Siri, who lives in Laurelhurst told us about a produce delivery organization, Viva Farms, that will begin delivery service to the neighborhood starting tomorrow through the end of the year. She has enjoyed their door to door service and program that allows customers to choose their produce each week.
The pick-ups will be on 52nd Avenue NE as well as one on 40th Avenue NE for the weekly produce box where everything in it is grown in Washington State without the use of chemical-based fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides and delivered within 24 hours of being picked.
Viva Farms, located in Mount Vernon, is one of the nonprofit organizations that is part of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program,.
She told us that she is a volunteer with the CSA and also is involved in helping with a special program Viva Farms has launched in creating an incubator just north of Seattle where they have developed a bilingual program to train the next generation of farmers and to assist them in the transition to ownership of their own land to farm.
This program focuses on providing future farmers with the ability to produce healthy, local produce on a small scale, which benefits our community, while also providing a program for small business owners for individuals who may otherwise be unemployed due to our current economic situation.
Siri told us that what makes Viva Farms' program unique is that it doesn't only focus just on a CSA program, but it is a nonprofit that provides training to members of our community that are looking for new sources of long-term employment.
She adds, that in addition, they are fulfilling a need that is emerging as many farmers are reaching retirement and a large percentage of their family members are not in a position to take over for their parents. By training new farmers to replace those that are retiring, Viva Farms is ensuring that local, secure sources of food are available in the community.
For more information about the program contact Gabrielle Santerre, Viva Farms Local Choice Food Box Program Manager, at 206-458-0264 or at gabrielle@growingwashington.org.
Viva Farms produce delivery display
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