Aiden Irish 

Growing up in the Snoqualmie Valley, my earliest memories centered on food, its production, preservation, and preparation. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my family for the values and knowledge that instilled in me a love of food and its preparation.  

However, it was the memories of small farms in the Valley that had fallen on economic hard times that motivated the first part of my professional life. Spurred on by the memories of vacant barns and declining farm economies, my first career centered on policy advocacy and research. I sought avenues and actions that could give those empty barns and declining farms new purpose and sustain the communities that depended on them economically, socially, and culturally. 

Like many others, the pandemic was my turning point. While living in Columbus, Ohio, I rented some land from a friend and started growing produce. Some years, later, I packed up my life and my fledgling farm and moved back to the land of my roots in the Snoqualmie Valley. 

I am grateful every day to call this beautiful land my home.