Producer

The Evergreen State College Organic Farm has been growing food for over forty years, and the people behind it have been part of that legacy just as long: small-scale, diversified market farming rooted in organic agriculture by generation after generation of students.

The South Puget Sound can supply food year-round with the right infrastructure and planning. The real challenges are access to affordable farmland and water, skilled labor, and access to markets, which is exactly where the Food Hub plays a key role, connecting small farmers with eaters who want to buy what they grow.

This is a student learning farm at its core. Students help with crop planning, field cultivation, processing, marketing, and even packing Harvest Boxes for the Food Hub. Many go on to start their own farms: Kirsop, Rising River, Kingfisher, Little Big, Sun Dog Farm, Delphi Flower Farm, and Thistlehook, to name a few. And some have taken what they've learned into roles with the Washington State Department of Agriculture with nonprofits like GRuB (Garden-Raised Bounty), or as Extension educators.

Working with the Food Hub has slightly shifted how the farm plans and grows its crops, to make sure there's produce available for the program.

What makes The Evergreen State College Organic Farm unique is the people who run it, and the educational mission that's shaped generations of Southwest Washington farmers.