The Sequim and Port Angeles food banks have achieved a remarkable feat by being joint recipients of the North Olympic Land Trust’s Farmer of the Year award. This annual honor recognizes those who have a profound and lasting impact on the local land's ability to provide food and sustenance for the community. As Erika Lindholm, the acting executive director of the Land Trust, pointed out, especially in the years since COVID, few organizations have done more to bring the bounty of local farms to families in need.

"Local Farms Feed Local Communities: A Success Story"

Local Food Sourcing and Its Benefits

Having food sourced from local farms means that food bank visitors can enjoy the produce for a significantly longer time compared to the grocery store-donated food, which often lasts only a day or two. Andra Smith, the executive director of the Sequim Food Bank, emphasized that everyone deserves to have nutrient-rich food. Emily Dexter, the executive director of the Port Angeles Food Bank, noted that their customers can clearly tell the difference between fresh local produce and that which is left over and donated from the grocery stores.Both organizations have benefited local farms by receiving excess harvest. In 2018, the Sequim Food Bank received USDA grant dollars, enabling them to pay farmers to grow food for their bank. The relationships, contracts, and price sheets developed with this grant have laid the foundation for direct purchasing programming that has grown since COVID. During the early days of the pandemic, USDA emergency funding purchased truckloads of produce from farmers and shipped it to food banks across the country. Dexter recalled that it was ridiculous to receive thousands of pounds of produce from Nebraska when they had so many local farmers struggling like their customers.Dexter and Smith worked with the Clallam County WSU Extension and WSDA to have relief funds sent directly to communities, allowing them to contract directly with local farms. This year, with the help of the WSU Extension's Farm to Food Bank coordinator, more than $150,000 worth of produce and meat was sourced from 35 peninsula farms and distributed through 18 different food banks and food access sites across the peninsula.

Making Food Accessible

Port Angeles Food Bank serves as the Regional Distribution Organization (RDO) for these food access organizations. Due to its large facility, it can receive and store large quantities of food, acting as a clearing house for local abundance. Every Tuesday, other sites can pick up what they need to distribute to their clients and also drop off any excess food.Sequim Food Bank often brings produce from the farms in the Sequim-Dungeness region. The Port Angeles Food Bank goes the extra mile to make food more accessible to its customers. Dexter recalled an experiment where they received a pallet of unprocessed beets from a local farm. In the first week, with the beets in their market in their dirt state, very few were taken. In the second week, after washing them, more were taken, but there were still a lot left. However, in the third week, when they boiled and peeled the beets and put them out in small containers, they were all gone by the end of the day.Flash freezing and packaging fresh hardy greens and cruciferous vegetables from local farms is another way the Port Angeles Food Bank ensures local bounty is available to customers throughout the year.

Giving Back to Local Farmers

In addition to getting food from the land to their customers, both Port Angeles and Sequim food banks provide food back to local farmers. As food they collect passes expiration dates, they donate it to livestock farmers for their animals. Last year, the two food banks combined provided more than 70,000 pounds of feed to livestock farmers in the area.Like food banks around the country, both Port Angeles and Sequim food banks have seen an increase in demand for their services since the pandemic. Last year, the Sequim Food Bank had 20,000 visits from 3,700 unique households, while the Port Angeles Food Bank had 44,000 visits from 4,800 unique households. With the rising cost of living putting pressure on households everywhere, there is no expectation that the need for emergency food support will decrease. Recent data shows that in 2019, 2,200 households in Jefferson and Clallam counties combined accessed federal food resources, but in 2024, that number increased to more than 9,800 households.Dexter and Smith are grateful to see the work of getting locally produced foods to the broader community working well. However, they added that a lot of funding for this work will be ending next year as the COVID-relief programs come to an end. Both food banks are nonprofits, and local donations play a crucial role in feeding and supporting their communities.The award was presented at the North Olympic Land Trust’s 22nd annual Harvest Celebration fundraiser, where they were applauded by more than 160 Land Trust supporters at Field Arts & Events Hall in Port Angeles. To learn more, visit sequimfoodbank.org and portangelesfoodbank.org.Andra Smith, the executive director of the Sequim Food Bank, and volunteer Isabelle Dunlop prepare some donations from River Run Farm in October 2021. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group file)