Eat Local First Collaborative launches Washington Food & Farm Finder

The Eat Local First Collaborative recently launched a mobile-friendly searchable database of more than 1,700 organic farms, food businesses and farmers markets in the state.

The Washington Food & Farm Finder allows customers to search for markets based on location, product type and whether purveyors offer online ordering, curbside service or home delivery, among other things.

Several Spokane-area markets are listed in the database’s Holiday Food & Farm Finder, which features a gift guide and connects customers with local farms to purchase items found in the Wonder Saturday Markets, Main Market Co-op and the online Local Inland Northwest Cooperative Marketplace, according to a news release.

“It might be getting chilly in Eastern Washington but there’s an abundance of produce, dairy, meats and grains to enjoy from small farms in the region. It’s easy for your meal to feel special when you know the ingredients were planted, nurtured, and harvested in your community,” Michelle Youngblom, crop promotions director at LINC Foods, said in a statement.

By pledging to purchase from local farms via The Eat Local First Collaborative’s website, Spokane County residents will have a chance to win a $150 gift certificate for the LINC Marketplace, which features items from 60 farms in the region.

The Eat Local First Collaborative, which launched in the summer, is a collective of food system organizations from around the state that are working together to combine food- and farm-finding resources into a single platform.

The collaborative aims to increase accessibility to consumer and wholesale markets by offering free listings through next year on the database for local growers, producers, farmers markets and food businesses.

Collaborative members include The Local Food Trust, Pierce County Fresh, Sustainable Connections, Tilth Alliance, Washington State University Food Systems and Washington State University Regional Small Farms.

Customers can access the Washington Food & Farm Finder at: www.eatlocalfirst.org/wa-food-farm-finder.