It wasn’t easy. But SAMS American Eatery owner Jeannie Kim of San Francisco, Calif., found a way to keep her business alive when the country shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delivering meals to families throughout the area wasn’t an easy thing to figure out when her restaurant had to temporarily shutter, but she says they survived.
Just when things seemed to be getting back closer to normal, a new threat reared its ugly head—Proposition 12. Kim isn’t sure her restaurant, that specializes in American classic breakfast, lunch and dinner, will struggle without its beloved bacon.
“We are known for our breakfast at SAMS and for breakfast, we use a lot of pork,” Kim says. “Bacon breakfast is our number one seller by far.”
The reason this award-winning California restaurant owner is speaking out about her concerns with California’s Proposition 12 is because the regulations forced upon pig farmers – not only in California, but for anyone wanting to sell pork to California – were not provided in enough time to allow pig farmers to make those changes, which will impact the availability of pork products in the state.
“We’re giving everybody allowances during the pandemic to recover, but we’re not doing that for the farmers to make this change?” Kim asks. “Farming takes time. Making changes takes time. Any transition takes time. I want the government and everyone else making these policies and changes to look deeper, to not react, but instead find the best response to resolve the issue and problems. Stop reacting quickly to get instant gratification or satisfaction from a group of people.”
Hesitant to Speak Up
At first, Kim didn’t want to speak up about her concerns because she knew she’d get hate emails and messages. And she did. But the more she thought about what Proposition 12 would do to farmers and small business owners, she felt it was her obligation to help.
“There are tons of restauranteurs that are not even aware of what’s going on. When I talk to other restauranteurs, they’re like, ‘What do you mean? What’s Proposition 12?’ They don’t have a clue,” she says. “I can’t help but think about how this is going to impact them. They are going to wake up one day and not be able to buy pork. And they won’t understand why.”
Kim admits there are so many things she wishes she would have known when she started her business. But a lack of manpower and time to do research on policies and regulations made that a challenge. If there’s a way to help others like her, she wants to do her part.
As a minority small business owner in San Francisco, she believes it is very important to help educate others.
“My daughter loves pork. It’s huge in our Korean culture and cuisine. When I was having this discussion with her, she said, ‘What do you mean I can’t have pork in California? Are you telling me we have to move? I can’t live without my pork belly, mom.’ I thought, ‘Wow, if this is how she feels, how is this going to impact others?’”
Not Just About Farmers
One point Kim stresses over and over is that this isn’t just going to impact farmers. Everyone will be impacted by Proposition 12, including small business owners, restauranteurs and consumers.
“This will be crushing to all small restauranteurs, not to mention food trucks and people who have just recovered from the pandemic to start new,” Kim says. “This will hit them from behind. I want the government to think bigger about the impact it will have or at least extend the time so we can make this happen collaboratively.”
Kim was one of many who voiced concerns during the California Department of Agriculture and California Department of Public Health public hearing on Aug. 27.
