20 | EDIBLE SF FALL 2025 IN a city of 800,000—home to more restaurants per capita than almost anywhere else—San Francisco faces a troubling paradox: 130,000 residents experience food insecurity. From Michelinstarred kitchens to late-night taquerias, the Bay Area's culinary abundance stands in stark contrast to the one in six residents who struggle daily to put food on the table. This tension underscores a deeper failure of distribution, access, and political will: if food is plentiful, why do so many go hungry? Early efforts to bridge the gap are often improvised. Rintaro's executive chef and owner, Sylvan Mishima Brackett, recounts installing a shelf he built against the courtyard wall for leftover food in takeaway containers—only to remove it after break-ins from "people climbing over the front wall" made the gesture untenable, highlighting how even well-intentioned acts can founder. "This tension between food insecurity and restaurant abundance is real, but I see them as mutually exclusive rather than related," shares Dalton Thomas, chef-turnedstrategist. "Restaurants are created to serve the community; however, this is with the pressures of the capitalist systems. Income disparities, cost of rent, etc., are all working against the community in the Bay Area, so a restaurant is somewhat forced to serve the community that can support a restaurant in this environment." At several Bay Area farmers' markets, Foodwise provides lifelines for lowincome shoppers. "We have a decades-long partnership with ExtraFood (formerly Food Runners) where produce that would otherwise go to waste at the end of the market is sent to provide meals at food shelters and neighborhood programs for food-insecure San Franciscans," shares Executive Director Christine Farren. Through CalFresh EBT and Market Match, over $265,000 in benefits reached families last year, allowing them to "stretch their food assistance benefits while directly supporting small farms," she adds. Still, these programs reach only a fraction of the food-insecure and require ongoing private fundraising (about $60,000 annually) to survive amid looming budget cuts. In San Francisco, extreme wealth and food insecurity share the same streets PARADOX ON OUR PLATES Writer—Maggie Spicer Photography—Annamae Photo ON EXCESS 1 2 3 1 Breaking bread at Frances 2 Glasses at Valley (Sonoma) 3 Tiny toasts 4 Rintaro's courtyard shelf
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