A new ‘Buy Fresh’ website has been launched, with the intention to highlight local produce markets and retail stores that offer fresh fruits, vegetables, and a variety of healthy affordable food for multi-ethnic communities.

Presented by the White Center Community Development Association, in partnership with the King County Food and Fitness Initiative and Communities Putting Prevention to Work, the website features new and long-time small business merchants from all over the globe.

“Introducing customers to local healthy food shopping options, including store specialties and merchants’ favorite recipes from their home countries, business hours, EBT and/or WIC acceptance, a brief interview of the owner and a list of the most popular items always in stock,” reads the announcement.

“The website is an important tool for me to tell new and long-time customers about Phnom Khiev Market. It is always great how word can spread just from people talking about a website. The merchant profiles are especially useful because neighborhood residents feel like they know me and can trust me,” said Vichet Khiev of Phnom Khiev Market in White Center.

The website is looking to expand and include other healthy retail stores in these neighborhoods. In the future, it will showcase recipe cards and expand the merchant profiles into various languages such as Khmer, Spanish, Arabic, Somali, and Vietnamese.

The Buy Fresh website’s purpose is to promote the accessibility of healthy, culturally appropriate fruits, vegetables and other foods for residents and visitors in the White Center, Delridge and Highpoint neighborhoods. Parts of Delridge and Highpoint neighborhoods are classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as food deserts. A food desert is an urban neighborhood without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.

For more information visit www.buyfreshsw.wccda.org.

Here’s a map from the website (click image to see larger version):