On Tuesday, March 31, 2015, four of our Spring BEETS (Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens), Cesar Martinez, Clarisse Peterson, Elilita Geletu and Vincente Rivera got a private tour of Bi-Rite Grocery on 18th Street in San Francisco. Shakirah Simley, CommunityGrows Advisory Board Chair and Bi-Rite’s Community Outreach Coordinator led the tour.
Two more Advisory Board members, Leah Cerri and Sherry Bijan also attended, as well as CommunityGrows staff Ezekiel McCarter and Melissa Tang.Shakirah spent time talking to the group about the items in the store, how they are locally sourced and selected. Lots of samples were provided by Kelsey Roeder, Community Outreach Assistant, for the group to taste. In fact the participants learned about what makes a good olive oil and egg production, as well as care and selection of meats and fish conservation.
The participants met Rose Owens, Cheese Inventory Manager who talked about the wide variety of cheese Bi-Rite carries, and the effects of the drought on cheese production.
Fergus McGrath, Grocery Department Manager, talked with everyone about sourcing products with wholesome ingredients and being responsible to what the community wants.
The group got to taste a delicious peach jam, made by Shakirah Simley herself, an in-house canning and jamming expert.
A highlight of the morning was going to Bi-Rite Creamery, down the street from the grocery store to learn about what ingredients go into their ice-cream. Everyone got to sample one of their most popular flavors, Salted Caramel. Then a glimpse into the Creamery kitchen where employee Willy was making pastry cream for Banana Cream Pie!At the end of the morning the youth came together at the 18 Reasons space to have a discussion of what they learned on the tour. They had taken notes throughout the tour and had many insights and questions for Shakirah. The morning was very informative and delicious. Thank you Bi-Rite staff for a wonderful experience! For more photos from the day, see our CommunityGrows Flickr Photostream here.