by Cami Dominguez : sfpublicpress – excerpt
With no supermarket and limited transit, residents support each other with a community garden and food pantry
In 2003, Abdo Nasser and his family found themselves on Treasure Island on an uncharacteristically warm San Francisco day. There as tourists, Nasser and his family grew thirsty and searched for a grocery store. However, as they roamed, it became clear there were none.
My wife and I and the kids needed water — it was a hot day,” Nasser said in a recent interview. “There was no water, no snacks, nothing.”
Treasure Island has long been a neighborhood without a retail ecosystem because of its isolation from services available in the rest of San Francisco. While a massive redevelopment project is underway, it has not translated to basics like supermarkets.
Nasser saw an opportunity and approached the Treasure Island Development Authority board of directors. He was told that no long-term lease would be available, since big real estate development projects on the island were imminent. It wasn’t until 2008, Nasser said, that he was given a 600-square-foot “shack” by the lone road connecting the island to the mainland via the Bay Bridge.
Nasser quickly learned that residents wanted and needed more. He moved to a 3,000-square-foot location in 2012 before finally setting up Treasure Island Cove’s current location in 2016. More than two decades after Nasser first searched for a grocery store site, his remains the only one on the island…
Food pantry doubles clientele
But for many residents, off-island food shopping is too burdensome or expensive. One Treasure Island runs a weekly food bank in coordination with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. Established more than 20 years ago, the partnership provides access to fresh produce and non-perishables, with limited amounts of eggs, milk, bread and meat, every Tuesday…
Garden, meet farm
According to Treasure Island Development Authority’s president, V. Fei Tsen, an urban farm was always part of the original Treasure Island master plan.
The plan allocates 13 acres in the center of Treasure Island for farming. Originally the plan set aside 25 acres, but part of that was turned over for a training facility for Bay FC, as well as a potential site for a job training program, Allison Albericci, the development authority’s major sites principal planner, said at a November agency meeting...(more)