This year has brought new challenges to food access in our community. Families experienced heightened food insecurity due to federal cuts to SNAP benefits and local farmers faced mounting financial pressures.

Through each of these challenges, we remained deeply committed to doing everything we can to increase equitable access to fresh, local, organic food in our community, while providing support to our local farmers and food producers across Washington.

Good Food Bags: 18,700 and Counting

Through our Good Food Bags program, we packaged and distributed 18,700 bags of local, organic produce this year to preschool families and community members throughout South Seattle. We source this produce from local farmers across King, Snohomish, Pierce County and beyond, prioritizing immigrant and refugee farmers, BIPOC, female and LGBTQ+ farmers.

Emergency Response When It Mattered Most

In early November, the federal government shut down and suspended SNAP benefits. The City of Seattle Human Services Department reached out to ask if we could help distribute emergency food to preschool families across the city.

Our staff and incredible volunteers immediately stepped up. Over two weeks, we distributed an additional $18,755.49 in food to our 17 southeast Seattle Farm to Preschool sites.

We also covered the cost of Good Food Bags for community members who would have used their SNAP benefits to pay. No one lost access to fresh produce. During Thanksgiving week, when we weren’t doing regular bag distribution, we provided free self-serve produce from our pickup shed at Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands.

Farm Stand: A Hub for Health and Connection

More than 5,000 community members visited our Farm Stand at Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands this year. They chose from a wide variety of locally grown and produced products—fresh fruits, veggies, herbs, honey, eggs, and more.

Through our sliding scale discount, we distributed $55,000 worth of free produce to families who needed it.

One farm stand shopper told us something that captures why this work matters. Since she and her mother started coming to the farm stand and taking home additional fruits and vegetables through the produce discount program, her mother’s health has increased dramatically.

The healthy food made a difference. So did the joy and connection from visiting the farm and talking with staff and other visitors. It all added up to more energy and better wellbeing.

Looking Ahead

The need for fresh, affordable food in our community isn’t going away. Neither are we.

Thank you to everyone who made this year’s work possible — our volunteers, our partner farmers, our funders, and every community member who showed up. Together, we’re building a healthier, more equitable food future.