We are still here. Farmers are still farming. And yet, our food system remains at risk. 

At the start of the year, Viva Farms lost access to over $5M of our contracted federal funds following changes in the priorities of the federal government. These funds were committed for disbursement over the next several years and made up 70% of our annual budget. We reached out to you all, our community, to preserve the land, resources, and support that the 34 incubating farm businesses in our program rely on – along with nearly 100 jobs and a $3M per year supply of local, organic produce. And, you showed up! 

With your support, we reached our $1,030,000 goal to fund our operations for the 2025 season! You kept the lights on and empowered us to continue our important work right when we were faced with closing our doors. Our funding for this year is stabilized and secure. Now, we are fortifying our future to ensure our ability to deliver on the critical initiatives we were working on before the federal funding freeze. This is what community-centered agriculture looks like and it’s just the beginning of what we can build together. 

Viva Farms is here to comprehensively support farmers at all stages of growth – from a Practicum student’s dream of farming to an established farm-owner working tirelessly to secure their forever farm. Over the next several years, we aim to continue our work lowering the barriers to farmer success. With your support, we will continue to grow our programs to meet the evolving needs of our region’s farmers. 

Your gift will ensure that we can continue our plans to expand the land and infrastructure offerings at our King County Incubator Farm. Your gift will enable us to continue to evolve the customized education and support we offer farms based on their unique business goals. Your contribution will help Viva trial creative models for land access and innovative funding that supports farmers launching offsite and onto their “forever farms.” Together, these initiatives will ease the bottleneck within the incubator, allowing more new farms to launch and existing farms to grow. All this will result in more locally-owned, organic farms in Western Washington. 

Who will grow your food in the future? Your financial contribution is an investment in a more just and resilient food system. With your help, Viva Farms can continue to grow farmers, community and food. Together, we can keep farmers farming. Will you join us?  

We welcome conversations to learn more and engage with us. You can reach our team at danielle@vivafarms.org or 360-969-7191. 

Last updated: 5/12/25

Other Ways to Give 

Interested in supporting Viva Farms with a will, trust or other way? Let’s talk! We would love to hear from you and brainstorm about your giving goals. Please contact our Development Manager, Danielle, at danielle@vivafarms.org or call  360-969-7191 x814.