The Mission

Mission Street

The Mission in San Francisco illustrates the themes covered by this site. Originally the lands of the Ohlone people, it was settled by the Spanish in the late 18^th century as the Mission San Francisco de Asis. By the late 19^th century German, Irish, Italian and later Polish immigrants had settled here. From the 1940’s the Mission became home to Mexican migration, which resulted in many of the European residents eventually moving out. Nearby are areas with thriving Lesbian and Gay communities.

The local identities are reflected in a range of cultural expression. For example the murals on the Woman’s Building and several neighbourhood alleyways, street fairs, food fairs, Cesar Chavez Holiday Parade and Transgender and Dyke marches. This cultural manifestation of course extends to the nature of the food available: Mexican plus a range of Central American and a range of other minority cultures

In recent years the areas surrounding the Mission have gentrified. Silicon valley in particular (for example the routing of the Google buses) has given this a significant boost. Alongside the new largely white wealth are the new associated food outlet concentrated on and around Valencia Street. These include a Ham and Oyster bar, an artisanal cheese and Belgian beer café, the Tartine bakery (with its $9 loaf of bread and $13 sandwiches), Bi-Rite Creamery (hand crafted ice cream) and Delfina Pizzeria.

Running parallel is Mission Street that is still Mexican / Central American. However, money talks and there is slow shift towards the more affluent outlets, with hipster coffee shops as the advanced guard.

As the people change, so does the cultural activity and provision of different foods. As income rises the nature of food changes as well from cheap wholesome basic provision to the more esoteric. If we explore the food on offer as a cultural signifier we can see a range of social and economic processes underway. Competition over retail sites are a metaphor for the underlying process of social change and the resistance to it as a way of defending an existing way of life.