By Sasha Elenko, Co-Content Editor
Starting June 15, islanders will have the opportunity to order artisan foods and fresh produce and have them delivered to their doorstep at the click of a mouse.
The project, which is being organized by the Vashon Island Growers’ Association (VIGA), will be called Vashon Fresh.
“The idea of Vashon Fresh is to try and [join] new online technologies as a way of marketing and purchasing things with locally grown food that’s healthier, more nutritious and supportive of a local agricultural economy,” VIGA board member Dan Carlson, who wrote the grant to fund Vashon Fresh, said.
“You as a customer are going to have a large array of choices, and we’ll assemble your personalized selection, and then you as the customer will pick up the customized shopping bag with goods at the end of the work day if you’re a commuter, or … we’ll deliver it to you for an extra fee.”
Vashon Fresh seems to follow in the footsteps of AmazonFresh and other food delivery services. But according to Carlson, the program’s potential lies in its focus on locally grown — and in some cases value-added — products.
“We’ve found very few models like this anywhere in the country,” Carlson said. “We want to demonstrate that it’s possible to do on a local scale what some large corporations have done on a bigger scale, with the benefits accruing to local customers and farmers and food producers.”
Customers will be able to submit orders via the website vashonfresh.com, and payment will be by credit card. Delivery will be available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Otherwise, customers can pick up their orders at the Village Green in Vashon town on those same days between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“The cool thing about the website is … every producer can have their identity known,” Vashon Fresh project manager Abby Antonelis said. “So when you buy green beans, you’re not just buying from a giant pile of green beans. You’re buying from a specific farmer.”
Antonelis’ farmer-first mentality falls directly in line with VIGA’s overall mission to “promote farming access to healthy food and a sustainable agricultural economy on Vashon.”
“If people that aren’t spending their money locally start spending their money locally, that could equate to [more] farming happening on Vashon,” Antonelis said. “And for every [extra] acre that you are farming on Vashon … you can hire another person. It could be another person that lives on Vashon being employed at a living wage [and] doing something that’s good for the community.”
Antonelis is already working with over 20 farmers and valuated food producers to ensure a wide variety of products is available. Many of them are common VIGA Farmers Market fixtures, such as Orca Eats, Aggie’s, Lisa B’s Sweets & Treats, The Mighty Truffle Dessert Company and All Things Rich.
But Antonelis hopes that she can also attract farmers that are on the verge of success, yet are still struggling to make ends meet.
“Most people that farm out here have other jobs, so it would be nice if someone could jump that bridge and become a farmer and make a living at it, and also help other people — teach them how to farm,” Antonelis said. “You could bring back agriculture to Vashon in a big way.”
Carlson shares a similar vision for Vashon Fresh.
“I would hope that Vashon would not just be an artifact of a former rural farming community, but rather have a real segment of its local economy be based on agriculture,” Carlson said.
“We want to expand the market and make it easier for local residents to support the market. So this is a way of adding on to the existing farm stands, the Farmers Market, the [Community Supported Agriculture], and now a way that more and more people are shopping, which is online.”
Vashon Fresh will promote farm growth by allowing farmers to choose the retail price of their products. Once a product is sold, 85 percent of the revenue goes to the farmer while VIGA takes 15 percent.
“That 15 percent would go to people that are aggregating the bag, … the pickup service for the producers and the fees for running the website,” Carlson said. “The customer pays a 10 percent personal shopper’s fee for putting the customized bag together. So that’s how we hope to make Vashon Fresh sustainable over the long haul.”
If the program survives the test period, Antonelis hopes to expand their inventory to include more elaborate products.
“[We aren’t putting together meals yet, but] if we are successful, that could possibly be our next step,” Antonelis said.
The pilot period for Vashon Fresh will end in mid-September of this year, at which point the program will either go back to the drawing board or — if it’s successful — become a permanent island fixture.