City Slicker Farms

By Food Justice Ally Sarah Holle and Program Assistant Katherine Yagle

For Rosa Oliva and her daughter Carolina Santos, owners of the restaurant Tamales la Oaxaqueña on Market Street, gardening acts as a bridge to their heritage and home. Agriculture plays a large role in their family history as Rosa's father grew up fishing, hunting, farming, and living off the land in Oaxaca, Mexico. Rosa grew up in abundance, with chilis, tomatoes, corn, zucchini, pumpkins, and green beans growing all around her. However, Carolina feels disconnected from this lifestyle, compared to the one she has been living here in Oakland. To her, these memories of her family's past are only stories. "I'm so out of touch with that," Carolina said. "It's an archetypal memory -- it's so ingrained in the culture."

The women are recent recipients of a garden through our Backyard Garden Program. But unlike most of our gardeners, their garden beds are placed in front of their restaurant for anyone passing by to see. Their goal is to be able to use the herbs in their garden for the food they cook and sell. Having the herbs right on their doorstep is very convenient, as often these herbs are inaccessible at local stores and they would have to go quite the distance to find them.

Rosa and Carolina came to Oakland from Oaxaca 20 years ago, so Carolina grew up in a world very different from her mother's. Growing up listening to stories of her illiterate grandfather growing food by the cycles of the moon, she was entranced. Carolina views her work in running this restaurant as a way to support her mother -- and reconnect to their heritage.

"Ever since I came to the states, I dreamed of having a little restaurant," Rosa said, translated by Carolina. "But because [the children] were so young and I was juggling so many things, it didn't seam feasible."

The start of the restaurant happened in a rather organic way. It was around the time of the economic downturn and they were facing foreclosure on their home, when a neighbor who loved the food they made suggested they sell it at a fine arts festival. Rosa is a seasoned cook (Carolina says Rosa often drives store owners crazy with her specific chili preferences, as she can tell if a chili will be acidic just by looking at the color) and although it was just the two of them selling out of their small tamale cart, they could hardly keep up with the business. As they grew out of the commercial kitchen they would rent space from, they acquired their current location.

Getting the business going has been a struggle at points, but the mother-daughter team is determined. The garden, for them, seems the next step in bringing their culture to their new home. As well as using the produce for the restaurant, Rosa is excited to watch the plants grow and have fresh healthy food for her and her family.

"It brings joy, but there's sadness to that too," said Carolina. "We went from owning land and having all this freedom to being in a foreign country and growing in raised beds."

Stop by Tamales La Oaxaqueña at 2608 Market St. to taste some of Rosa and Carolina's amazing mole.