Producers and Buyers Anticipate Skagit WholeSale Market Launch

June 22, 2010 [Mount Vernon, WA] - Area food producers are preparing to sell their products to wholesale customers in the covered parking lot of the Skagit Valley Food Co-op on Thursday mornings from 8-10 a.m., starting this Thursday, June 24th, and will be there every week through harvest season, interest provided.

The weekly market is designed to help area buyers and sellers decrease time and fuel costs associated with collecting and delivering local food themselves," says Lucy Norris, PSFN Project Manager. "The Skagit Valley Food Co-op and Puget Sound Food Network together identified an initial group of local vendors, now we need restaurants and food service buyers to show up." Buyers can either preorder from the farm, and then pay and collect at the market site, or choose to pick up later. Each vendor will choose their own invoicing and delivery options. Impulse buys are expected and encouraged.

The Skagit WholeSale Market is grounded in the harvest of all-star Skagit organic producers like Hedlin Farm, Skagit River Ranch, Ralph's Greenhouse, and Skagit Flats. Staples from Sakuma Bros, Twin Sisters Mushrooms, Hidden Meadow Ranch, Fresh Breeze Organic Dairy, and the newly formed Viva Farms will be complimented by delicacies from San Juan Pasta Company and Gothberg Farms. Seasonal appearances by other Skagit and PSFN member producers, and products from nearby and east of the mountains will appear throughout the season.

A collaboration between the Co-op and Puget Sound Food Network, it is the only grassroots business-to-business market of its kind in Northwest Washington.

Those interested in learning more or wish to participate as a Skagit WholeSale Market buyer or seller should contact Erin Treat at skagitcoop@gmail.com or visit PSFN at www.psfn.org. Map and directions to the Skagit Valley Food Co-op are posted at http://www.skagitfoodcoop.com/map.html.

For more background and information, please read our first press release from June 8th on our blog at http://psfn.org/blog/2010/06/seeking-buyers-for-the-skagit-wholesale-market-thursdays-starting-june-24th/, and follow All FOOD Considered, a blog created by Skagit Valley Food Coop.

Dine Out for the Gulf Coast

America’s premier chefs and restaurants unite to create Dine Out for the Gulf Coast, benefiting the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund.
From June 10-12, 2010, participating restaurants throughout the United States will set aside a portion of profits to help those directly affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and to support the long-term restoration of the treasured coast.
Participating restaurants will customize their own Dine Out for the Gulf Coast benefit program. Some restaurants will contribute a percentage of total sales for the day and others will donate the sales from specific menu items, while others will offer specialty cocktails with a dollar-value from sales donated to the fund.
Many restaurants will highlight Gulf seafood offerings as a way to support the Gulf Coast fishing industry (commercial and charter fisherman), just declared a national fisheries disaster by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
The short-term goal of The Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund, administered by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, is to make emergency grants to nonprofit organizations helping the victims of the oil spill. The long-term goal of the fund is to address the long-term economic, environmental, cultural effects of the disaster, and strengthen coastal communities against future environmental catastrophes by investing in solutions. No administrative fees will be charged to the fund: all funds will be re-granted to the communities in need.

http://dineoutforthegulfcoast.org/