Vashon has always been, and continues to be, a place to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. The island boasts no traffic signals or roads wider than two lanes. Nearly every business is family-owned and closes at least one day of the week. Nothing is open 24 hours a day and getting a meal after 9 p.m. is nearly impossible. But not so slowly, things are changing.

In just the past year, services that used to be available only in the city have made their way to Vashon. Uber, Vashon Eats food delivery service, Vashon Fresh online grocery shopping and multiple establishments serving to-go dinners have cropped up to serve the island commuter population — the large majority of the island that spends their days in traffic, at a desk and on a boat and find themselves too tired to cook a meal.

But these convenience food businesses have more to offer than just helping commuters get a healthy meal. They can serve as a way to get local food into more mouths, which, in turn, can help island farms stay open by providing Vashon farmers with income.

Farming as a profession and living a rural lifestyle in the age of fast-paced technology, deadlines and instant gratification is declining. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2012 Agriculture Census, just over 2 million of America’s 319 million people are farmers and only 6 percent of those are under the age of 35. Farming is not a “get rich quick” job. Most of the time it is not even a “get rich” job and it requires hard, physical work.

While most people aren’t drawn to the idea of being a farmer, they are drawn to the idea of living near farmers — or at least in an area where farming could potentially occur. It’s the wide open fields, space to call your own and livestock that draw overworked businesspeople, and, let’s face it, people in general to Vashon.

The thought that this simpler life exists here makes it attractive and businesses like Vashon Fresh and take-out food establishments that make it a priority to serve locally sourced food are bringing the fruits of these farmers’ labor to those willing to pay the higher price for the time and resources necessary to provide food. In return, the farmers are giving these people a bucolic setting in which to relax. The farmers are the ones keeping wide open spaces, roosters, cows and lambs.

It’s a symbiotic relationship worth embracing.