Bayview-Hunters Point gets free grocery store to address food insecurity

A 4,000-square-foot market is opening in Bayview-Hunters Point on Wednesday, giving residents facing food insecurity in The City’s southeast corridor the chance to shop from a free selection of groceries while also connecting them to social services.

Located at 5030 3rd St. , the District 10 Community Market will serve low-income residents who meet set criteria, including receiving public assistance, having children in the household or a diet-related illness. Residents must also be referred by a community organization in the market’s referral network and live in the Sunnydale, Visitacion Valley, Potrero Hill or Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhoods.

The market, which officially opens Wednesday, will serve clients on the first Wednesday of every month. City officials said they have plans to scale up operations to as many as four days a week, depending on how many people are served. The San Francisco Human Services Agency contracted Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services to operate the market, which city officials said they hope serves as many as 4,500 community members and 1,500 households a month by this time next year.

Cathy Davis, the executive director of Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services, said in a statement that the market “will bring more dignity and choice to food distribution in San Francisco."

“ We talk about food insecurity and we talk about all the people in the community who need quality produce, quality groceries,” said Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents District 10.

“Turning this space when you look at what it used to be , and you look at what it is now, you can’t help but be excited about the future of our community,” he continued.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture , District 10 includes neighborhoods considered to be food deserts, which are areas lacking consistent access to grocery stores and healthy food. Additionally, city officials said Hunters Point has one of the lowest average incomes in The City.

Walton said that some neighborhood pantries don’t provide healthy options or choices for clients, as their operations often involve handing a pre-packaged box of items to someone seeking support. The community market’s offerings, on the other hand, range from fresh fruits and vegetables to frozen items and dried goods. Organizers said they are sourcing their supply from a range of partners, including Grocery Outlet and Lucky Bayview.

Walton added that the endeavor wants to ensure people in need of these services “have an opportunity to shop with dignity and to have choice in the products that they choose.”

The market’s creation was driven by Supervisor Ahsha Safaí , who introduced an ordinance nearly three years ago funding “food empowerment markets” that would distribute groceries, deliver food to residents with mobility issues, and offer culinary classes from a community kitchen on the site.

“When you walk in here, it feels like a store,” Safaí told the crowd. “That’s how it should be.”

Mayor London Breed told Tuesday’s crowd that the market was built by “listening to the community and making the right investments and making the right policy changes.”

“When I became mayor, we had conversations about food distribution locations,” Breed said. “It always disturbed me that people were still waiting in line in 2018.”

“This is extraordinary and a step in the right direction for what we need to do to address food insecurity in our city, now and into the future,” she added.

Once the market is open, city officials said they have plans to bring its model to other neighborhoods experiencing food insecurity .