Jacqueline F.
Yelp
Well, I was quite excied when they opened. I had been reading Sally Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions, and was excited that there was a spot opening up that would serve food inspired by the very traditions she wrote about. However, when they opened, I was appalled by how expensive it was. They advertised themselves as Trader Joe's type food, made with quality ingredients. Instead, their mantra should have been Trader Joe's type food, for people with money to burn. $10 for a four oz pate, $14 for a quart of bone broth or stew, means that this is meant for the upper 1% of the Bay Area.
But that's now what drew my ire. My problem is that I tried to volunteer with them. I signed up with and went through the kitchen tour. We met, toured the kitchen, ate a meal together and talked. I'll be honest. I was there to learn how to do some canning and other techniques, and because I was a soap maker and was looking for an outlet to sell. Not a problem. I saw it as a win-win. We had a tour and ate a meal. I imagined that we'd sit around a giant table, say thanks for the food, and introduce ourselves one by one or in small groups and proceed to talk.
That didn't really happen. I think that I had a total of two people speak to me. I felt like a ghost, much like I did when I went to the racist Christian school. I went around and talked to people, asked questions and was truly interested in what they were doing. I talked to the Kombucha guy who claimed that he'd never made it before and was just trying things out. I mentioned that I'd made Kombucha as well, nothing. I talked to the woman who was preparing our lunch - which was made up of unsold goods that were about to expire. I explained that I was gluten, shellfish, and dairy intolerant and she considered that in her choices of food.
But I got my dinner and ate in silence. There was no, "Hey, how did you find out about this place," or "Are you a customer" or "Where are you from?" Nothing but silence. They were looking for a local soap maker and afterwards, I went up and told them that I made soap and had been doing so for about 10 years, and that I taught classes at the adult school. Again nothing. No, can I have a sample (I had some in my car), do you have a card (had them on me), or would you like to come in and present your products to us for consideration? Crickets.
Now such a behavior has a name - microagression. It is what happens when people aren't openly hostile towards you in an agressive way, but rather they ignore you or act like you aren't around. It's crazy making because they seem like nice people, but it's clear that they really would rather that you not share the same space as them. This is a white, liberal space for rich people to provide fancy foods for their white, liberal, rich friends and unaffordable prices. Meanwhile, they claim to lose money on everything, yet somehow they can keep that way to big space and continue to provide a weekly menu and have the time and money to fund the processing of their food.
At the time, they were looking for volunteers and I told them I was interested. At the time, I had Friday's off and planned to spend that day, earning $1 credit of time for each our worked. But I was not inspired. It didn't seem like I was the type of person they were looking for. They had a newsletter and would show six week trainees from New Orleans, Atlanta, or some other place with poor people. I assumed that their presence meant that there would be space for me. But I learned that libral doesn't mean that they like black people. I made the mistake of walking into a white space as their equal and they were having none of that.
Meanwhile, I make a mean bone broth, a fantastic stew and chilli, and a wonderful pate. They inspired me to cook more for myself and go to YouTube and Amazon for inspiration. I could not find it locally within their walls. For that reason, the store is not a fav. I go there for inspiration, but they don't get my money. I don't want to spend my money with people who can't even bother to say hello.