Farm Fresh

In the upper left-hand corner of the United States, just north of the multicultural food city of Seattle, UNISG master alumna Dana Zemel is helping to connect the people of her home town with locally produced, high-quality lettuces, strawberries, and butter. As part of the non-profit organization Growing Washington, Dana manages the downtown Local Food Exchange in her native city of Bellingham, WA.

‘For me, this is about having better food available for people who live around here. We have amazing fruits and vegetables being produced in Whatcom and Skagit County that just taste so good, and I want it to be easy for people to buy fresh, local food throughout the week.’

Located on Bellingham’s main street, the farm stand is open six days a week and sells a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and locally produced dairy products. It is also part of the highly integrated Growing Washington network (www.growingwashington.org), that includes restaurant sales, a farm-to-cafeteria project, Community Supported Agriculture initiatives, farming education, a food bank farm, and farm coalition programs.

The Food Exchange puts into practice the benefit of gastronomic education, connecting consumers with the value of local products through the simple act of eating.

On the conviviality front, Dana not only came back from Italy with a passion for good food. She also brought back a husband, Danilo Miglietta from Puglia, who she met during her time in Parma and married earlier this year.

For further information about the University of Gastronomic Sciences, click here.