After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, PCC Community Markets reached out to Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Markets in response to the public’s rising levels of food insecurity. Working with Harvest Against Hunger and the tools and knowledge of our preexisting Farm to Community programs, PCC initially donated $80,000 to NFM to help establish a CSA-type contracting model that would allow NFM to provide upfront payment to local farms to sell their produce to food banks, as many small farmers were unable to sell their produce in their usual avenues when markets and restaurants began to close.
With PCC’s donations, along with over $212,000 in funding raised by the public through PCC Food Bank Program, this partnership been able to support 15 Seattle-area food banks and 14 farms across 7 counties around WA in just its first season.