Tag: Local Food Initiative
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Food is medicine: Lifelong reflects on 4 decades of serving meals and community care
In 1983, the HIV/AIDS pandemic was beginning in Seattle. While elected officials and formal institutions struggled to respond, community organizations formed to care for the sick and dying. Through hospital visits, emotional support, house chores, and food, community organizations filled…
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‘This was created by and for the community:’ Feral Woman Farms opens poultry processing unit for local small farms
Behind a historic barn in the shadow of Mount Si sits an important new poultry processor: Feisty Fowl, LLC. The Mobile Poultry Processing Unit is a branch of Feral Woman Farm. . Inside a renovated trailer is a full –service,…
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Growing Nemuna Garden and Kezama LLC: Horseneck Farm propels aspiring farm businesses with land and learning
Just outside the city of Kent, nestled between curves of the Green River, lies an enchanting place. With corn twice as tall as the farmers carefully tending it, distant Mount Rainier peeking through the trees, and blue dragonflies weaving around…
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Local food for all: KC and KCD launch 2024 refresh of the Local Food Initiative and Regional Food System Program
King County took a big step in becoming a leader in metropolitan food systems planning in 2014 when Executive Dow Constantine launched the Local Food Initiative (LFI) to expand the local food economy, to benefit county food businesses and farms,…
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Bumblebee Farm celebrates the fun of farming with unique vegetables
“The point of growing your own food is to grow things that you can’t get anywhere else,” Bumblebee Farm co-owner-operator Amy White said while showing off her fields of colorful produce. Pink napa cabbage, iridescent green beans, and striped summer…
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Celebrate the bounty of summer with King County’s first Eat Local Month
August will be King County’s first Eat Local Month, a celebration of the abundance of local food available in the county, presented by Tilth Alliance with support from the King Conservation District. King County produces over $135 million in agricultural…
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King County awarded USDA funding to support underrepresented farmers
King County was recently awarded $2.5 million to help improve access to land, capital, and markets for underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. The award comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Increasing Land Access Program, which is funded…
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Explore King County’s 41 farmers markets during National Farmers Market Week August 6 – 12
Farmers markets across King County are at their most vibrant as we head into the last push of summer and then fall harvest season. August is prime time for vegetable variety and summer’s finest produce. Farmers Market Week, Aug. 6-12,…
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‘It’s all done with a labor of love from the community’: UTOPIA promotes food access and sovereignty from the QTPI community to all
The COVID-19 pandemic brought changes to everyone’s lives. For United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance (UTOPIA) it brought an additional mission to the organization. Since 2009, UTOPIA has been led by and providing services for the queer and transgender Pacific…
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From local grass to glass bottles: Direct-to-consumer dairies innovating to stay on the Enumclaw Plateau
The Enumclaw Plateau has been the epicenter of King County dairy production for over a century. However, the past few decades have seen dozens of dairies close or switch to producing different products. In 2012, when Haylee and Ryan Mensonides…