Community Corner highlights the work of Seattle Human Services’ community partners in their own words. Our goal is to gather stories and photos that illustrate their amazing work on behalf of the people of Seattle. This post was provided by Chris Teeny and Karissa Seiersen at Farmstand Local Foods.
What is the role your organization fulfills in your community?
We connect our farming neighbors with urban eaters, from home cooks to James Beard-winning chefs to food pantries to preschools. Our focus is supporting farmers who have historically been excluded from traditional wholesale markets, including BIPOC growers, immigrant and refugee farmers, and young, first-generation farmers. A key benefit for eaters is eating whole, nutrient-dense food grown in healthy soil free from synthetic sprays and fertilizers. Our wholesale brand is Farmstand Local Foods, and our retail brand is Pacific Coast Harvest.
How does your partnership with Seattle Human Services (HSD) assist you in that role?
With funding from City of Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax, we provide historically underserved preschools access to locally grown and made foods. Funding is focused on whole foods, providing important nutrients for kids at a critical point in their physical growth. Likewise, their teachers shop directly from farmers using the same online marketplace as world-renowned Seattle restaurants. We work alongside a team of educators who support a holistic approach to addressing food access in preschools.
What is your organization’s origin story?
Farmstand was started in 2017 with a mission to specifically serve small-scale farmers in the Snoqualmie, Snohomish, and Sammamish valleys. Over the years, we’ve grown to include other small and mid-scale farms across Washington and neighboring states in the Pacific Northwest. In 2020, we merged with Pacific Coast Harvest and now also serve home delivery customers in the Greater Seattle area.
How has your organization grown or developed in recent years?
Like so many other small businesses, COVID and the labor shortage had a significant impact on our operations and capacity to grow and support farmers and customers. Fortunately, we made some key investments that are still bearing fruit to this day. For example, to help make our drivers more efficient with drop-offs, we provide text notifications when delivery is approximately 60 minutes away. With our farmers, we created a catalog of help manuals, from wholesale packaging to appropriate insurance, that equips farms with the knowledge of the type and size of wholesale sales channels appropriate for their stage of growth for their farm business.
Why is it important for HSD and City of Seattle taxpayers to invest in community-led work?
Our work strengthens the resiliency of our food system in multiple ways. By supporting wholesale channels for local farmers, it ensures there’s a reliable food supply chain as out-of-state growers begin facing increasing challenges from climate change, political trade disruptions, and the growing issue of agricultural disease, such as bird flu and listeria recalls. For the Farm to Preschool program, this ensures growing toddlers have consistent access to fresh fruits and vegetables. As we progress along our goal of “Eat Local, Made Easy,” we anticipate it will also widen who can participate in both the investment in our community and the enjoyment of its bounty. Furthermore, by prioritizing and supporting small-scale growers, it’s a way for eaters to actively support racial justice and workers’ equality within the food system.
How do your organization’s programs and services help to reduce the disparities experienced by people of color living in our region?
We know that our food system requires addressing issues of racial disparities for both growers and eaters. On the growing side, we’ve partnered with farmers of color with a range of experience and resources available to them, from multi-generational farms to immigrant farmers. This has required investment in translation, partnerships with support organizations to help with the training, and pursuing grants and funding that a typical small business might not prioritize or invest in. On the eating side, we’re mindful of the need to address food insecurity in our community. As a small business specializing in logistics, we’re honored by the opportunity to provide logistics support to organizations doing the daily work to provide food to those experiencing hunger in our community. Alongside the City’s Farm to Preschool program, we also partner with organizations like Rainier Beach Action Coalition, Meals Partnership Coalition, and Harvest Against Hunger.
Tell us an example of how an HSD-funded program or service impacted one of your community members.
Funding that supports purchases from local farmers makes a life-changing difference for farmers. For Francis and Elizabeth, the husband-and-wife duo of Faithbeyond Farm, the purchases we and partner agency Tilth Alliance were able to make from them with Farm to Preschool funding provided crucial revenue in the beginning of their farm business in 2018. Last year, they were able to find a permanent home for their farm, a notable achievement for any local farm and particularly for Kenyan immigrants. The food also provides meaningful support for families. Last year, 80% of households surveyed said that their family was eating more fruits and vegetables—and trying new ones—because of the Farm to Preschool program.
What motivates your staff or keeps you going?
We’re motivated by the positive intersectionality of food and community. We’ve all had meaningful experiences where food was the source of our connections. Several team members have worked on farms themselves, and all have had a standout memory where we felt profoundly connected to nature. When food is grown sustainably, by people you know and trust—and who are equally treated with respect, and it’s there to nourish us when we need it, continuing our mission feels essential.