ontrak_autumn_2017_new
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
RESTAURANTS SOURCING LOCAL GOODS is hardly<br />
a <strong>new</strong> concept—especially here in the Pacific Northwest,<br />
where the bounty is rich and the community mindful.<br />
Yet it’s becoming an even easier goal for chefs to attain,<br />
thanks to the Puget Sound Food Hub (PSFH), a revolutionary,<br />
farmer-owned cooperative—or a “digital farmers<br />
market”—that connects Western Washington farmers<br />
with wholesale buyers online.<br />
In the lush Skagit Valley, located north of Seattle and<br />
home to more than ninety types of crops, dedicated folks<br />
work tirelessly to ensure we have fresh food on our plates<br />
every single day. Thanks to the state’s cool, wet, marine<br />
climate, produce can be grown twelve months of the year,<br />
even if the variety becomes less diverse in winter months.<br />
What began as a weekly wholesale market under a<br />
Mount Vernon I-5 overpass gradually evolved. The Northwest<br />
Agriculture Business Center helped the PSFH, one of<br />
the only farmer-owned food hubs in the Northwest, develop<br />
an online ordering system, source cold storage and create<br />
an aggregated delivery system. PSFH officially became<br />
farmer-owned in 2016, connecting more than fifty family<br />
farms with wholesalers from restaurants (like Seattle’s<br />
iconic Canlis), hotels, hospitals, grocery stores and<br />
universities from Bellingham to Olympia.
Change language