Vashon Farmers MarketVashon Island FarmsVashon Island Food

Vashon Fresh – Growing Fast – Producing Results

For those who don’t know, Vashon Fresh offers online shopping of your favorite Farmers Market items. All items offered are locally grown and processed on Vashon, they are your local Farmers Market delivered! You can find them at: www.vashonfresh.com

We had a chance to sit down with Kim Roeser, Operations & Aggregation Manager of Vashon Fresh to talk about some exciting changes that have been happening with Vashon Island’s online farmers market. Vashon Fresh, initially only available to those on the island, has now grown to provide folks off-island with great Vashon Island grown to processed goods. We wanted to make sure the word gets out about this awesome Vashon Island service. Enjoy:

How It All Started

Vashon Fresh - Food and goods production on Vashon Island
The brainchild of Dan Carlson, owner of Kareli Farms. 5 years ago Dan wanted to create the opportunity for commuters to shop online on their way to or from work and for locals to have a similar model for home delivery, as offered by a Seattle based company. Offering local artisanal food and farmed goods. At the time Vashon did not have online grocery shopping or delivery options available, creating the opportunity to order “what you want, when you want it”. With the percentage of locally shopped produce being about 1% there is a true need for non commercial options to support our farmers.

Dan applied for a 3 year grant through King County Conservation District on year two of Vashon Fresh. KCD’s grant has assisted in the operating costs of Vashon Fresh for the past 3 years, which is a piece of the “markets group” of VIGA (Vashon Island Growers Association). VIGA hosts a number of community projects with a heavy focus on supporting local growers and farmers. As we are coming to the end of the grant with KCD Vashon Fresh will need to stand on it’s own two feet moving forward. This was certainly the year to put our online market to the test.

Growing Fast – Adding Products

Vashon Fresh - Food and goods production on Vashon IslandWe have 26 active producers that are fully licensed and insured offering an array of local goods to shop from June-October. Some of which include dairy/goat cheeses and yogurt, vegetable/fruit/egg farms, organic farmers, a bioenergy and a landscaping farm for home gardening starts & needs, a bakery, specialty crafters including a woman owned vegan soap producer & flower farmers to name a few. You can access a current list of active Vashon Island farms that have farmstands to further your shopping experience at https://foodaccesspartnership.vigavashon.org/farm-stand-locations.

Vashon Fresh provides true farm to table. As a customer you can expect the highest quality of local goods straight to your door. Plan your shopping 24-7 around our two distribution days, Wednesday and Saturday. You can plan for home delivery on Vashon Island or pick from one of our convenient locations. Village Green 2:00pm-3:00pm on Vashon Island & Fauntleroy Church 2:30pm-4:00pm in West Seattle. Delivery for Vashon Island locations only are from 1:00pm-4:00pm depending on your location and customer route. We offer complimentary delivery on your first qualifying Vashon order. Pick up is always complimentary!

Meet the Vashon Fresh Producers

We continue to work closely with the food access partnership to ensure all of our customers have access to fresh, local food regardless of their income. We have a truly wonderful selection of most items you want or need.

From The Farm to You

Our producers are sent your pick list the day before distribution. Your items are picked fresh and delivered to our aggregation site where a small volunteer group of 3-4 wonderful locals shop your invoice from the producer delivered items. We request that all items are packaged prior to arriving at our aggregation site so you know that only 1 set of hands have safely handled your items. Most of our producers create fully compostable packaging to limit the addition of single use packaging into our environment.

Vashon Fresh - Become a member and producerInterested in learning more about our non profit or helping VIGA create a sustainable marketplace?  Consider becoming a member of VIGA. All members will receive access to these benefits:

Access to the VIGAMail Listserv. Participate in Vashon conversation via VIGAmail which highlights local and regional grower events, job and internship opportunities, and is a knowledge base for local and regional best horticultural practices. Save on growing with yearly group orders for necessities like seeds, fertilizer, and supplies. Donations of any amount are welcomed and appreciated! Donations are tax-deductible.

  • $25-SEED
  • $50-SOIL
  • $100-POLLINATOR

We encourage you to reach out to our markets & Vashon Fresh manager with any inquiries at vashonfresh@vigavashon.org. Thank you for choosing Vashon Fresh, we look forward to fulfilling your shopping list!

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