With the sweet news of some of the season's first strawberries comes the affirmation that summer has finally arrived in Northwest Washigton! Just as they do for our network members, those long-awaited, fabulous, fresh summer flavors mean busy times for the Puget Sound Food Network!

PSFN recently announced our 2011 Wholesale Market season! We're happy to continue operating both Skagit and Seattle Wholesale Markets to help farms sell more and travel less. Not intended for household shoppers, only businesses and institutional food service operators will be permitted access to the markets. Learn more about our 2011 season below, including the new location of the Seattle Market. And buyers, don't forget to sign up for our weekly fresh sheet! The first one will be emailed on July 18th. Until then, we've got work to do before opening day!

We recently witnessed the first delivery of summer produce to the Seattle Public Schools central kitchen. PSFN is working with the City of Seattle on a groundbreaking new Summer Food Service Program for Seattle children and teens. This year, PSFN Member Maltby Produce was chosen to grow, pack and deliver 8,000 small bags of produce for lower income children and teens to take home throughout the summer. Through projects such as this, PSFN continues working to build a self-sustaining food system that mobilizes businesses and institutions and increases the profitability of farmers in Northwest Washington.

If you've been following our posts on Facebook and Twitter, you'll know that PSFN's Farm to Table team has been pretty busy! Now that the growing season has arrived (finally!), childcare and senior centers participating in the project are ordering oodles of produce from our weekly Farm to Table fresh sheets. We send a hearty thanks to our farmers for growing our food, and we applaud site cooks for their purchases, including many products unconventional for child and senior meal sites like turnips, kale, beet greens, tat soi, and more --- all grown, purchased, and eaten in the Puget Sound region! You can read about how the project was honored recently by the Mayor of Seattle for the second time this year!

At PSFN, we are personally engaged in connecting local food producers with commercial and institutional buyers in Northwest Washington. As these sales opportunities grow, producers will need to understand how to stay relevant to customers in today's marketplace. That's why PSFN is offering a new workshop July 22 called "To Market! To Market!" targeted to farmers and food entrepreneurs looking to get the most from cutting edge marketing and sales practices. In this workshop, food producers will learn strategies for building a strong food/farm brand and for connecting with resellers as well as how to best work with retail partners to showcase and sell your product. The workshop will wrap up with how to close a sales deal - and turn all the hard work into an order!

Here's to a bountiful summer season for all! We hope you enjoy our Summer Newsletter!

2 Week Countdown to the 2011 Wholesale Market Season!

PSFN is excited to be part of the City of Seattle's Summer Food Service Program for children this year. The program helps ensure recipients of free or reduced-price school lunches have access to nutritious daily meals during the summer when school is not in session. The program kicked-off on June 25, and this week we saw the first delivery and distribution of fresh veggies! 

This year, in an exciting addition to the meal program, participating children will have access to free bags of fresh produce to bring home to their families weekly.  PSFN is coordinating the produce bag pilot.  PSFN Member Maltby Produce/Marshland Orchards will be selling fresh fruits and vegetables to fill 8,000 bags to be distributed among participating children at meal sites over the course of the 2-month program.

This program is a real win-win for Seattle children and local producers. It goes to show that there is ripe opportunity for PSFN to continue working within our region to build a self-sustaining food system that mobilizes businesses and institutions, aids underserved communities and increases the profitability of farmers in Northwest Washington.    

Read more about the Summer Food Service Program on our blog! Check out photos of the launch of the program and of the first deliveries...

Spring was a tricky time in terms of bringing in Farm to Table orders due to flooding and low temperatures which lagged behind the seasonal norm. During this time, because of limited produce selections and  fewer farms able to get product out of the ground,  it was difficult for sites to meet minimum orders for delivery.  But by mid June, Mother Nature had changed her tune, and Farm to Table orders are now briskly coming in! So far (since October) PSFN has coordinated direct sales for 6 PSFN Member farms resulting in 26 deliveries to 14 institutional sites as part of the Farm to Table project. Since mid-April, 8 daycare centers alone have purchased the bulk of produce from our farms! And the growing season is just getting started!

Impressed by the progress of the Farm to Table Project in child care settings, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn paid a special visit to Beacon Hill Community Day School to witness the site's third Farm to Table delivery of fresh produce from PSFN member Full Circle Farm! This was the second visit by the Mayor to a F2T site this year! The Mayor first honored PSFN and the Farm to Table Project when he visited a delivery from Nash's Organic Produce to Central Area Senior Center with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Kathleen Merrigan, in early March.

Read more about the expansion of the Farm to Table Project... 

Seattle Wholesale Growers Market is Gathering Steam

Not to be confused with PSFN's Wholesale Markets, this cooperative of growers from Washington, Oregon, and Alaska brings together the best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in locally grown cut flowers, greens and ornamentals.

As a PSFN  member, the Seattle Wholesale Growers Cooperative sought technical assistance from NABC in establishing this cooperative and the market.  NABC's Jeff Voltz was essential in helping to organize the cooperative. PSFN is hosting a page for the market on our website and develops and sends the weekly fresh sheet for the market (to subscribe, contact ann@psfn.org).

The market's soft opening was April 20, but a cold spring delayed many crops by 3-4 weeks. Because of this, only some member farmers participated is the early part of the season. With the Grand Opening of the market May 18, the market has been open for business for nearly 2 months and is thriving!  

Read more about SWGM vendors and operating hours, see gorgeous product photos, and more...