Tucked into an unassuming storefront in historic downtown North Bend is an inspiring vision of the future of King County’s food system. The smells of fresh bread and sizzling beef are as enticing as the cases of fresh cuts of meat and rainbow vegetables. Everything on the shelves has been sourced from the Pacific Northwest, and much of it from the Snoqualmie Valley itself. The food here doesn’t just taste good – it does good for the local farming community and the planet.
Falling River Meats opened its doors on October 3rd and stocks ethically and sustainably raised meats, prioritizing those produced in Western Washington, as well as dairy products, fresh produce, bread, and miscellaneous treats such as kombucha. However, the real star of the show is the deli’s selection of seasonal sandwiches and salads. The delicious local ingredients on the shelves get combined into chef-designed masterpieces, made to order.
Christeena and Darron Marzolf began the journey to Falling River Meats in 2015. After raising and processing their own animals for a few years, they noticed the gap in infrastructure for small and mid-sized animal producers in the area.
“We first started our family of businesses with Porter’s Pride, our pet food business, using local meats. Then Darron continued doing custom processing for local farms as a fourth-generation butcher under his father’s business. Around 2015, we started raising more animals and I was on the board of SnoValley Tilth, heading the livestock committee. Talking to other livestock farmers it became really apparent that the biggest challenge was getting animals processed and to market,” Christeena said. “We then opened our first butcher shop and began building out processing facilities.”
Engagement with the farming community was critical to developing the vision of Falling River Meats. Christeena served on the board of SnoValley Tilth, and Darron is Vice Chair of the Ag Commission and has served since 2018. Through being involved, the Marzolf’s learned what other small producers need to be able to produce ethically and be financially viable.
Falling River Meats in North Bend is the brick-and-mortar marketplace of all the Marzolf’s efforts to build a local meat supply chain from livestock producer all the way to the customer. They also sell weekly at the Ballard Farmers Market; however, the deli’s mission is to provide market access for other small producers in addition to the Marzolf’s own business.
“One thing that I learned through farming is that when I was starting to engage with restaurants to see where I could move more meat, it became very apparent that I don’t grow enough – even though I had 60 pigs. That sounds like a lot to a small farmer, but that’s nothing compared to commercial farmer. I had 60 pigs, and I could not even sell to a taco truck who wanted 100 pounds of pork shoulder a week. I could not have ever courted that type of industry, or even tried to be partners with any type of restaurant in that sense.”
From this realization came the Falling River Meats deli. By stocking from a collective pool of producers rather than contracting with one, Falling River Meats can have a consistent supply while supporting small farmers.
When asked about their place in the local food system, Christeena describes Falling River Meats as “a catalyst.”
“Darron likes to call us bellwethers. We’re talking to people about the true cost of meat and being there when people get that sticker shock. The farmers we work with are not subsidized, they don’t have the buying power for feed or other inputs. They’re small scale, and I feel like that’s the only way to build a resilient food economy in our local area.”
By participating in the meat supply chain from raising, to slaughter, to processing, to sale, Falling River Meats is able to ensure an ethical product and uplift the small producers choosing to pursue the more difficult path of producing meat humanely and sustainably.
“We don’t want to operate in the conventional meat industry at all,” Christeena said, “We have no interest in pushing Midwest beef or any beef raised outside of our neighboring states. It’s all humanely raised, ethically sourced, and these words mean a lot to us. That’s the cornerstone of the deli.”
Falling River Meats is located at 108 W North Bend Way, North Bend, WA, open Wednesday through Saturday 11am-6pm and Sunday 11am-5pm. If you would like to learn more, visit their Facebook page or fallingrivermeats.com.