Tukwila Village Farmers Market Opens June 23, Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Growers | Eater Seattle

"Returning for its third year, the community-driven Tukwila Village Farmers Market operates as a nonprofit incubator for immigrant and refugee urban growers and is hosted in the plaza outside Spice Bridge, the food hall where every business owner is an immigrant or refugee woman. The market is a joint effort with the International Rescue Committee’s New Roots program and FIN/Global to Local to address racial inequity and increase food access: many growers live nearby (including people from Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kenya), some produce is cut within hours and walked over, and vendors regularly sell out. This season features independent grower booths, a New Roots consignment table that aggregates small or surplus harvests, and a mobile pantry distributing staple-food bags biweekly. The market accepts SNAP, participates in SNAP Market Match (doubling aid), sees more SNAP customers become repeat shoppers than other markets, pays growers for their labor instead of charging booth fees (supported by REACH funding, the CDC, and Les Dames d’Escoffier), and partners with WSU SNAP-Ed for nutrition info and children’s activities; organizers say it has had tangible community impact, including helping a wheelchair-bound customer transform her daily diet. It runs Wednesdays 4–7 p.m. from June 23 through mid-October at Tukwila Village Plaza: 14350 Tukwila International Blvd." - Holly Regan