LETTUCE INTRODUCE OURSELVES

Our namesake is a nod to the many rustic farm stands, both past and present, located throughout Seattle’s fertile neighboring valleys. We link urban commercial customers to the diverse range of ingredients one might find at these timeless landmarks through the use of a modern, convenient ordering and delivery system.

THE CREW

AUSTIN BECKER

Austin co-leads Farmstand Local Foods and is focused on creating long term, mutually rewarding sales relationships between farmers and chefs. Austin discovered his passion for agriculture while attending college and subsequently uncovered a rich history of farming in his family. He then worked to grow a small produce and livestock farm in Wisconsin and found a knack for bridging rural production with urban demand through farmer’s markets, CSA, restaurant accounts, and more. Before Farmstand, Austin gained experience in the Seattle marketplace working to build a logistics system and heightened exposure and demand for NW Washington-grown products through the Puget Sound Food Hub. Outside of work, Austin enjoys dining and cooking the local ingredients he sells, snowboarding in the winter, and anything related to water in the summer. He can be reached at austin@farmstandlocalfoods.com.

CHRIS TEENY

Chris came to Farmstand by obsessively refreshing Farmstand’s market page as he ran Pacific Coast Harvest  (PCH). PCH soon became one of Farmstand’s biggest customers, and while he unloaded an order with Austin, they realized they were on the same mission: a grassroots re-building of our regional food system step-by-step to become more equitable and sustainable. Now as Farmstand and PCH have come together as one organization, Chris provides support by building efficient and lean systems to help keep more money in farmer’s pockets. On his off-time, Chris enjoys grillin veggies, skiing, and being in the outdoors with his partner Whitney and doggo. He can be reached at chris@farmstandlocalfoods.com.

ELISE LEVESQUE

Elise found her way to Farmstand through a desire to reimagine the role of food systems in building a healthy planet and healthy communities. After working on a number of small farms in South America, she gained an immense amount of respect and appreciation for farmers, restorative growing practices, and the connection that these communities had to their food. As Farmstand’s market manager, she gets to communicate with and support the farmers in our local food system and help connect them to eaters throughout Seattle. Elise is also passionate about ensuring that healthy, locally-produced food is accessible to all. As Farmstand’s Food Access Coordinator, she oversees food procurement for two city-funded food access programs. Outside of work, you probably can’t find Elise, but you can try! She’ll be roaming through the mountains, training for her next adventure, or studying hard to complete her Master’s degree in Regenerative Studies. She can be reached at elise@farmstandlocalfoods.com.

CASEY GILLUM

Casey’s a cook who came to Farmstand from a few years of working in the backstage catering scene, bars, restaurants, and coffee shops. He particularly enjoys cooking Korean and American diner food, typically disregarding the purity of classic cuisines to make cultural mashups that are the culinary equivalent of a Cronenberg monster. You might find Szechuan-spiced chicken-and-waffles, a kimchi reuben, or a classic hand-minced Skiyou Ranch Burger with Olsen Bintje potato fries on his menu. Outside of working on our delivery vans, packing orders, and keeping our spirts simultaneously high and low by insistently blasting various music at half speed. Casey enjoys writing short fiction, hanging out with more skilled musicians, old video games, and poorly-produced movies.

MISSION, VISION & VALUES

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to help establish an economically and environmentally sustainable food system by facilitating and maintaining connections between producers and consumers to demonstrate the value and importance of viable local farms.

OUR VALUES

Sustainability – Transparency - Integrity - Equity

OUR VISION

  • Be a reliable distribution and sales partner for local farms and buyers
  • Cultivate greater demand to improve the prosperity of farming on Seattle’s urban fringe
  • Maximize the volume of wholesale product moving from Seattle’s neighboring farmlands to Seattle’s commercial kitchens and food retailers
  • Support an increasingly educated consumer base including direct customers (head chefs, food purchasers), middle users (cooks, kitchen staff, servers, etc.), and end consumers (restaurant patrons, grocery shoppers, students, etc.)