Last July Zach simultaneously relocated to Olympia, moved onto a sailboat with his new wife and started working at Farm Fresh Market. With so many big changes in his life, he likes to unwind with a package of Surf Sweets Sour Gummy Worms, watch Lil’ Bub videos, and daydream about one day owning a donkey of his very own.
What do you do at Farm Fresh and how long have you worked here? I’m the in-house meat clerk. I prepare and cook the rotisserie chickens, make and package our custom sausages as well as our freshly ground beef, pork and chicken.
What do you do in your spare time? Hang out with my wife and our yorkie, on our sailboat. It’s a 32’ Ericson we bought last summer. We’re working on fixing it up. I watch movies, read about sailboats and look up ideas for the our boat, “The Sea Shanty.”
What drew you to natural foods? I’ve been working in natural foods for the past 3 ½ years and I love it! I got a job as a deli clerk at a natural food store in Salem, Oregon. I prepped veggies all day and learned a lot. As it turned out, it was a pretty seamless transition from all veggies to all meat. Always continually learning...
Are you a native Washingtonian? Yeah. I was born in Longview and grew up in Bellingham. I moved to Olympia in July with my wife, Erin. We bought our sailboat in Bremerton and brought it down to Olympia. We wanted to be on the Puget Sound to pursue our dream of living on a sailboat and exploring the sound. Unfortunately, the boat broke down on its maiden voyage and we haven’t had it out since. We’re working towards having the motor fixed by summer so we can finally get out there!
What’s your favorite thing about working at Farm Fresh Market? Working with a high quality product that I can take pride in. We’re putting something out there that is far better than what you can find at other stores. Plus, developing a new skill set. I’m learning a lot about the different cuts of meat and so on.
Do you have any products that you absolutely love? The curry sausage! It’s amazing. All the sausage that we make in house is good, but the curry sausage is my favorite - both the pork and the chicken are great. I enjoy it on its own or scrambled with eggs, but it’s also really good with sweet potatoes and kale served over rice or quinoa. Also, our ground chuck makes really good burgers! I like to mix it with our ground pork and then pan fry them in duck fat. You can’t go wrong there. And of course, the rotisserie chickens. They’re pretty much the best thing ever, especially fresh off the rotisserie when the skin is crispy.
What is your favorite thing about spring? All the sunshine. It’s the perfect temperature. It’s really nice on the boat in the spring and not too hot during the day! Also the building anticipation of summer. I’m looking forward to camping and getting out on the water.
