Focus on Farming in the Northwest

For the past seven years in Western Washington, a group of farmers and vineyard owners gathered together for a conference called Focus on Farming.

Image by Cedar Grove Composting via Flickr

It is a conference held each year to provide support for those in the agricultural industry. The theme this year was "Get Up and Grow." The message of this year's conference was to become more proactive in the future of their industry to ensure they thrive in their businesses. 

Hosted at the Tulalip Casino Resort, they showcased what our local farmers have to offer such as agritourism and government assistance programs for farms, as well as the future of the agricultural industry in Snohomish County. Students from schools around Snohomish County attended to learn what challenges and obstacles face them as they embark upon a bright future in Washington's diverse agricultural economy.

 

The conference truly exemplified their objective of focusing on farming. The chefs at the casino faced a great challenge - a lunch for 600 guests to be prepared with locally grown produce from the region.  They didn't disappoint!  The meal was spotlighted by the following local organic farmers and producers:  Willie Green's Organic Farm, Carpinito Brother Farms, Alden Farms, San Juan Pasta Company, Yarmuth Farms, Macomber Farms, Full Circle Farms, and many more.

 

This event is a real eye opener to see what we as a region should be doing to promote "buy local." To give you an idea of what buying local can look like, here are some photos from the lunch.

Feasting in the Skagit Foodshed & Eat Local Northwest have a great list of local resources for all your grocery needs for this up coming Thanksgiving holiday. 



Want to take it a step further?  Puget Sound Fresh has a website where you can pledge to Eat Local for the holidays.