Continued from our Spring 2012 newsletter… A few months ago the USDA announced the 2012 Value Added Producer Grant awards. Several farm businesses and organizations in Washington received funding including the Northwest Agriculture Business Center who received $300,000 for Regional Food System Development. So what does this mean? It means we remain firmly committed to providing business planning, technical…
Continued from Spring 2012 Newsletter For the last 18 months, the Puget Sound Food Network has played a key role in a public health partnership led by City of Seattle Human Services Aging and Disability Services called Farm to Table (F2T) project. PSFN played a critical role in introducing locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables…
Sarah Richards owns the only lavender farm on Whidbey Island. With views of the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, she has built a popular destination for tourists. She has also developed a full line of culinary and personal care products which are sold online, at her farm, and by local retailers….
Continued from Spring 2012 Newsletter NABC launched a new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program last week for staff members of Providence Hospital in Everett at the hospital’s Earth Day Celebration April 18th and 19th. In a CSA program, consumers directly support local farms by pre-paying through subscription for shares of the seasonal harvest, giving farmers…
NABC has offered classes in hard cider production since 2009. Recently, though, hard cider is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds (see articles, below). Domestic cider production has increased from 1.2 million gallons in 2010 to 2.5 million gallons in 2011, and Washington state produced nearly two hundred thousand gallons of cider in 2011….
PSFN Members John and Marijke Postema, owners of Marshland Orchards, Flower World, and Maltby Produce Market in Snohomish, WA, also operate a 700-acre farm in Belize. They bought the property about five years ago as a pre-retirement project, and have been developing the land and the business during Washington’s off-season. While on vacation, PSFN’s Emma…
A new partnership between the Snohomish Co-op and the Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC) has been announced that will benefit local small scale poultry producers. Adding to the rental program already established in Mount Vernon and Oak Harbor, a third set of Featherman Poultry Processing Equipment will become available for rent starting mid-March at the…
For the past 9 months, NABC has been partnering with the Real Food Challenge, working together to get more locally-produced and community-based products into college and university dining service in WA. The goal of each campus taking on the Real Food Challenge is to shift 20% of their existing dining budget to Real Food. This…
NABC and PSFN have received some good news! The PSFN project will be funded for the next two years with new Value Added Producer Grant funding from the USDA. February 28, 2012 (Mt Vernon, WA) The Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC) has been awarded $300,000 in Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) funding from the United…
