SEATAC — When Riddhi Mehta-Neugebauer and her mother spotted the leafy bundles of amaranth at a new SeaTac farmers market, they could hardly believe it. “Both she and I looked at this like, ‘Oh, we got to get bunches of this, it’s really rare,’ ” said Mehta-Neugebauer, a SeaTac resident who primarily cooks South Asian cuisine. “I hope they keep doing this, it’s wonderful.
” That’s the plan. The African Community Housing & Development launched the new monthly farmers market in SeaTac on Wednesday, following in the footsteps of their successful weekly farmers market in Delridge. Sourcing foods and goods from farmers, cooks and entrepreneurs of color, the SeaTac Farmers Market will offer culturally relevant dishes and ingredients that local refugee and immigrant communities often can’t find at other nearby markets and grocery stores.
“Whenever I bring culturally relevant food, they say, ‘Are you bringing more, could you bring more, could you bring this and that?’ ” said Beatrice Shimirimana, the owner of Umoja N’Inguvu Farm, as she peeled shoots of green garlic. Organizers said the new farmers market will serve as an important hub for food access and community-building for racially diverse, low- and middle-income residents in SeaTac, pushing against the stereotype that farmers markets are a place solely for affluent white foodies. Mehta-Neugebauer scored her bunches of amaranth at Heu’s Blooms and Greens, a Kent Valley farm owned by Nhia Moua tha.
