Economy/Labor/Biz

With 18,000 locations worldwide, and 11,000 in the U.S., Americans love their Starbucks. San Francisco is no exception – there are nearly 80 locations in the city and the coffee giant is in talks with city officials about adding yet another store in the city’s iconic Castro district.

Felipa Martinez is a petite woman to begin with, but standing beneath the dais in Contra Costa Superior Court she looked even tinier. Martinez had arrived with her adult daughter in tow, partly for visual assistance (a degenerative eye condition has left her unable to take the bus by herself), partly for translation (she speaks just enough English to get by), and partly for emotional support. The daughter grasped Martinez' shoulder while Judge Steven K. Austin rifled through a stack of old bank statements and receipts.

The San Francisco and Marin Food Banks provide food to 225,000 people each year through different food programs – one of these is their food pantry program. Seventeen percent of the people the food banks serve are homeless. The rest are low-wage workers, older adults, children and the unemployed. The food for the food pantry program is distributed by 230 local pantries in the area, including a small neighborhood organization in San Francisco’s Mission district every Thursday.