Everyday, unsung hero | Welcome, Alice VanderHaak of Lowlands Farm

We are seeing everyday, unsung heroes step up and shine in this unfortunate age of COVID-19: farm-to-table growers and creatives taking care of the environment, and now, their communities sheltering in place. They provide essential services — delicious, nutritious food from the land straight to the hungry consumer, no middleman.

None are more committed to our health and safety than small, local farmers, who do most of the heavy lifting, mostly behind the scenes, until farmers-market season. Alice VanderHaak of Lowlands Farm in Snohomish is one of those farmers. She’s been hard at work all fall and winter planning and plotting (literally) for this spring and summer’s harvest, for her CSA members, her assorted wedding clientele, and the Snohomish Farmers Market (still on schedule, different location — Stocker Farms). She’s even come up with ways to get her produce to those financially devastated by the ramifications of the COVID-19 outbreak, with free and reduced-price CSA shares.

Many small growers like VanderHaak find themselves in a unique position — GO LOCAL ! — to meet a growing demand for safe, nutritious food better than big-box stores with their interminable lines, their many hands in the mix, and their increasing shortages.

Meet Lowlands Farm’s Alice VanderHaak, Welcome Magazine’s local hero and many like her in our spring/summer farm-to-table issue. Our exclusive interview with the registered dietician-turned-small farmer is now live online. Also, look for her and other farmers market vendors in our new ongoing, trending resources — “Experience Snohomish County.”