The fruit of a historic Hazel Dell farm might once again feed the poor and hungry, under a plan awaiting Clark County’s approval.

But this time, the crops might be raised by volunteer urban farmers who want to help local food charities.

County commissioners are poised to endorse a proposal to move the Clark County Food Bank out of the Salvation Army Stop Hunger Warehouse in east Hazel Dell and onto a county-owned farm site one mile to the west.

“Sustainable food and agriculture — our food bank activities fit nicely in with that,” said Jim Youde, the food bank’s vice chair.

Fresh vegetables grown at the farm could “be distributed through the network,” Youde said.

The new building would not directly offer food to struggling families. It would serve as a warehouse for direct charity food banks around the county.

The 79-acre former poor farm sits between Northeast 68th and 78th streets, about one mile east of Interstate 5.

Washington State University Extension also plans to move their offices from Brush Prairie to the old farm, where struggling families once tried to raise enough food to live on.

The extension office might one day offer nutrition programs for local food banks, Youde said.

The idea is modeled, in part, after Mother Earth Farm in Puyallup, a nonprofit farm that helps feed Pierce County’s emergency food network.

Fundraising planned
There’s no money yet for a new food bank building, which county plans anticipate would sit near the northeast corner of the farm.

The new 22,000-square-foot building would replace an awkward 8,000-square-foot space that the food bank now rents at the Salvation Army site, Youde said.

“It’s obsolete, it’s too small, it’s inefficient, we don’t have freezers and coolers we can drive forklifts into,” Youde said. “We just need a new facility.”

Youde is running a new $5 million fundraising campaign that he hopes will draw state and federal grants as well as private donations.

That’d be enough to pay for a new building and some early operating expenses, Youde said.

He hopes the new building could be in place in two to three years.

Youde said the food bank would attract some truck and car traffic on 78th Street. He’s not sure how much.

The president of the East Hazel Dell Neighborhood Association, who lives nearby, said he likes the food bank concept.

“I think it could be an asset,” said Bud Van Cleve.

County commissioners are scheduled to sign a non-binding letter supporting the plan on Tuesday at their 10 a.m. hearings session in the county Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin St.

The county is also planning a public open house this year on its general plans for the poor farm site.

To support the food bank’s fundraising effort, call Youde at 360-798-8305.

Michael Andersen: 360-735-4508 or michael.andersen@columbian.com.