Spotlight on Women Farmers
Many of the local farms supplying produce to Marlene’s are owned and operated by women. Nurturers by nature, women are proving to be nurturing stewards of the land they farm. The innate care and instinctual ability to foster life these growers bring to their work is something profoundly lost in large corporate agribusinesses.
By offering this beautiful, affordable and gently grown fare, Marlene’s is able to reconnect customers with real food and authentic commerce. Keeping those dollars within our immediate community fosters sustainability and allows positive infrastructure, education, and programs to flourish.
Carrie Little of Little Earth Farm runs a non-profit sister farm, Mother Earth Farm, a project of the Emergency Food Network, where she donates the bounty from Mother Earth Farm to the local food bank. Little also teaches organic farming practices to incarcerated women at the Washington State Correction Facility. In addition to the therapeutic benefits of working the land and nurturing plant life, Little helps these women achieve Associate of Arts degrees upon their release. The women are supported with positive job references from Little, whose goal is to eventually offer them job placement on her farms.
