{"id":400,"date":"2012-09-24T16:47:34","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T21:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/?p=400"},"modified":"2013-02-08T10:21:07","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T15:21:07","slug":"fresh-and-local-food-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/fresh-and-local-food-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh and Local Food for All"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2012\/09\/Healthy-Food-Food-Systems-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-562 alignright\" alt=\"Healthy Food &amp; Food Systems 2\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2012\/09\/Healthy-Food-Food-Systems-2-300x201.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2012\/09\/Healthy-Food-Food-Systems-2-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2012\/09\/Healthy-Food-Food-Systems-2.jpg 576w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>We continue the &#8220;Advocating on the Road&#8221; series, exploring hunger-free and vibrant communities in Washington state.\u00a0<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nKurt Tonnemaker is a familiar face at farmers markets around the Seattle area. Each week, Tonnemaker Brothers, Inc. packs and sells produce \u2014 peaches, cherries, apples, pears, plums, peppers and more \u2014 from Kurt\u2019s family\u2019s farm in Royal City, Wash., and travels to as many as 18 farmers markets in a single weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The produce Kurt sells is grown as sustainably as possible on land inherited from Kurt\u2019s paternal grandfather, a horticulture extension agent in Eastern Washington. \u201cMy grandfather\u2019s family moved from Nebraska in 1903. In their move west, they brought produce with them in a wagon. I guess you can say this passion runs in the family,\u201d Kurt says. \u201cWhen he retired from extension work in 1962, my grandfather bought this land from a Korean War veteran, and the farm has been in the family ever since. My brother, Kole, started in 1980 and expanded the varieties of what we grow. I joined in 1992 and helped develop our business from two or three farmers markets to many more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kurt\u2019s passion for his work shines through to those he meets, as he explains why he values this work. \u201cOne of the most important aspects of my job is that I get to help reconnect people to who grows their food. Cherries don\u2019t just come out of a bag, you know,\u201d Kurt jokes. \u201cOne hundred years ago everyone either knew or was a farmer. Now, farmers are less than 2 percent of the population. Naturally, people are far removed from who grows their food, and they don\u2019t eat as much fresh food anymore. At the farmers markets, we can help reconnect our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFarmers markets sometimes get a bad rap because the prices are higher \u2014 it does cost more to pack and handle just-picked, ripe foods,\u201d Kurt notes. \u201cWe do sell certified organic produce, and we try to price our stuff so everyone can buy it. Good, fresh food should not be just for the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kurt\u2019s family\u2019s work of growing and selling affordable, quality foods to a diverse customer-base is supported in part by the state\u2019s Famers Market Nutrition Program for low-income and senior Washingtonians. The program is an initiative that operates using federal and state funding. It allows seniors and those who receive WIC (Women, Infants and Children) nutrition program benefits to use their benefits for fresh produce at farmers markets, sold by producers like Kurt.<\/p>\n<p>During the 2012 legislative session Kurt joined Lutheran advocates at the state capitol in Olympia to express the importance of these programs to their lawmakers. \u201cWe understand that money is tight in the state budget, but we needed to tell them the money for this program is critically important. I helped tell our officials that when money is sent to the Farmers Market Nutrition Programs, it goes back to the farmer and back to our state. By paying the farmers, the WIC and senior customers are getting fresher produce and the money generated vitalizes our local and state economy,\u201d Kurt explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe senators and representatives are excited to talk to people who are benefited by these programs. They\u2019re also trying to make the program as streamlined as possible, so it\u2019s good to talk to farmers to see if where they\u2019re spending the money is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We continue the &#8220;Advocating on the Road&#8221; series, exploring hunger-free and vibrant communities in Washington state.\u00a0 Kurt Tonnemaker is a familiar face at farmers markets around the Seattle area. Each week, Tonnemaker Brothers, Inc. packs and sells produce \u2014 peaches, cherries, apples, pears, plums, peppers and more \u2014 from Kurt\u2019s family\u2019s farm in Royal City, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7389,7384,1400],"tags":[7388],"class_list":["post-400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocating-on-the-road-series","category-hunger-and-poverty","category-post","tag-advocating-on-the-road"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fresh and Local Food for All - ELCA Advocacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/fresh-and-local-food-for-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fresh and Local Food for All - ELCA Advocacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We continue the &#8220;Advocating on the Road&#8221; series, exploring hunger-free and vibrant communities in Washington state.\u00a0 Kurt Tonnemaker is a familiar face at farmers markets around the Seattle area. 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