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A Hard Cider Culture Grows in Washington

NABC has offered classes in hard cider production since 2009. Recently, though, hard cider is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds (see articles, below). Domestic cider production has increased from 1.2 million gallons in 2010 to 2.5 million gallons in 2011, and Washington state produced nearly two hundred thousand gallons of cider in 2011.

In 2011 NABC, in partnership with Washington State University and Northwest Cider Association, received a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the USDA, giving a boost to the emerging hard cider industry in the region. The grant has been used to support cider research, education and marketing, including the various cider courses NABC offers: Orchard Management: Cider Fruit Production; and Cider Making: Principles and Practice (including two parts — An Understanding of Cider & Perry; and Practical production of Cider & Perry). Through this course, NABC also offers a gateway for amateur cider makers to earn a NACM Certification from the National Association of Cider Makers.

Registration is currently open for the following classes and courses:

Orchard Management classes with Gary Moulton • June 23rd and July 28th.
This course will discuss the basics of tree fruit production, with a focus on cider and dessert varieties. Topics will include rootstock, nutrient management, pest management, irrigation, orchard layout planting, pruning, and harvest techniques.

Cider Making Principles and Practice PART 1 ONLY – An Understanding of Cider & Perry with Peter Mitchell • June 25 & 26 OR July 23 & 24
This course will provide students with a broad understanding of cider & perry, the cider industry, and the principles & practices of cider production.

Save the date for Advanced Cider & Perry Production with Peter Mitchell on December 10 – 14, 2012
This course will provide an in-depth understanding of cider microbiology, chemistry, sensory evaluation and technology. Product development, marketing, and operating a successful cider business will also be addressed.

For more information or to register, visit our website or contact Carolyn Goodrich: carolyn.goodrich@agbizcenter.org or 360-336-3727

Click here to see photos of our June 2010 cider courses

A press release about the cider project was distributed by WSU Communications and enjoyed robust press coverage, including the WSU newsletter On Solid Ground, Capital Press, The Missoulian, Seattle Times and more. NABC’s Executive Director David Bauermeister even coordinated an appearance on KCPQ Q13 local television news on March 13. Sharing the television spotlight was Jonathan Roozen representing WSU and Sharon Campbell of Tieton Cider Works representing the Northwest Cider Association. Their joint appearance highlighted cider research, production, availability and a growing market for cider in the northwest. Here’s a toast to good cider press!

Here are more recent articles about Washington’s burgeoning hard cider industry:

Check out this video about the cider production process, created by WSU with support from NABC.

Posted by Emma Brewster on April 25th, 2012

Interested in a Meat Cutting Workshop this Spring? Contact NABC!

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The Island Grown Farmers Cooperative (IGFC) meat processing facility in Bow, WA will repeat their unique Meat Cutting Workshop this spring, with administrative support from the Northwest Agriculture Business Center. The hands-on class provides students with a thorough overview of operations and expert instruction in all aspects of meat processing and butchery. Students will tour the IGFC mobile slaughter unit and stationary facility, learn proper cutting and preparation techniques, and be guided through “breaking” a beef carcass into the desirable cuts used every day. This year, select course dates will also include sheep butchery training.

This workshop is targeted to culinary students and chefs already working in the industry. Traditionally food service operations purchase meat in individually packed, ready-to-serve portions: rarely do chefs have the opportunity to study fabrication of a whole animal. This innovative program provides highly valuable experience and in-depth knowledge generally unavailable to customers. Each class will be staffed by two of IGFC’s master meat cutters and an assistant to provide individual guidance.

Workshop dates will be confirmed based communicated demand. The courses will be held on Mondays from February through May. The cost is $85 per student, and includes a barbeque lunch and workshop supplies. School groups receive one complimentary registration for an instructor or coordinator for every 11 students registered. Due to the hands-on nature of the course, enrollment is limited to 12 attendees. Class times are from 8am to 5pm.

To express interest in participating in this course, or for more information, please contact Sera Hartman at the Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC) by phone at 360-336-3727 or by email at Sera@AgBizCenter.org. This workshop will only be offered if expressed interest is communicated to NABC directly.

Posted by Lucy Norris on February 17th, 2012

Strength Through Diversity: People, Products, Markets

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By PSFN’s Communications and Outreach Coordinator, Emma Brewster

On Thursday, Cascade Harvest Coalition hosted the Olympic Peninsula Farm to Table Trade Meeting in Port Townsend. The overwhelming theme of the day was the importance of diversity: diversity of knowledge, experience, markets, and products.

To kick off the event, Dr. Laura Lewis, the new Director of WSU extension services for Jefferson County, delivered a refreshingly scientific keynote address. Dr. Lewis spoke about “agrobiodiversity” and economic development opportunities therein for farmers and members of the local food economy on the Olympic Peninsula.

Much of Dr. Lewis’s presentation drew on the concept of Edge Theory, commonly used in permaculture design, among other applications. Edge Theory asserts that the edges of areas (of biomes, of neighborhoods, of garden plots…) harbor a tremendous amount of diversity, and discusses the desirable resiliency and stability found through such eclecticism. Dr. Lewis offered the example of ecotones: the areas between biomes or environmental regions such as the salty march which separates the grassy dunes from the sea, or the Serengeti savannah which joins the Sahara desert to the central rainforest in Africa. These inter-regions are areas of great biodiversity, abundance, and environmental dynamism, and are less affected by changes which might devastate the environ on either side. Ecotones both result from and indicate a gradient of conditions between zones, such as changing precipitation levels, shifting temperature, or differential access to sunlight.

Dr. Lewis reminded us that realms between more distinct areas are not just an environmental or biological phenomenon, but that the local food economy on the Olympic Peninsula (and in other regions) is a sort of ecotone itself. Dr. Lewis pointed out that our agricultural system is not simply a linear chain from seed to spoon, but rather there is in fact a large amount of dynamism and potential where players in the food system interact and overlap.

In these overlapping areas of knowledge and practice, we can choose to ignore or capitalize on our interconnectedness by choosing to either share or withhold knowledge from one another. For instance, a chef who discontinues his order from a local farm, but does not tell the farm what it was that made the chef switch to a different source – quality, price, delivery hiccups – foregoes the opportunity to improve the relationship and the system as a whole because the farm has not learned or grown from the experience. Relationships among different players in the system and the system entirely are strengthened and both see more stability in the long term when knowledge and experience are shared.

The space in the center of the diagram here is the “area of vital connection” across systems. It is this area of diversity and interconnectedness in our own agricultural system that we need to sustain together, and which should be more highly valued and utilized in an effort to strengthen our local agricultural economy.

With this in mind, as players in the regional food system we can decide to capitalize on the edges that exist within our own systems to identify barriers and weaknesses and to strengthen bonds and systematic resiliency. Interaction between producers and consumers can point out the weaknesses in processing capacity, storage facilities, marketing assistance, and distribution capabilities available. We can then work together to develop milling, meat processing, and distilling facilities; wholesale, direct, collective, and cooperative distribution options; and other infrastructural helps. The more successful we are at preserving interconnectedness, the more stable we’ll all be in the long term. PSFN is proud to be a group that represents each sector in this vital center (consumers, producers, processors, distributors and other service providers). We aim to help share knowledge and information across perceived barriers in an effort to support the regional food economy in the Puget Sound.

Photo courtesy of Nash's Organic Produce

A panel discussion also spoke to the idea of diversity and to the benefit to diversifying both products and markets. PSFN Member Kia Armstrong spoke about all the different outlets for Nash’s Organic Produce, and about the pros and cons of each. Nash’s is currently wholesaling about 50% of their products through three or four major wholesalers throughout the Northwest and Canada. Nash’s recently opened its own small grocery store where you can buy all your favorite Nash’s produce and everything else “from olive oil to toilet paper!” as Kia says. In addition to the store, the farm is now more active than ever before at farmers’ markets, and is looking to expand its partnerships with regional institutions. Nash’s currently holds an on-site farmers market at the Olympic Medical Center on Tuesdays. Hospital staff are able to swipe their payroll deduct cards at the market (as opposed to needing cash), which is convenient for shoppers and reliable income for the farm. In its efforts to expand its institutional relationships, Nash’s is also in the process of getting into local schools through the Jefferson and Clallum county Farm to Cafeteria programs, as both schools are working under new local buying initiatives. Kia and Nash’s Organic Produce has partnered with PSFN in the past in marketing their produce to child care centers and to senior meal programs through our Farm to Table Project.

It is institutional markets like these that excite Kathy Pryor of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR) and Heathcare Without Harm (HWH), who also participated in the panel. Kathy is working to gain signatories to the Healthy Food in Healthcare pledge, which commits healthcare institutions to use their enormous purchasing power to improve the health of the food system while also modeling healthy behavior for patients, visitors, and staff.

The healthcare industry is the third largest institutional purchaser of food (after colleges and universities, and elementary schools), and mostly purchases through the same mainline distributors as other, smaller institutional buyers like preschools and senior meal programs. The Healthy food in Healthcare commitment asks hospitals to use their “moral authority” as healthcare providers to support local producers who healthfully and ethically produce their products. By harnessing the purchasing power of the hospitals, WPSR and HWH is able to pave the way for smaller institutions and other local buyers to source their food carefully and locally.

Some local success stories of hospitals partnering with farms include:

The Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles was the first hospital in the state to set up an onsite farm stand, and to use produce purchased from that stand in kitchen at least once a week.
Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton is now directly purchasing whole carcass beef over the winter months, something that Kathy hasn’t seen yet elsewhere.
United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley just won second place in the nation for its sustainable food purchasing. Head Chef Chris Johnson made lots of local purchasing relationships with PSFN member farms at our Skagit and Seattle summer Wholesale Markets, and has been able to sustain them, leading to his award.

United General Hospital is currently purchasing 15% of its food for cafeteria and in-patient dining from local producers. The hospital that placed first in the competition (Fletcher Allen Healthcare in Burlington, VT – not far from where I grew up) is at an astounding 40%! So… it can be done!

In contrast to these inspiring local purchasing percentages of 15 and 40%, panel moderator, Katherine Barill of EDC Team Jefferson, reminded us that across the country, only one half of 1% of consumer food is purchased direct from the farmer by the end user. In Jefferson County, that proportion is a relatively impressive 4%. Ms. Barill challenged the audience to envision what might be possible economically for the county and the region if we could raise that number to 20% by 2020? The goal of 20% by 2020 is also the goal set out by the Real Food Challenge, a key partner of PSFN this year, for colleges and universities in the Northwest. The Real Food Challenge also has a food commitment to be signed by college and university presidents and chancellors to similarly harness the purchasing power of colleges and universities.

Kathy sees this region of Washington as a prime candidate for this type of innovative food purchasing at healthcare and other institutions because of the high diversity of farms, as well as the somewhat limited geographic layout: Kathy markets the idea of local food purchasing to hospitals as an essential part of the facilities’ emergency preparedness plan, which all hospital are required to have. It’s an incredible resource to have food at their fingertips (and have the necessary relationships in tact) to feed patients in case of any major disaster which might result in limited transportation or other infrastructural losses.

This panel also discussed the importance of diversifying local products manufactured and sold in our region. Panelist Laura Lawless of the Port Townsend Food Co-op harped on value-added products as one of the most effective ways of ensuring income over the winter months for regional farms. She suggested the alternative value-added markets of health and beauty products, the herb and spice market, and medicinals as the next frontier for local producers. (PSFN is so excited for our soon-to-be-former Operations Manager, Ann Leason, for soon devoting the majority of her time to her own herb farm for health and beauty products, as well as medicinal herbs. Go Ann!)

Laura also gave some great suggestions of value-added products needed in the area:

Processed meats like salami and sausage
Frozen convenience foods for busy families – at the Port Townsend co-op they have a frozen Tamale that they can’t keep on the shelves!
Kale and produce chips
Salad Dressing
Pet food

For advice on, and assistance in, entering the value-added marketplace, PSFN and NABC are offering a Transition to Value Added Business Course this winter. The introductory courses in market assessment and business plan development have already passed, but product development classes in a variety of categories remain:

Value-added Dairy Workshop – Friday, January 27, 2012
Value-add Floral and Nursery Workshop – Thursday, February 2, 2012
Value-added Meat Workshop – Monday, February 6, 2012
Valued Added Prepared Foods – Thursday, February 16, 2012

For more information about these classes, contact Jeff Voltz: jeff@agbizcenter.org / (360) 593-4744

As a final word of advice, Laura said the most important thing you can do as a producer is to take the time to come to the store, demo your product, and tell your story your way to your customers. We at PSFN agree. Telling your story through your brand, your label, and in person is essential.

So in summary, diversity is the key! We should all work to diversify relationships and enhance interconnectedness among different players in the regional food system; producers should diversify their markets (and focus on institutional partnerships) and their products. Diversification of activities across the agricultural continuum will enable all stakeholders to manage risk, which will promote economic development. Diversity is the key to regional economic stability and resilience. So… let’s get talking!

Posted by Emma Brewster on December 12th, 2011

PSFN Participates in 1st Ever National Food Day!

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Monday was the first time the nation celebrated Food Day, and PSFN was not to be left out! We collaborated with Public Health – Seattle & King County, The Real Food Challenge Northwest, and students at The University of Washington to spread the gospel of local food for institutional food service!

Food Day, sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and “backed by an impressive advisory board that includes anti-hunger advocates, physicians, authors, politicians, and leaders of groups focused on everything from farmers markets to animal welfare to public health, seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life—parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes—to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.” Food Day 2011 paraded six tenets linking the importance of food’s connection to community and global health and wellness. The priorities of National Food Day 2011 were to:

Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

In an effort to address these priorities on a local and, ultimately, global scale PSFN partnered with students involved in the Real Food Challenge at the University of Washington to help muster student and campus support for more Real Food on campus, that is, food that is locally produced and community based, and verifiably produced in ways that are fair to humans, humane to animals, and ecologically sound. PSFN has been partnering with the Real Food Challenge since June in an effort to connect more food producers in Northwest Washington with college and university food service in our region. The University of Washington has been a leader in this effort so far, and we were ecstatic to partner with UW students for Food Day!

Student leaders hosted two Food Day events on Monday, first tabling for Real Food Challenge outside the library. Of course the best way to attract college students to a tabling event on campus is to offer FREE FOOD, and PSFN did just that! PSFN members and NABC-affiliated producers graciously donated wonderful, ‘real’ product samples for the event. Students devoured 3 Sisters’ uncured pepperoni, Twin Brook Creamery‘s delicious chocolate milk, Skagit Fresh’s wonderful seasonal apple cider, and Belly Timber’s easy-to-pack “survival bars”, recently picked up by REI to be sold in major stores across the country! Students loved having the opportunity to sample these high quality, locally produced, and community based foods that one day (with enough student support) could end up in retail and dining facilities on the UW campus!

Photo Courtesy of Real Food UMD

Students in the Real Food Challenge student organization engaged their passerby peers in conversation about the possibilities of getting more Real Food on campus, offering each student the opportunity to participate in a “photo-petition” wherein each student could express their specific, individual want for food on campus. Students said they wanted to see, “FRESH greens!” “More local options on campus,” “HAPPY BACON!” and “…for the food I HAVE to buy on campus to better reflect what I would choose to buy as an individual consumer off campus,” among other requests. Throughout the year, student leaders at UW and PSFN’s Emma Brewster, who’s serving as a Regional Field Organizer for the Real Food Challenge as part of her AmeriCorps term of service with NABC, will work with these students to voice their demands to university Housing and Food Services, and work with HFS to move UW forward in the quest for Real Food on campus.

Interested students were also asked to sign an endorsement of the Real Food Challenge Campus Commitment, hot off the presses and officially released nationally on Food Day itself! The Campus Commitment, when signed by a university president (as has been done by St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota already!) affirms a school’s commitment to Real Food through the creation of campus food systems working group, the drafting of a campus food policy, and a pledge to purchase 20% Real Food annually for campus eateries by 2020. If all target school achieve this goal, the Real Food Challenge will move 1 Billion dollars of campus food expenditure to food produced locally and in ecologically sound, fair and just, and humane ways by 2020. On Monday, dozens of students signed their support for this commitment to be adopted at UW.

On Monday evening, in concert with a campus-wide sustainability summit, Real Food Challenge students co-hosted a Food Day film screening of the Seattle-based films Carbon Nation and Unwasted and through an intersession discussion tied the issues of climate change and environmental degradation depicted in the films to direct remedial Real Food action on campus. PSFN also provided samples of local, ‘real’ snacks from PSFN members for this movie event. More films will be shown throughout this week for the campus sustainability summit, and Real Food Challenge UW intends to attend those events and introduce Real Food campus sustainability priorities to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn who will attend a film screening on Thursday.

What a week! We’re so glad to be connected with such passionate students who won’t rest (literally – they got 3 hours of sleep Sunday night preparing for these events!) until their campus purchases and serves food responsibly grown in Northwest Washington. Check out Real Food Challenge Northwest on Facebook for updates about ongoing Food Day events at Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, Washington State University, Everett Community College, Gonzaga University, Whitman College, and Eastern Washington University. All these schools have committed students working for Real Food on their campus.

Not bad for a first go, Food Day! We’re already looking forward to the 2nd annual National Food Day in 2012!

Posted by Emma Brewster on October 26th, 2011

Seattle Tilth Farm Works Open House

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Seattle Tilth Farm Works Open House on October 22, 2011

By Lucy Norris, PSFN Project Manager

This morning I attended Seattle Tilth Farm Works Open House. It was a dark and rainy morning but the last few miles of pavement leading towards the farm was beautifully framed by yellow and orange foliage. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see Mt. Rainier but on a sunny day the farm boasts a spectacular mountain view. Regardless, I was happy to be there.

Established in 1978, Seattle Tilth is a local nonprofit best known for it’s organic gardening education programs. Farmer education is new territory for Seattle Tilth. In fact, it was Burst for Prosperity who piloted the farm program in 2009 and then passed the reigns to Seattle Tilth in 2010. Under the leadership of Seattle Tilth, a true farm incubator program is thriving. Seattle Tilth Farm Works currently operates in Auburn, WA (on land owned by Seattle Parks and Recreation) and it’s where participating farmers comprised of Somali Bantu immigrants “learn how to operate a small farm by actually operating the farm” in a supportive, low risk environment. First year farmers are given access to small plots of about 1/4 acre that can increase during their time in the program based upon demonstrated competency and improvement. The goal is to help refugees, immigrants and other low-income individuals create a better life for themselves through their own farm enterprise. In turn, the foods they grow are marketed locally, increasing healthy food access in their own communities.

Program Manager Eddie Hill guides a farm tour starting at the well.

Program Manager Eddie Hill guided a tour of the farm and explained how the land was previously used as a dairy farm. It took only a hundred days – thanks to a host of farms like Full Circle, compost supplier Cedar Grove Composting and community volunteers (even the Seattle Sounders soccer team!)- to prepare the farm incubator site to be suitable for program participants to grow their first crops in time for summer market season. They grew a variety of gorgeous vegetables like beets, broccoli, romanesco (an Italian heirloom), turnips, cabbage, lettuce, and cauliflower. Recently they sold two goats, the first animals to be raised and sold from the farm.

Seattle Tilth Farm Works in Auburn, WA

This year’s list of buyers was impressive! This summer’s produce was sold at Des Moines Waterfront Farmers Market, Highline Community College, Puget Consumer’s Co-op, Central Co-op, a handful of South King County restaurants and smaller grocery stores. They are also selling to Grand Central Baking Co (also a member of PSFN) who turn seasonal produce into delectable and savory pastries. Farm Manager Micah Anderson even participated in the Seattle Wholesale Market that PSFN held in the parking lot of the Mt Zion Baptist Church last August. Seattle Tilth Farm Works joined PSFN in March 2011.

Standing in the rain, Ramadan (from Fatima Farms- a program participant) is holding a fresh-picked turnip

Seattle Tilth’s Executive Director, Andrea Dwyer also announced that Seattle Tilth Farm Works was recently awarded a three-year Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development grant from United States Department of Agriculture for $483,160 to continue their work with refugee, immigrant and other socially-disadvantaged farmers to help them create viable agricultural enterprises growing and selling mixed vegetables and small livestock. PSFN congratulates Seattle Tilth Farm Works for a wonderful year, and we look forward to seeing more great work from them in year’s to come.

Carol Gregory of Burst for Prosperity talks with Ron Harris-White of Seattle Parks and Recreation

For inquiries about the farm or products, please contact Micah Anderson micahanderson@seattletilth.org or call (206) 633-0451 ext. 120. The farm is also accepting applications for farm interns (boarding is included) as well as next year’s round of farm participants. For more information please visit: http://seattletilth.org/about/farmincubatorprogram

Micah Anderson and farmers from the Seattle Tilth Farm Works program show off their fresh chard and collards

Posted by Lucy Norris on October 23rd, 2011

Week-long Cider Production Workshop A Big Hit!

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Last week, PSFN’s Parent organization, the Northwest Agriculture Businesses Center (NABC), held its Hard Cider Production & Orchard Management course! Hosted by the WSU-Mount Vernon Research Center, the class was split into the two phases of cider production: orchard management and cider production itself.

Gary Moulton teaching course participants grafting techniques at the Red Barn Cidery orchard

The Orchard Management and Cider Fruit Production course was taught by Gary Moulton of Washington State University. Gary is an orchardist and cider production expert and has been working in the field for decades. The topics discussed in this hands-on course included soil quality, orchard layout, rootstock selection, variety selection, pollinators, irrigation, pruning, thinning, pest management, harvest methods, and grafting techniques.

The hands-on class then led the students down the road to the Red Barn Cidery. Gary Moulton and Drew Zimmermen (owner) gave the students a detailed tour of the cider orchard and processing facility. After a hard day’s work, the students and instructors kicked back and relaxed in the beautiful Red Barn tasting room. Talk about perks of the trade – a post-class happy hour doesn’t get much more convenient than that!

Practical Production of Cider and Perry students learning how to titrate

For the remainder of the week, focus shifted to cider production in a week-long course, Cider Making: Principals & Practices taught by cider production expert Peter Mitchell. The first part of the class focused on giving participants a broad appreciation for cider and taught the tenets of cider and perry production. Then things got a lot more in depth… Students were granted access the experimental cider lab of the WSU-Mount Vernon Research Center. In the lab, students were taught how to test the chemical properties of their cider and were given the opportunity to create their own cider recipes with the advice of Mr. Mitchell.

On Friday, the final day of the course, class was held at La Conner Flats! Members of the local agriculture and cider community were invited for a lunch time cider networking event. These community members were able to critique ciders made by class participants and offer valuable feedback, support, and advice.

What a great week! The Cider Principals & Production class will be held again if we can muster enough interest. Contact Ann Leason with any questions about future cider classes: ann@psfn.org / (360) 336-3666.

For more photos of the cider production classes, visit our Facebook Page!

Posted by Emma Brewster on July 7th, 2011

PSFN Member Helps Provide Crucial Summer Nutrition to Kids!

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This Saturday, the City of Seattle kicked off its Summer Food Service Program for Seattle children. The program helps ensure recipients of free or reduced-price school lunches have access to nutritious daily meals when school is not in session over the summer months. This year, PSFN Member Maltby Produce is selling fresh produce to the program.

PSFN is ecstatic to be part of Seattle Human Services Department’s Kids and Teens Eat Free Summer Food Service Program. The program, beginning today and running through Friday, August 26, provides free breakfasts, lunches and snacks for children and youth aged 1 – 18. The meals are served to children at 90 approved sites throughout the city where at least half the children are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches. Sites include designated community centers, Seattle park playgrounds, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs and YWCAs, and other community sites throughout Seattle and parts of King County.

: Samples of the produce bags to be included in this year’s Summer Food Service Program. Community guests were able to take these home!

In addition to daily packaged meals and snacks, participating children will have access to free bags of fresh produce to bring home to their families weekly. The fresh produce bags are an exciting addition to the meal program this year. Because of City of Seattle partnerships made through the Farm to Table project this year, PSFN was chosen to coordinate the produce bag pilot. PSFN’s Karen Mauden and Lucy Norris visited over five serious farm candidates for the program, interviewing only PSFN members. Based on highly competitive selection screening criteria given to us by the City of Seattle, we chose
Maltby Produce/Marshland Orchards as the exclusive local produce grower for this groundbreaking program and we’re confident they will do an exceptional job! Maltby will be selling fresh fruits and vegetables to fill 8000 bags to be distributed among participating children at meal sites over the course of the 2-month program. We hope this will lead to more opportunities for local farms to connect with schools and other city feeding programs in the future.

The Seattle Summer Food Service Program is funded by a $225,000 Walmart Foundation grant. The grant is part of a larger 25 million dollar project to support summer learning programs, nutritious food access and job opportunities for kids and teens over the summer. Through this summer giving initiative, Walmart will feed 8 million nutritious meals to more than 85,000 kids, help 20,000 students enroll in summer learning programs and provide jobs and training to 5,000 youth. This 25 million dollar project is itself part of a broader Walmart commitment promising two billion dollars to help fight hunger in America. Walmart has committed to help areas where federal, state, or other government funding for healthy food access has been cut.

: Natalie Thomson of Seattle Human Services Early Learning and Family Support (ELFS) division, Carol Cartmell, nutritionist for the Child and Adult Care Food Program, Maltby Produce’s Marijke Postema, and PSFN’s Lucy Norris.

On Saturday, Seattle Human Services was joined by PSFN, Maltby Produce, Walmart Foundation representatives and community guests at the New Holly Gathering Hall in Southeast Seattle to kick-off the program! Key speakers included State Representative Eric Pettigrew representing Washington’s 37th Legislative District (South/southeast Seattle area), and U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott. McDermott, a child psychologist as well as politician and a known champion of poverty issues, spoke about how eating well consistently is crucial for children’s proper development, allowing kids to reach their full potential. Human Services Director Danette Smith agreed, saying, “When it comes to our kids, we must do everything possible to provide them the nutrition needed to be healthy, active and ready for the future.”

An interesting facet of the program is the integration of eating, learning, and physical activity. Seattle Human Services Director Danette Smith emphasized the importance of connecting kids to meals and to educational programming over the summer break so that “they may gain, not lose, nutrition and learning opportunities over the summer months.”

Emphasizing this marriage of healthy eating and learning, the launch event included a diverse array of performances and activities. Seattle Parks and Recreation sponsored a performance by the Adefua African Music and Dance Company which offered a rhythm of welcoming and a rhythm of healing for the community members at the gathering. This group will offer free African music, dance, and language education for kids at Othello Park over the summer. City volunteers read the book, From Head to Toe by Eric Carle in both English and Somali. The book encourages children to move different parts of their bodies, and builds confidence in children’s physical abilities by repeating, “yes, I can!” There was also a performance of Mexican music, and dance performance by the Union Gospel Mission’s Youth Dance Troupe! Tabling organizations offered books and information on summer reading programs for kids, free blood pressure tests, and nutrition information from families. Continuing this tie between healthy eating/active living and summer education, as part of the Summer Food Service Program the Seattle Public Library will provide fun and educational programming in conjunction with the feeding program (such as story times in five different languages!) as well as provide free books for children at story time sites.

PSFN Project Manager, Lucy Norris, and Maltby Produce’s Marijke Postema and her husband, John, spoke at the kick-off, expressing their excitement about their business’ involvement in this important summer program. Maltby Produce brought beautiful produce displays including samples of the produce bags which will be distributed through the program. They also provided case loads of beautiful, fresh veggie snacks for the event including baby cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and broccoli for munching on! It was a riot to watch skeptical tots take bites out of rainbow carrots with the tops still on– they were a big hit! Maltby Produce and PSFN are really excited to play a role in introducing new and exciting fresh fruits and vegetables to children and families in need in our community!

This program is a real win-win for Seattle children and Maltby Produce (and all local producers!). It goes to show that connecting fresh, healthful foods with children and families in need is a viable and exciting market opportunity for small- and mid-sized local producers! As PSFN’s Lucy Norris said,

There is ripe opportunity for PSFN to continue working within our region to build a self-sustaining food system that mobilizes businesses and institutions, aids underserved communities and increases the profitability of farmers in Northwest Washington. Opportunities like the Summer Feeding Program led by the City of Seattle can serve as an example for other communities within the region and other parts of the United States.

We’re so pleased to be able to be a part of this exciting program. Stay tuned for updates on the project and photos of some of the first produce deliveries!

For more pictures of this weekend’s program launch, visit our Facebook Page
Komo 4 News coverage of the launch: http://rainiervalley.komonews.com/news/parents-kids/special-summer-program-keeps-kids-going-hungry/649299
City of Seattle Press Release: http://www.seattle.gov/news/detail.asp?ID=11854&Dept=21

For more information or to find out where a child you know can receive summer meals, contact Javier Pulido, Program Coordinator, Human Services Department, at 206-386-1140 or javier.pulido@seattle.gov.

Posted by Emma Brewster on June 27th, 2011

PSFN Under the Big Sky!

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PSFN’s Operation Manager, Ann Leason, and Farm to Community Coordinator, Emma Brewster, spent this last weekend in Missoula, Montana attending the 2011 Joint Annual Meetings of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS), Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), & the Society for Anthropology of Food and Nutrition titled Food and Agriculture Under the Big Sky: People, Partnerships, Policies.

University of Montana, Missoula Campus

The meeting in Big Sky Country was just what the conference title promised: a tremendous convergence of all folks food (we met gastronomy students, nutritionists, produce distributors, winemakers, Thai agronomy students, chefs, grocers, sociology professors, corn farmers, policy makers, buffalo ranchers, food anthropologists, cookbook authors…) all looking to think and work collaboratively on a wide array of contemporary food and agriculture challenges.

Ann and I were privileged to present on the recent work of PSFN with institutional foodservice in the Puget Sound region. Our session was titled, Equity, Health & Regional Food Economies: the Power of Institutional Markets. Ann introduced session attendees to PSFN’s work setting up and hosting its Wholesale Markets in the Skagit Valley and Seattle last summer. (This year’s Wholesale Markets will run mid-July thru early September. Contact ann@psfn for more info on buying and selling). Ann spoke of the successes of the Wholesale Markets for PSFN Members– producers and buyers alike! She shared anecdotes of Chef Chris Johnson’s overhaul of the Coho Cafe at United General Hospital and how sponsor Wholefoods picked up Dale Sherman’s unique sugar hubbard squash to sell in all of their Washington and Oregon stores. I then presented PSFN’s involvement in the CDC-funded Farm to Table (F2T) project, which is working to connect fresh fruits and vegetables from local producers to typically underserved consumers in Seattle and King County. The Wholesale markets, namely working with Chef Chris Johnson and Chef Peter Roberge of Skagit Valley Hospital, as well as PSFN’s periodic cooperation with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility opened PSFN’s eyes to the opportunity of institutional purchasing to local producers and thus and opened the doors for the F2T Project.

Co-presenter Crissie McMullan with Emma and Ann

Also on our panel was Crissie McMullan of Grow Montana, and one of the founders of Montana FoodCorps, and now advisor to the National FoodCorps program. Crissie also works for the National center for Appropriate Technology. Crissie shared her work integrating locally produced products into the University of Montana, Missoula dining halls, and in establishing the FoodCorps program first in Montana and now as an advisor to the development of a national Food Corps. Together, we were able to speak about farm-to-institution purchasing specific to hospitals, senior meal programs, childcare, elementary schools, and university cafeterias. Our session harnessed a decent-sized and active audience: a mix of academics, farmers, students, educators, non profit groups, and others. One of the most interesting attendees was a representative of the Center for a Livable Future of Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. The mission of this institute is to bringing together research and thinking on the confluence of agriculture, food, and public health – a liaison which, for us, became somewhat of a theme of the whole conference.

The Keynote Address solidified this theme of food and health. Albert Borgman, Regents Professor of Philosophy at the University of Montana since 1970 and former classmate of Wendell Berry, delivered “The Culture of the Table: Reweaving the Contexts of Celebration.” Borgmann quoted Aristotle, reminding us that “nutrition and growth are marks of life,” uniting and syncing all creatures. In this way, Borgmann called eating a universal act which has the perhaps unique capability of uniting necessity and transcendence.

Borgmann pointed to food’s unique ability to both playing a role in determining culture, and to indicate and communicate the culture of a family or community to others. Anyone who has shared a meal abroad or with a family of another culture can attest that eating has the power to “disclose the world we live in.” The way we eat is a response to the world we live in whether illustrating culturally-steeped meals using food food endemic to a region, or by illustrating the now complicated, perhaps multinational system through which food arrives at our plates.

Borgmann spoke of this transformation of food, eating, and living over the last century saying, “the mark of a new epoch is when the inconceivable becomes the plausible.” Indeed, so many inconceivable ideas are now commonplace in modern life, and especially in modern food production in America (and elsewhere, I presume, as Dr. Borgmann himself hails from Freiburg, Germany). Borgmann posited that Because of technological development and the differentiation of spheres in American life and labor and productivity, America has experienced a loss of “competence and comprehension.” That once, every person knew an essential, marketable skill, whether they were a baker, smith, or a miller. Because of this, individuals were capable and indisposable in their communities– resilient communities of interdependent skilled individuals.

Now, individuals and communities are less skilled, less engaged with one another, and therefore less resilient. The table, (both in literal and figurative interpretations– think of the expression for collaboration and cooperation,“coming to the table”) has the power to reweave the resiliency of communities through engagement and health. As he said it, the table designates the place where we eat. It is like the picnic blanket which, though somewhat arbitrary, when laid on the ground distinguishes the civilized from the uncivilized, creating a stage and a space for eating. The table then, in comparison, elevates and stabilizes that place of security and civility, (just as families coming together for meals stabilizes family life and health).

The table is a Gathering place. It gathers people– people who are dear to one another, who are accepting of one another, and who have agreed to sit with one another. It gathers food from many places, and it gathers “strands of diverse views of the world into a fabric of understanding.” Borgmann reminded us that “you cannot gather what has no extension” and that things that may be gathered are inherently things that can be traced… whether to the grocery store, to the farmers’ market, or to the original source. It is this traceability, he thinks, that will begin to restore competence and comprehension to American families.

With this traceability of food in mind, Borgmann challenged the audience to “push people to what’s better and better within the limits of the possible.” This method is very much a theme in PSFN projects, especially in the Farm to Table project where limited budgets, time, and cook skills limit the use of whole, fresh fruits and vegetables in senior and childcare meal programs. We all try to work together to do the best we can with what we have, and that’s a success!

Chefs and Catering staff (curiously constumed as fly fishermen and "farmers"...) at Feast

Other conference Events included a beautiful exhibit of documentary photographs by Katie Knight, “Montana Solutions: A Documentary of Grassroots Leadership” (view here) and “Feast,” the conference dinner event showcasing locally-sourced Montana foods.

And of course, no visit to any new city is complete without a visit to the local Farmers’ Market, and Ann and I gave it a thorough “professional investigation” Saturday morning. We sampled delicious Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (much like that of PSFN friend Aldrich Farms) which the producers suggest pairing with BBQ chicken or marinated flank steak. We (expectedly) found some buffalo jerky, and (unexpectedly) some shrimp ceviche…? At least the tomatoes were local!

All in all, it was a marvelous conference. We met a wonderful diversity of very interesting, smart, and hardworking folks, all working in different ways to study or change the evolving food system. It’s rumored that next year’s meeting will be held in New York City, if you’re interested in joining the caravan to the big city!

For more photos of the conference, visit our Facebook Page

Posted by Emma Brewster on June 14th, 2011

Grand Opening of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market!

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Yesterday was the Grand Opening of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market!* A cooperative of growers from Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, this market brings together the best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in locally grown cut flowers, greens and ornamentals.

Check out these beautiful pictures taken at the market’s Grand Opening yesterday!

Thanks to Rosemary Washington for her beautiful photographs of the market. Check out Rosemary’s blog!

See more pictures of the Seattle Growers Wholesale Market on our Facebook Page

As a PSFN member, the Seattle Wholesale Growers Cooperative sought technical assistance from NABC in establishing this cooperative and the market. NABC’s Jeff Voltz was essential in helping to organize the cooperative. PSFN is hosting a page for the market on our website and develops and sends the weekly fresh sheet for the market.

The market’s soft opening was April 20, but a cold spring delayed many crops by 3-4 weeks. Because of this, only some member farmers participated earlier in the season. Now the market is officially open for business and more and more vendors and crops will come each week.

Current Members of the Seattle Wholesale Market Cooeprative include:
Alaska Hardy Peony, Fritz Creek, AK
Charles Little & Company, Eugene, OR
Dan’s Dahlias, Oakville, WA
Everyday Flowers, Stanwood, WA
Glacier Peonies, Homer, AK
Gold Peak Flowers, Tillamook, OR
Greenwood Wholesale Floral, Seattle, WA
J. Foss Garden Flowers, Chehalis, WA
Jello Mold Farm, Mount Vernon, WA
North Fork Farm, Deming, WA
Oregon Coastal Flowers, Tillamook, OR
Peonies Plus, Elma, WA
The Cooperative and its market is a membership-based organization, and each farm pays to participate.

The Seattle Wholesale Growers Market is open for business Mondays 6 AM – 12 PM; Wednesdays 6 AM - 2 PM and Fridays 6 AM to 2 PM at the Original Rainier Brewery Building in the heart of Georgetown, 5840 Airport Way South, Seattle. This market is WHOLESALE ONLY. You must bring a copy of your Washington State Reseller’s Permit to obtain a buyer’s pass. For more information please contact info@seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com or call Diane Szukovathy at 206-290-3154.

*Not to be confused with PSFN’s Wholesale Markets! PSFN’s second seasons of Wholesale Markets in Seattle and Mount Vernon will begin again in mid-July. These food markets serve as a physical hub for producers and buyers of high-quality, locally-produced foods to meet one another and make purchases. This year, the Skagit Wholesale Market will be held on Thursday mornings, 8:30 -10:30 AM in the underpass parking lot of the Skagit Valley Food Coop, 202 South 1st Street in Mount Vernon. Interested vendors should contact Ann Leason, ann@psfn.org. Details on the Seattle Wholesale Market will be released shortly.

Posted by Emma Brewster on May 19th, 2011

Whatcom Food Network Forum – May 11, 2011

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There were so many interesting people to meet and so little time! The Whatcom Food Network committee organized a great event that many not for profit organizations, local businesses, city and county representatives, community groups, local food activists, environmentalists, and interested individuals attended. PSFN was fortunate enough to take part in such a fun networking event.

“Working to build common understanding and facilitate collaborative efforts toward a healthy and equitable food system for all”. This is the mission statement of the Whatcom Food Network Planning Committee. This group is well on their way! Speakers at the event included Samya Lutz, Whatcom County Planning Department, Colleen Burrows, WSU Whatcom County Extension, Rosalinds Guillen, Community to Community Development, Nicole Willis, Whatcom County Health Department, Marde Solomon & Holly O’Neil, Whatcom Farm to School, Laura Ridenour, Sustainable Connections, and Drew Betz, Director of the WSU County Extension.

Colleen Burrows from the WSU Whatcom County Extension gave a short overview of the Whatcom Food Assessment. In 2007, Colleen and Drew Betz started the assessment that would not conclude until 2010. The Whatcom Food Assessment is a compilation of crucial data that will be used to improve and develop programs for farmer education, farmland protection, nutrition education, hunger reduction, and policy advocacy. To see what their specific results are, the assessment has been posted online. Overall, the assessment concluded that food insecurity exists in Whatcom County. According to the data collected by Colleen Burrows, Drew Betz, and their volunteers, 15% of Whatcom County residents fall below Federal Poverty Guidelines, 7.2% of Whatcom County residents are currently utilizing food stamps, and 15% of Whatcom County adults felt they did not have enough to eat in the last 12 hours.

It was impressive to attend this event and learn about Whatcom County’s efforts and energy towards its food activism movement! If groups like the Whatcom Food Network continue to work hard and collaborate, food insecurity will be a thing of the past. Keep up the hard work!

Posted by Emma Brewster on May 13th, 2011