Commentary: Join us in eating local next week

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Vashon-Maury Island’s rich history of agriculture is undeniable and all around us. It is hard to see a loose flock of sheep on the road, or to notice all of the fruit trees through the seasons, and not come away with the impression that this is an agricultural community.

Those roots run deep: The island has always has been a place of local food abundance. Pre-colonization, the sx̌wəbabš, or Swiftwater People, harvested the abundant sea life and used controlled burns to encourage edible plant growth.

Colonialism brought industrial logging to the island, and when the old growth was gone, a thriving agricultural economy emerged, including many notable Japanese farms that remain in production today. At its height, Mukai Farm and Barreling Plant employed more than 300 workers, picking, packing and shipping berries around the world with a method innovated by B.D. Mukai.

Today, there are more than 30 self-identified farms on Vashon-Maury Island as well as multiple shellfish growing operations. The island also sustains a robust foraging community, and later this summer, locally grown and milled flour will become available.

We are connected to, and affected by the past — even if we ignore it, or fail to understand the significance of who and what came before us. We mark time with the arrival of certain foods. On Vashon, we enjoy the first greens of the season in April, fava beans in June, the first tomatoes in late July and early August, salmon returning in July, green tomatoes in September, the first winter squashes in September and October, deer hunting in October. We still grow the same Marshall strawberries that island farmers grew in the early 1900s.

You cannot escape the history of agriculture on this island, and next week, we’re challenging you to embrace it.

The Vashon Island Growers Association (VIGA) is challenging you to eat locally during the first full week of August — an idea that comes from one of our brilliant local bakers, Thomas Vroom of Fernhorn Bakery. From August 4-10, we will be sharing recipes, asking for your recipes, and encouraging the consumption of locally-grown food.

We are excited to challenge ourselves and receive feedback from you on feeding that picky toddler, or how you paired a tomato with your fresh caught Salish Sea salmon — may the fishing gods smile on you. By eating locally we can not only nourish our bodies and support our neighbor farmers. We can honor our shared history of a time when there were no large grocery stores or instant shopping options; a history of people relying on their own skills to grow, forage, and harvest their own food either together or individually.

“Eating local is not in my budget,” you might say. Well then, pick up a pack of VIGA Farm Bucks and purchase goods from the VIGA Farmers Market at the Village Green from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays! You can also get VIGA Farm Bucks at the library or our partner social service organizations — just ask for them. VIGA Farm Bucks can also be used at any VIGA member stand, which you can find at vigavashon.org/farm-stand-map.

Check our social media, website (vigavashon.org/events/eat-vashon-week) and get on our mailing list for more information and recipes. From August 4-10, please join us in eating locally and considering your connection to our past, our present, and our future.

Terah Ratheheart, Michele Batchelder, Catherine Johnson and Abby Antonelis comprise the Vashon Island Growers Association board of directors.