03.08.24

$5M for Snohomish County Food & Farming Center Secured by Cantwell

Center one of 16 projects across Northwest WA to receive FY24 appropriations, totaling $29.8m Funding also secured for Mt. Vernon Library Commons, Slater Road floodproofing, Darrington Food Bank, & new Whidbey Island transit center

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced that Snohomish County will receive $5 million to create the long-planned Snohomish County Food and Farming Center, where local farmers will have resources to process, aggregate, and distribute their products.

"The Food and Farming Center will set Puget Sound farmers up for success by providing them a centralized place to process, wash, and package their produce – often the most expensive part of the food-growing process, and the highest barrier to entry for small farming operations – and ultimately help address food insecurity for the region,” Sen. Cantwell said. “The budget also includes final funding for resources to floodproof the main road in and out of Lummi Nation along with several other high-priority projects for the region."

Planned for more than a decade, the Food and Farming Center will include a year-round indoor farmers market, a commercial kitchen, and a processing, aggregation, and distribution center for local farm products. Currently, many Snohomish County farmers are not connected to a central food hub, leaving small farmers to handle their own distribution. A shared-use kitchen would allow for year-round income for producers and provides a convenient way for food entrepreneurs to access existing infrastructure without high startup costs. The farmers market will be located adjacent to a large food desert and near a major county transit hub and will accept EBT and SNAP benefits. The center will be located at McCollum Park.

The funding for the Food and Farming Center was championed by Sen. Cantwell in appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2024 – among the 16 grants across Northwest Washington that Sen. Cantwell helped to secure. U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01) also served as a cosponsor.

  • $8,000,000 for Lummi Nation to flood proof 1,900 linear feet of Slater Road by raising the roadbed by twelve feet. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D, WA-02) cosponsored this request.
  • $4,000,000 to support planning, design, and construction of a new transit center on south Whidbey Island. Sen. Murray cosponsored this project.
  • $3,000,000 to construct Mount Vernon Library Commons, including a children’s center, a teen/young adult STEM center, a community technology center, and community meeting rooms. Rep. Larsen cosponsored this request.
  • $1,500,000 to Housing Hope to construct 52 units of permanently affordable housing for families with children in the Edmonds School District who are experiencing homelessness.
  • $1,616,279 for WSDOT to construct Bradley Road Complete Street Improvements in the City of Lynden. Rep. Larsen cosponsored this request.
  • $1,000,000 for the new Ferndale Civic Campus, a city hall for municipal court, council chambers, and a community meeting space. Rep. Larsen cosponsored this project.
  • $959,752 to the City of Bothell to repair and rebuild the Woodcrest community's water system. Rep. DelBene cosponsored this request.
  • $959,752 to the City of Granite Falls to improve the water quality in the Pilchuck River watershed. Rep. Schrier cosponsored this request.
  • $850,000 to WSDOT To support the development of a corridor and bridge plan to establish a new access point for the Everett Point Industrial Center.
  • $500,000 for the NWIRC Innovation Center Network in Sedro Woolley, a space for entrepreneurs to receive supportive services and access manufacturing equipment. Rep. Larsen cosponsored this project.
  • $500,000 for construction of a roundabout at the intersection of SR 530 and Smokey Point Boulevard. Rep. DelBene cosponsored this request.
  • $500,000 to renovate, equip, and staff a new Northwest Innovation Research Center in Arlington, Washington. Rep. DelBene cosponsored this request.
  • $440,000 for the Whatcom County Sheriff to purchase a rapid DNA system. Rep. Larsen cosponsored this request.
  • $425,000 to expand the Darrington Food Bank’s food storage facility and food distribution area. U.S. Rep Kim Schrier (D, WA-08) cosponsored this request.
  • $220,000 for the Lake Whatcom Water & Sewer District’s Division 7 Water Reservoir Replacement Project. Rep. Larsen cosponsored this request.

Sen. Cantwell helped secure funding for 74 projects across the State of Washington totaling $138,581,258; the full list of projects is available HERE.