Foreword

by Sepeed Emambakhsh

The Milk Pail Market is a small produce market near my home that I often shop at. This place provides fresh and local fruit and vegetables, and also dry products from many different countries. Every time I visit the market, I have to squeeze through, with my tiny little cart, a massive flock of other people. Each of them have a face, background and an ethnicity completely different than my own or the person next to them. But we all share the same purpose here. All of us scurrying about to pick the ripest peaches and the freshest tomatoes. All of us trying to either find a connection to our own culture or to explore others through food. So I have decided to examine this place in detail. How is it that this small business, this Milk Pail Market, contribute to our community? Is it the fruit from a farm in Palo Alto? Is it the variety of imported cheeses? Why is this market so packed every weekend that every couple minutes you have to say “excuse me” to get through with your cart or even just your body?