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The story of Whistling Train Farm and why mental health matters for farmers

Posted on kcdnrp

Whistling Train Farm in Kent has been operating a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for 20 years. Their CSA is a locally grown vegetable subscription service, filled with produce grown only on the farm. Over the years, Shelley Pasco-Verdi, who owns the farm, has upsized and downsized, done a lot of experimenting, and learned a lot about how to keep subscribers happy.

We interviewed Shelley to hear about her miraculous land-purchasing story, to better understand what Whistling Train Farms means to the local community, and to understand how a major stereotype about farmers has affected her.Continue readingThe story of Whistling Train Farm and why mental health matters for farmers

Cat Links Local Food News

Highline College provides urban agriculture and food security training to immigrant communities and youth

Posted on kcdnrp

Highline College operates an Urban Agriculture/Food Security Program to provide training that improves access to healthy, culturally relevant food and encourages innovative thinking for South Sound immigrant-refugee communities and youth. In this article, Bobby Butler, Highline College Urban Agriculture Program Manager, discusses the importance of the Urban Ag program, what excites him about the program’s progress and next steps, and some of the challenges he is facing as he balances many important program obligations.Continue readingHighline College provides urban agriculture and food security training to immigrant communities and youth

Cat Links Land Conservation, Local Food News

Land Conservation Initiative: Preserving and protecting farmland and urban green space

Posted on kcdnrp

The Land Conservation Initiative is the way we can protect the livability, health, and ecological integrity of our region for everyone. Access to nature and open space is the foundation to our collective quality of life. However, development threatens working lands that produce food, jobs, and a rural way of life.

“The main goals of the Initiative are to accelerate investments in land conservation to save money, to ensure critical natural areas and resource lands can be preserved before they are lost to other uses, and to ensure green space for all residents,” said Bob Burns, Deputy Director of King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

This Initiative is a regional collaboration between King County, cities, business people, farmers, environmental partners, and others that began by creating a strategy to preserve our last, most important natural lands, resource lands and green spaces.Continue readingLand Conservation Initiative: Preserving and protecting farmland and urban green space

Cat Links Local Food News

Featured farm of the month: Carnation Farms

Posted on kcdnrp

Carnation Farms was established in 1908 near its namesake town in the Snoqualmie River valley as a flagship dairy and genetic research center for decades. The farm was purchased by Nestle and converted into a corporate retreat center. Descendants of the original owners purchased the farm back from Nestle in 2010 and created Carnation Farms as a nonprofit organization in 2016.

The new owners’ mission aims to go back to the farm’s roots and transform the way that people want to eat. They intend to share the 818-acre organic farm with the community and celebrate delicious and nutritious food produced in a sustainable manner by providing inspirational and educational experiences that positively affect health, the environment, and local economies. Carnation Farms develops the next generation of food citizens and grows new farmers. Find out more about Carnation Farm’s story and mission here.Continue readingFeatured farm of the month: Carnation Farms

Cat Links Local Food News

Food Rescue Innovation Lab: Collaborative efforts to address hunger in Seattle

Posted on kcdnrp

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), which manages garbage, recycling, and food and yard waste in Seattle, sees an opportunity to address these two issues—uneaten, surplus food and food insecurity—together, through food rescue. As part of its community-centered approach to tackling difficult issues, SPU partnered with Mary’s Place to convene its first Food Rescue Innovation Lab in early November. The event brought together a diverse group of innovative thinkers to discuss opportunities and solutions for rescuing safe, edible food from garbage and composting streams and diverting it to address hunger in Seattle. We interviewed Liz Fikejs, SPU Senior Waste Prevention Program Manager, to learn more about the Food Rescue Innovation Lab and SPU’s efforts around food rescue.Continue readingFood Rescue Innovation Lab: Collaborative efforts to address hunger in Seattle

Cat Links Land Conservation, Local Food News, Science

Farm King County Data Center now live!

Posted on kcdnrp

Farm King County recently launched its Food Systems Data Center, which combines an interactive mapping platform with information and data on local agriculture to tell the story of King County’s farm and food system. Farm King County is a one stop resource for information and assistance for farm operations, and this data will be useful to better understand, analyze, and measure the healthy and viability of our food system. The major components of the data center include the King County Farm and Food System Map and food system indicator progress metrics.Continue readingFarm King County Data Center now live!