The squeeze is coming from every direction, and local farms need your support now.

• Farm diesel prices rose 46% between February and April 2026. The steepest month-to-month increase on record.

• Fertilizer costs have spiked sharply.

• Agricultural land values have hit record highs, making it harder than ever for new farmers to get started and for existing ones to hold on.

• Skilled farm labor is increasingly difficult to find and wages continue to rise. Labor is now the second-largest cost category in American farming.

• As food prices rise, shoppers are cutting back on purchases of fresh foods. 82% of consumers changed their grocery shopping habits in 2025 due to economic pressure.

Then there's health insurance. When enhanced ACA subsidies expired at the end of 2025, many farm families saw their premiums double or quadruple overnight. Some are going uninsured. Others are weighing whether farming is still financially viable. Farming is already one of the most physically dangerous professions in the country, with work-related deaths seven times the national average.

Our local farms are resilient — but resilience has limits. Shopping local, joining a CSA, or buying directly from a farmer is one of the most meaningful ways to keep Kitsap's agricultural community alive.  And right now, that support matters more than ever.

We know that higher costs are touching everyone, and that for some these choices simply aren't possible. But for those who are able, even occasionally, choosing to purchase locally grown food is a small act with a real impact on our local farm families.

Here's how you can help keep local farms thriving:

• Visit the Bainbridge Island, Poulsbo, or Indianola Farmers Markets

• Shop local online through Kitsap Fresh

• Join a CSA

• Buy directly from farmers

You'll find a directory of local farms with links to their businesses here.

Let’s do this.

A message from Executive Director, Heather Burger

In the spring of this year I became aware that federal funding that had supported food banks and local farmers was being cut drastically. 

Helpline House on Bainbridge Island had just lost 40% of their commodity food purchase funds and funds to purchase locally grown fresh food from farmers was rapidly depleting. Beginning in 2026 $100,000 in annual funding to purchase locally grown food for Kitsap County food bank will be completely eliminated.  

Meanwhile, over 400 families depend on Helpline House for food each week - double what it was two years ago. In some cases, Helpline is now providing 70% of the food that some families have.

These are our neighbors - seniors on fixed incomes, single parents, working families, and children. 

Driven by a need to act, we created a program called Share the Harvest.  It is a simple and direct approach to addressing two converging crises:

• Families can’t get the food they need.

• Farmers are losing revenue they use to sustain their operations.

We raise money and purchase fresh, nutritious food from local farms, and it is delivered to the food bank as soon as it is harvested.

We are incredibly grateful to the businesses, organizations, and many individuals in our community who have supported Share the Harvest so far. We launched July 3rd and in 14 weeks, purchased and donated over 9,500 pounds of locally grown food. That, in turn, has put much-needed revenue into the hands of our farmers.

But the need is not going away.  In fact, it will grow significantly in the coming months and throughout 2026 as the full impact of funding cuts sink in and vulnerable families lose critical safety nets. 

Right now, families are counting on us. Farmers are counting on us.

Support Local Farmers.
Feed Every Neighbor.
Strengthen our Island Home.

We all have a stake in our future.

Join us. Donate Today.

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Read about local food, farms and what’s going on at Friends of the Farms!