Painted growers line the sheds at 100 Alemany Boulevard. In 2003, about two dozen muralists led by Susan Cervantes of Precita Eyes painted the market's own growers onto the stalls, a project Mission Local described as a portrait of the people who sell there. According to Precita Eyes, the murals cover 80 stalls and more than 4,000 square feet. The commission began in September 2002, took two phases over 12 months to design, and three months to paint.
This Saturday, November 21, those painted stalls host the last market before Thanksgiving. It is the first holiday season with Foodwise, the nonprofit that also runs the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, in charge of the market. The stalls are a fair guide to what has held the place together through each change of management. Operators have come and gone over 83 years, and the farmers stayed.
Several operators, the same Saturday
The market began with farmers selling directly to shoppers. According to Foodwise's history of the market, six farmers parked their trucks on a vacant lot at Market Street and Duboce Avenue on August 12, 1943. They sold 25-pound boxes of fruit for a dollar each and sold out in less than two hours. Management came later, and it has changed hands several times:
- 1945. San Francisco voters approved a permanent farmers market run by the city on city-owned land.
- August 1947. The market moved to 100 Alemany Boulevard. More than 80,000 people came in its first week there and bought more than 125 truckloads of produce.
- Decades of city management. First the Agriculture Commissioner's Office ran the market, and later the Department of Consumer Assurance.
- 2004. Budget cuts dissolved that department, and the city's Real Estate Division became the market's sponsor because the market sits on city land.
- February 7, 2026. Foodwise took over day-to-day operations. The Real Estate Division ran the market through January 31 and agreed to keep providing transition funding, security, custodial service and property maintenance after that.
Foodwise says the Real Estate Division sought a nonprofit operator through a competitive request for proposals in October 2024 and picked Foodwise. The selection was announced on November 17, 2025. John Brucato, who organized the first market and advised Alemany into the 1980s, summed up the arrangement in a line Foodwise quotes in its history:
"The farmer felt at home, and likewise, the city consumer responded in ever-increasing numbers."
The first promise was about the sellers
Foodwise's first public commitment concerned the people at the stalls. The city's announcement of the new operator said the lineup would not change right away and that current sellers could stay, subject to market rules. New farms, producers and prepared-food sellers could be added later in response to shopper demand.
That reassured sellers who have spent their working lives at this market. The San Francisco Standard spoke with Apolinar "Poli" Yerena of Yerena Farms, who has sold at Alemany for about 40 years. The Standard reported that he welcomed the handoff and hoped Foodwise's marketing would bring in more sales.
The visible changes have mostly been services around the sellers:
- An Info Booth where staff help shoppers find vendors and answer questions.
- Food-assistance tokens handed out during Saturday market hours, under Foodwise's food-access program. Before the transition, tokens were also handed out on Fridays. Tokens issued under the Real Estate Division were to stay valid, and Foodwise said it would begin issuing its own in March 2026.
- A Friday attendance update on Foodwise's This Week's Picks page and in its e-letter, listing new, returning and absent sellers for the next morning.
Foodwise's November 2025 announcement also mentioned seating for customers, more outreach on social media, and gradual improvements shaped by community input. In August 2026 the market held its first big celebration under Foodwise, for National Farmers Market Week, with tastings, family activities, music and free tote bags.
The farms carrying November
Foodwise's Alemany seller directory lists about 80 sellers. Foodwise notes that the lineup shifts from week to week and season to season. The directory's November produce matches what most holiday tables need, and much of it comes from farms with long histories here.
Cipponeri Family Farms has sold at Alemany since 1969. Its 500 acres are in Stanislaus County, about 100 miles from San Francisco, and are run by the grandchildren of Sebastian Cipponeri, who came from Sicily in the early 1900s. The farm is best known for melons. Nuts, nut butters and dried fruit let it sell all year, and its list includes persimmons and pomegranates. Its Foodwise profile also says the family runs its own almond processing plant.
Alma's Produce lists Brussels sprouts, mandarins, persimmons and winter squash, which covers most of a Thanksgiving vegetable plan in one stop.
Alberto's Farm has sold at Alemany since 2014 and lists Brussels sprouts and winter squash.
City Fish Company and Bodega Bay Oyster Co. are the Saturday seafood sellers. The directory links one Alemany seller to Dungeness crab.
For the rest of the table, the directory links 11 Alemany sellers to flowers, five to eggs and two to chestnuts. Foodwise's market-wide picks posted November 6 included acorn squash, pomegranates, Tokyo turnips, golden beets, Fuji apples and celeriac.
The roster also shows a slow turnover at the edges. Foodwise's update for Saturday, November 7 listed Pimiento Catering as a new vendor. Happy Himalayan Momos, Joceline's Wildflower Honey, MA Farm and Martinez Farm were back, and XL Family Farm was out for the season. New names come in a few at a time while the long-standing farms stay in place, which is how Foodwise said the lineup would change.
How the Saturday works
The market runs every Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., all year, rain or shine. Parking is free on-site, with more across the street. Muni lines 9, 23 and 67 stop nearby, and Glen Park is the closest BART station, with Muni connections from there.
The market accepts CalFresh EBT, and Market Match doubles EBT benefits up to $10 per market day. The visitor page also lists VeggieRx, Vouchers 4 Veggies, WIC and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program. Foodwise writes that hundreds of EBT shoppers line up early every Saturday for the match.
The Fall Holiday Farmers Market on Tuesday, November 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is at Ferry Plaza, with more than 20 regular and guest sellers. The Fall Feast Guide and its list of Thanksgiving sellers also cover Ferry Plaza. For Alemany, the Friday update lists which sellers are expected the next morning. The Info Booth can help with any last-minute changes.
Eighty years on Alemany next August
Foodwise's history notes that 2027 will be the market's 80th year at its current site, between the slopes of Bernal Heights and the freeway interchange known as the Alemany Maze. When Brucato died in 2003, the operators at the time commissioned the stall murals to present the market as part of San Francisco's heritage. The anniversary arrives August 2027, the market's second year under Foodwise, and Cipponeri Family Farms will have been selling there for 58 years.
If you're a Bernal Heights neighbor who shops these stalls every Saturday, I'd love to hear which farms you count on this time of year. Paige Gienger of On The Right Paige keeps up with the places on the south slope that make the neighborhood what it is, from the market sheds to Cortland Avenue. Let's Connect.
