live is what Quesada Gardens is all about.
One student has been working hard through the USF service-learning program, which is administered through the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, for over three years. Brandon Oldham (top picture, left) has been an Advocate for Community Engagement, the student bridge between the community and university.
