local voices a look at food, agriculture, hunger, and ......rogue river region the honor of...

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Local Voices Local Food

The most permanent, reliable and available source of wealth Douglas possesses, is her

winding valleys and fertile soil. Here thousands of people have built their houses and here they draw from the willing earth the food that supports many thousands more.

- A. G. Walling in A History of Southern Oregon, pub. 1884

2013

A look at food, agriculture, hunger, and economy in Douglas County in

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Assessment Team

Author Laura Stroud

RARE AmeriCorps

Advisors Sharron Thornberry Oregon Food Bank

Virginia Elandt

NeighborWorks Umpqua

Design Laura Stroud

RARE AmeriCorps

Editorial Team Virginia Elandt

NeighborWorks Umpqua

Megan Newell-Ching Oregon Food Bank

Photos

Photos by Laura Stroud unless otherwise noted in caption.

Cover Photos: Ken Grizzle, Cow Creek Tribe of the Umpqua Indi-ans Tribal Garden Small Photos: Pigs at Circle Star Ranch; Crab Pots at Salmon Har-bor, Winchester Bay; Master Gar-deners at the Victory Garden ; Fall lettuce at the Cow Creek Tribe of the Umpqua Indians Tribal Gar-den. Right: Plums ready for picking.

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Acknowledgements

O ur sincerest thanks go to the people of Douglas County, the farmers, volunteers, teachers, chefs, agents, nonprofit employees, and eaters

who donated their time and insight to making this report possible.

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Foreword

W hen the first settlers came to Oregon they were amazed by the rich soil, abundant water supply and even the islands of productivity in

Oregon’s deserts. They were thrilled with the crops, fruits and berries they were able to raise, the rich pastureland as well as the streams teaming with fish and the bounty of wild game available to feed a growing population. It would have been impossible for them to believe that anyone could be hungry or food insecure in this land of plenty. It is incredible that hunger and food insecurity abound in Oregon nearly two centuries later. In fact, many of the areas that seemed so bountiful to those early settlers have the least access to food today. Three years ago the Oregon Food Bank in partnership with University of Oregon RARE program began to conduct community food assessments in some of Oregon’s rural counties. Very few community food assessment efforts have been undertaken in rural America with a county by county approach. The report you are about to read is a result of conversations with the people who make Oregon’s rural communities and their food systems so very unique. These reports are also a gift from a small group of very dedicated young people who have spent the last year listening, learning and organizing. It is our sincere hope that these reports and organizing efforts will help Oregonians renew their vision and promise of the bountiful food system that amazed those early settlers. Sharon Thornberry Community Food Systems Manager Oregon Food Bank

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Assessment team............................................................................................................. Acknowledgements......................................................................................................... Foreword.......................................................................................................................... Table of contents............................................................................................................. Introduction..................................................................................................................... A community food assessment for Douglas County........................................... Figure 1: Making strides in the Umpqua............................................................ Agriculture in Douglas County....................................................................................... Douglas County’s legacy: abundance and cycles of boom and bust................... Farming today: making a living, marketing direct, following the rules Scale of farms and farming Making a living on the farm Figure 2, 3: Size of farms and farming Local markets for local products............................................................. New and beginning farmers..................................................................... Land, soil, and water............................................................................... Figure 3: In our own words..................................................................... Regulations and permitting...................................................................... Beyond Douglas County.......................................................................... From here to there: scale-appropriate processing and distribution..................... Meat......................................................................................................... Distribution and storage.......................................................................... Home-scale processing............................................................................ Recommendations for agriculture in Douglas County........................................ Profile: Growing Crazy Farm.............................................................................. Profile: B & K Natural Farm............................................................................... Profile: New Leaf Delivery................................................................................. Barriers to Accessing Food............................................................................................. The shape of hunger: food insecurity in Douglas County................................... What is hunger?....................................................................................... Hunger by the numbers........................................................................... Figure 4: What is food insecurity?.......................................................... Figure 5: Data for Douglas County and Oregon..................................... Rural Hunger is hidden........................................................................... Nutrition and cooking ............................................................................ Deserts in Douglas County?.................................................................... Transportation......................................................................................... Figure 6: In our own words..................................................................... The emergency food system: filling “the hole in the belly”................................ The food bank network............................................................................ Pantry operations..................................................................................... Produce for pantries................................................................................. Meal Sites................................................................................................ Gleaning..................................................................................................

Table of Contents

i ii iii iv 1 1 2 3 3 5 5 5 5 6 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 17 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20

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Table of Contents

Figure 7: SNAP in Douglas County........................................................ Federal assistance.................................................................................... Figure 8: How can I get SNAP?.............................................................. Figure 9: Free and reduced school lunches............................................. Recommendations for food access...................................................................... Profile: Community Gleaners.............................................................................. Profile: ORCCA Snack Packs............................................................................. Profile: FISH Food Pantry................................................................................... Community Food Efforts................................................................................................. The demand for local: maintaining momentum.................................................. Buy Local................................................................................................ Farmers’ Markets..................................................................................... Retail outlets............................................................................................ Restaurants and institutions..................................................................... Farm to school......................................................................................... Building community with food: ......................................................................... Community food events.......................................................................... Community gardens................................................................................. Rural grocery store survey....................................................................... Figure 10: Challenges facing rural grocery store owners........................ Recommendations for Community Food Efforts................................................ Profile: Tiller Market........................................................................................... Profile: Community Gardens Galore................................................................... Profile: Markets of Umpqua................................................................................ Profile: FEAST Community Organizing Events................................................. Profile: Elkton Community Education Center.................................................... Methodology and limitations........................................................................................... Bibliography.................................................................................................................... Appendix......................................................................................................................... Appendix A: Rural Grocery Store Survey Appendix B: Farms Market Customer Dot Survey

20 20 21 22 23 24 25 25 26 26 26 27 28 29 30 31 31 32 32 32 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

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Agriculture in Douglas County Introduction

The rolling hills and river valleys provide a stunning backdrop to eve-ryday life in Douglas County. The Umpqua River, with its North and South forks, is the common link in a chain of valleys stretching from the Cascade Mountains in the east to the Coastal Range and the Pacific Ocean in the west. The Land of the Umpqua has al-ways been synonymous with bounty, first to the Native Ameri-cans who gathered food, hunted and fished here, then to frontiersmen and women homesteading in the

valleys, and now to the many farm-ers and gardeners who call Douglas County home. However, this image of bounty stands in stark contrast to statistics ranking Douglas County as the least-healthy county in Oregon where 20 percent of the population, including 30 percent of children, do not have enough food to eat. Though Doug-las County was once well known for its specialty agricultural prod-ucts throughout the North West re-gion, people from elsewhere in the state now ask “What’s happening

between Eugene and Medford?” This community food assessment attempts to answer that question. Many in the area express the no-tion that Douglas County is at a “tipping point.” Though the area faces very real challenges, there is a distinct feeling that better days are just around the corner and many community members are actively working to secure their arrival. This report is one step towards that future. Dozens of community members contributed their time and insight to this report through inter-

A community food assessment for Douglas County

A fall crop of kale at the Cow Creek Tribe of Umpqua Indians Tribal Gardens near Canyonville. Produce is available for garden volunteers and some is distributed through the Tribal Food Bank.

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• There are more than five farm-ers markets of varying sizes across the county. Four years ago there was one farmers mar-ket. A $100,000 USDA grant is providing marketing support for 5 of these markets over the next 2 years.

• A locally owned USDA certified meat processing facility closed

in the past year, but Douglas County has Southern Oregon’s only state approved poultry processing facility.

• As is the case across Oregon and the United States, Douglas County food pantries are facing increasing demand and decreas-ing donations and funding. These organizations are operat-ing within these constraints to provide, and in some cases even expand, services to clients, sometimes becoming vital com-munity centers in the process.

Making Strides in the Umpqua

• Community food programs con-tinue to thrive. New and exist-ing programs promote food entrepreneurship, home gar-dening, and education and ac-cess to fresh produce.

• Town and county officials have indicated varying levels of buy-in on long-term projects includ-ing Farm to School programs, increased agricultural educa-tion at high schools and Um-pqua Community College, and agricultural economic develop-ment.

Introduction views, conversations and meetings. This community food assessment is intended as a snapshot of Doug-las County’s local food system as it stands today. It covers agriculture, food insecurity and community based food projects. Each of these sections has overlap with the others, but they were kept separate for or-ganizational purposes. The hills and valleys of Douglas County create a physical separation between communities giving indi-vidual towns a strong sense of com-munity identity. Many areas of the county have created home-grown solutions to their pressing problems including a community resource center addressing hunger in Glide, a farmers market providing access to fresh produce for seniors in Reeds-port, and an informal food bank run out of a grocery store in Tiller. This report is as comprehensive as possible, but still misses some aspects of the current food system. There are many farmers, food bank volunteers, town officials, and food shoppers who contribute meaning-fully to the food system, but did not

have the opportunity or time to con-tribute to this report. The food assessment is the begin-ning of a conversation about local food in Douglas County and opin-ions, experiences and methods not covered in this report should still be a part of future activities. Continued involvement and attention is essen-tial to fulfilling the purpose of the community food assessment. At the end of each sec-tion is a list of recom-mendations that come from com-munity mem-bers, organi-zations and the author. They are in-tended as guidelines and sugges-tions for fu-ture commu-nity food sys-tems efforts

in Douglas County and should change dynamically as the state of the food system changes. The goal of this report is to create a stronger, more resilient food sys-tem, and we welcome your contin-ued input, energy, support and dedi-cation to furthering that cause.

A Master Gardener plants a summer crop of peas between early spring cabbage at the Victory Garden in Roseburg.

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Agriculture in Douglas County

Douglas County’s legacy: abundance and cycles of boom and bust

Farming has long been a way of life for Umpqua Valley residents. The Umpqua Indians knew this area was abundant with food. The first settlers subsisted on homesteads growing and preserving their own food. Today these same traditions remain strong. Early pioneers depended on the fertile river valley to sustain their families but agriculture soon shifted from a need for life to an economic opportunity. By the late 1800s Douglas County was a prominent producer of orchard fruits and an-nual vegetables and certain areas were known throughout the area for their specialty crops, including Dil-lard melons, Garden Valley straw-berries, prunes, filberts (hazelnuts), and more. In 1884, historian A. G. Walling had this to say about agriculture in Douglas County: “As a fruit region the Umpqua Valley shares with the Rogue river region the honor of

producing the finest quality and greatest abundance of Oregon fruit. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, apricots, and grapes grow in profusion. In the line of small fruits, especially strawberries, Douglas County rules the Portland market.”

The area’s rich soils and mild cli-mate are ideal for many products, and Umpqua farmers often have fewer frosts and more rain than their neighbors to the north and south. In spite of this abundance, mar-

kets for various staple crops have dried up in succession over the years. The story of agriculture in Douglas County follows a trend of intense expansion of a particular product followed by a crash in that market. Reasons for the crashes are as di-verse as the products themselves, but include market saturation and diminishing demand. The Umpqua Valley has been known in turn for its turkeys, hops, wool, prunes, melons, salmon, lamb, and more. It also had the ca-pacity to process all of them. Rose-burg and other towns along the I-5 corridor were home to regionally significant processing facilities in-cluding dryers, canneries, and meat processing. As the markets for certain prod-ucts disappeared, (in the case of fish, as the animals themselves be-gan to disappear) the need for their processing quickly diminished. As

This area supported farming

particularly in the 50s. If you looked at rural Oregon in the

50s, the farmer actually made a living then.

-Lookingglass Farmer

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processing capabilities disappear, the hope and likelihood for a revi-talization of that product disappear with it. In 2012 the last prune drier in the county went out of business. Shortly before that the USDA certi-fied livestock processing facility in Roseburg shut down. The only re-maining cannery on the coast caters primarily to sports fishers, an impor-tant service but small compared to the export canner-ies that Reedsport once hosted. Maintenance and operating costs for running processing equipment are high, but are less than beginning an operation from scratch. The loss of processing ca-pabilities is often felt as the great-est loss, a seal on the fate of a dy-

ing industry. The lack of access to processing, which adds value to farm products, means farmers face additional costs in bringing their product to market. Folks refer to the booms of the past both with a twinge of nostal-gia, and a dose of reality. Some question whether these products

could be revitalized, while others have moved on to wondering what the next big product will be. Still others call for product diversity as the true means of market stability. While the future of agriculture in Douglas County is yet to be made, this section looks at it’s current state including context, distribution, processing, and markets for agricul-tural goods.

The former USDA certified livestock processing plant located on Highway 138 just outside of Roseburg now sits abandoned. Many farmers in Douglas County and beyond have felt the loss of this important community asset. Plans for refurbishing this plant or beginning another are uncertain.

Historic crate labels are a colorful look into Douglas County’s agricultural past. Dillard Melons (previous page) sold through a Port-land distributer and “Fancy Evapo-rated” French prunes (left) from Myr-tle Creek illustrate the historic impor-tance of agricultural markets for pro-duce in the area. Images courtesy of the Douglas County Museum.

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The scale of farms and farming

About 12 percent of Douglas County’s 3 million acres is in farm-land, according to the 2007 USDA Agricultural Census. Only four per-cent of farms (a total of 74 farms) are greater than 1,000 acres and those farms hold more than 181,000 acres, just less than half of the total farmland. The rolling hills of the Umpqua likely have a large influence on farm size. Large tracts of land can be impractical across steep terrain. Another influence on farm size may be forestry. Large tracts of publi-cally and privately held land are dedicated to timber, which remains an important economic activity in Douglas County despite the overall decline of timbering throughout the state. A small fraction of agricultural land in Douglas County is used for organic production. In 2007, 38 farms tended 1,033 acres organi-cally with 201 of those acres yield-ing crops and the remainder in pas-tureland. Seventeen farms are in the process of converting 531 acres into organic production. Making a living on the farm

Looking at just the numbers paints a dismal picture for the fu-ture of farming in Douglas County. According to the USDA Census of Agriculture, on average, Douglas County farms lost $450 in 2007. According to OSU Extension Agent Steve Renquist, this average is brought down by “supplemental income” farms: homestead or life-style farms that are fulfilling family needs, but not producing for mar-ket.

This figure speaks to a compli-cated dynamic that illustrates both the strength of the agricultural tra-dition in Douglas County and addi-tional barriers for small farmers try-

Agriculture in Douglas County Farming today: Making a living, marketing direct, following the rules

ing to make a living from their op-erations. Many families choose to farm on a small scale and produce a signifi-cant portion of their own food. The

Number of Farms by Farm SizeFarms = 2,095

1 to 9 acres

10 to 49 acres

50 to 69 acres

70 to 99 acres

100 to 139 acres

140 to 179 acres

180 to 219 acres

220 to 259 acres

260 to 499 acres

500 to 999 acres

1,000 to 1,999 acres

2,000 acres or more

Amount of Acerage by Farm SizeAcerage = 396,984

1 to 9 acres

10 to 49 acres

50 to 69 acres

70 to 99 acres

100 to 139 acres

140 to 179 acres

180 to 219 acres

220 to 259 acres

260 to 499 acres

500 to 999 acres

1,000 to 1,999 acres

2,000 acres or more

Source: 2007 USDA Agricultural Census

Source: 2007 USDA Agricultural Census

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Census of Agriculture does not ac-count for food consumed on farm, so although the numbers show a loss for the farm, the family could be saving money overall on grocery bills. The USDA Agricultural Census does not further break down the data so it cannot offer a detailed view of the issue.

Farmers themselves did report challenges earning enough money to support their families. Particu-larly, newer farms with small acre-ages reported financial challenges. In the summer, there is a bounty of homegrown produce to be given away as neighbors share and trade with each other. Store owners in Tiller and Days Creek areas re-ported having bins of free produce in front of their stores in the sum-mertime donated by people who can’t eat or preserve it all. These producers that fall some-where between large-scale garden-ers and small-scale farmers contrib-ute to the food security of their communities. They provide for themselves and use the excess to provide for their neighbors. This traditional practice is an im-portant part of community identity, but can present a unique challenge

to small-scale commercial farming in Douglas County, especially for those marketing direct to consumer. With many families producing their own farm goods is reduced in the general marketplace. Additionally, some of these non-commercial farmers use farmers markets as an outlet for their sur-plus goods. As market vendors, they are potentially less conscien-tious about pricing because they are not trying to make a living by sell-ing their produce, but merely trying to earn a little extra income. This practice makes it challenging for small farmers who are trying to make a living through direct mar-keting their produce. Local markets for local

products

Balancing supply and demand is a challenge for cultivating any local food system. Options for purchas-ing local food are limited in Doug-

las County and those wanting to buy locally grown food sometimes have difficulty finding products at certain times of year. Community supported agriculture (CSA) has proven to be an effective means for farmers to reach consumers. See the Community Supporting Food Sec-tion on page 26 to see more ways that farmers market directly to con-sumers. Community Supported Agriculture Community Supported Agricul-ture (CSA) is a way for customers to invest in the successes and fail-ures of a farm business. CSA cus-tomers pay up front for an annual or seasonal “share” of produce from the farm. Boxes are delivered weekly to convenient drop off points. Quantities and varieties of food vary by what is in season and which crops do well. CSA agree-ments usually require, or at least request, that clients volunteer some

A farmer wins the lottery

and his friends ask him what he’ll do with his winnings.

He replies, “ I reckon I’ll just keep farming till the lottery

money runs out.” -Old joke told by a Douglas

County Farmer

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Agriculture in Douglas County hours on the farm to help with labor costs and to learn about farming. CSA generates income for farm-ers at the beginning of the season when they need to make purchases, but have low cash flow. Customers support small farms while receiving high-quality produce in a conven-ient way. CSA is also a way for farmers wanting to grow small quantities of many products to get started since payment occurs up-front. There are five farms selling CSA shares for the 2013 season in Doug-las County. Four are located in Douglas County, near the Roseburg area and one is located in Lane County and delivers to Reedsport. These five CSA operations have more than 300 clients throughout the county. While this may seem like a small number of households when con-sidered alongside the entire popula-tion, it’s important to remember that CSAs support the entire farm-ing operation so that farmers can also supply farmers markets, retail stores and restaurants with fresh local produce. In conversations with CSA farm-ers, all four expressed a deep appre-ciation for their subscribers, who they see as enabling them to do what they want to do: farm. CSA offers a viable way for small diverse farmers to enter the market, and has provided two new farms with start up funds for their opera-tions. Since most CSAs have increased their subscriptions during each year of operation, and most are serving primarily the Roseburg area, there is potential to expand CSA opera-tions to areas north and south of Roseburg.

• “The kids can’t eat a great big pear. They’re just going to eat half of it and throw the other half at someone.” -on Farm to School difficulties.

• “We try to use local business for everything we do.”

• “We’ve been going at it every day. Not one day off. From when the sun goes up to when the sun goes down. That’s just the way it is… But I get to work outside.”

• “You find out what the legal issues are and you just deal with them. You’re better off to know ahead of time than to not know.” - on regulations.

In our own words: Colorful comments from

Douglas County farmers on various topics

• “I love the dirt. I can’t imagine doing anything else. Being able to harvest and grow and weed, it’s my dream.”

• “It’s hard to be at the market selling your products and know that everything you make that day is going right into your lease.”

• “The idea of farming is plant-ing a seed, watering it, and harvesting it, but that’s about 20 minutes of it. The rest is weeding.”

• “You have to be diversified. Diversification is key.” -on what makes a small farm suc-cessful.

New and beginning farmers

The average age of a farmer in Douglas County is 59.5 years old. If the county is to preserve its agrarian heritage, there must be a new gen-eration of farmers who are prepared to step in as aging farmers retire. Thankfully, his new generation seems to be trickling in. General challenges for new farm-ers are access to land, getting infor-mation about cultivation and gen-eral “farm sense,” and finding mar-kets for their products. New Farm-ers in this area reported that their primary challenges are access to affordable land and the cost of labor which prohibited them from hiring help. Young farmers in Douglas County are entering in to both wholesale markets and direct mar-keting. Many of the farmers inter-

viewed for this report had been farming for less than five years. A handful moved to the area because of its amenable climate with the specific purpose of beginning their own farms. New farmers reported that they depended on advice and input from older farmers, who are generous with their time and information. Additionally, new farmers some-times depend on borrowing expen-sive equipment from established farmers. An OSU Extension horticultural-ist based in the county has also pro-vided helpful, location-specific in-formation about cultivation and pest management to farmers who were new to the area.

Land, soil and water

Land is fertile in the Umpqua Valley. The rich valley floor soils is

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Agriculture in Douglas County one reason farmers have relocated to this area both in pioneer days and today. The majority of farms inter-viewed for this report were located in river valleys and did not mention lack of fertile land as a serious bar-rier to their operation. Furthermore, the abundance of perennial crops, like orchard trees and berry bushes, reduces the risk of soil erosion. No farmers stated having current issues with water rights or water access. Most acknowledge that they were fortunate enough to have wa-ter rights that ran adjacent to or near their properties. Some antici-pated that access to water would be an important issue in the future.

Regulations and Permitting

Douglas County Farmers have a wide variety of opinions on regula-tions. The particular regulations that most concerned a farmer de-pended on the type of operation a farmer had and the size of the op-eration. Some felt that extensive regula-tions have a directly negative im-pact on what they are able to pro-duce or sell while others adopt more of an “it is what it is” attitude towards regulations. The Farm Direct Bill came into effect January of 2012. The Farm Direct Bill reduced the regulatory burden of farms marketing directly to consumers. The bill covers fresh and dried fruit and vegetables, grains, legumes, seeds, eggs, and unadulterated honey. Acidic prod-ucts, items such as pickles, sauer-kraut, preserves, jams, jellies and syrups can be made on farm in an unlicensed kitchen up to $20,000. These products must be sold di-

rectly to consumers and the excep-tions do not apply if the food will be resold or sold in a retail store. Some farmers are taking advan-tage of this exception by selling jams and jellies at farmers markets. The egg exemption is also impor-tant for many families with back-yard chickens who can sell their eggs at roadside stands. The Poultry Bill similarly reduced regulatory barriers for small farm-ers. Farmers who processes 1,000 or fewer birds can process the birds on their farm without a license for sale directly to consumers at the farm or farmers markets. The farmer must raise the chickens from 2 weeks old to qualify for the ex-emption and must sell the chickens whole. Beyond Douglas County

Support for small farms and local food systems abounds in Oregon. Notable on the state and national scale are the thriving local food sys-tems and farmer networks in the Willamette and Rogue Valleys im-mediately to the north and south of Douglas County. Many of the re-sources that have helped make these areas successful are lacking or are underdeveloped in Douglas County. Similarly, opportunities offered outside of the county are underused by Douglas County farmers. Many farmers in Douglas County are within driving distance of con-ferences, workshops and seminars held in neighboring counties, but there is little advertising locally. Integration into these larger, suc-cessful resource networks provide benefits for Douglas County farm-ers.

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From here to there: scale-appropriate storage and processing

Storage and processing are an es-sential part of a local food system. Farmers who have access to cold storage and meat or produce proc-essing can extend the shelf-life of their products, and create value-added goods that fetch a higher price at market. Scale-appropriate storage and processing are also one of the larg-est barriers to creating thriving lo-cal food systems throughout the country. As the local food system has become more centralized with fewer farms producing more food, processing and storage facilities have followed suit, often out-scaling small diversified farming operations. Douglas County in particular was a hotspot for farm goods processing in the past. There were fruit canner-ies and driers in Roseburg, Myrtle Creek and Sutherlin, and a USDA certified livestock processing plant in Roseburg. Now, few outlets exist for small- and mid-scale produce or meat processing. In fact, some of these operations have gone out of business within the past 5 years. Access to mid-level processing can make a huge difference for small farmers. Many farmers, whether they are growing produce or raising livestock, talk about reaching a certain growth point. Ex-panding their operation is easy only to a certain point, at which time they must make additional capital investments to continue growing. Local storage and processing can help remove some of this burden from farmers wishing to expand by reducing the amount of equipment they need to purchase personally.

Meat Farmers direct marketing meat in Douglas County have high demand for their products, but raising meat

can be a difficult market to enter because of state and federal regula-tions and processing requirements. There are only a handful of local farmers producing meat to be sold directly to consumers. Farmers cur-rently raise pork, beef, lamb and chicken to sell directly to consum-ers. Challenges are different for each type of meat. Poultry The only state licensed poultry processing plant in Southern Ore-gon is located in Sutherlin, though there are very few farms raising poultry in Douglas County. Beth and Kerry Olson of B & K Natural Farms (see pg. 14) saw an opportu-nity for raising chicken, had the de-sire and resources to do so, and spent the time to figure out the regulations necessary for building the plant on their property. Kerry says there is no way he could raise enough chickens him-self to meet the demand in the area and at the moment, his facility is far below the maximum output of 20,000 birds per year. Farms producing fewer than 1,000 birds annually are exempt

from processing their poultry at a state licensed facility. The Olsons have mobile processing equipment for rent that can help small produc-ers who want to process their own chickens under that exemption. Kerry hopes his efforts to create a chicken processing plant will create business opportunities for others. He would like to see many more people raising chickens that he could then process.

Beef, pork and lamb

Cattle ranching is an important industry in Douglas County. In 2007 there were 933 farms raising 24,569 beef cattle, an increase from 2002 when 899 farms raised 22,173 beef cattle, according to the 2007 USDA Agricultural Census. The great majority of these cows are sold to brokers or feedlots and most will never reach the plates of Douglas County eaters. Notably, families can consume beef their raise themselves by hav-ing it quartered by a mobile proc-essing unit, such as Jacobs Mobile processing, then pieced at a butcher shop such as Nickabob’s Meat Mar-ket. This meat is not available for sale or donation to food banks be-cause it is not processed under USDA inspection. Beef must be processed in a USDA certified processing plant to be sold directly to consumers or through retail markets. The nearest USDA certified processing plant is Mohawk Valley Meats in Spring-field. Very few farms raise cattle with the intent of selling it locally. Only two farms raise beef for local con-

Efficiency is important in

our lives, so how can we have efficiency, but keep it

small scale and diversified?

-Lookingglass Farmer

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sumption at restaurants or farmers markets. Circle Star Ranch in Riddle raises beef and pork for local markets. And Emerald Hills Beef in Riddle raises beef and lamb for local mar-kets. Circle Star Ranch sells at two local farmers markets while Emer-ald Hills Beef is part of a buying cooperative that distributes region-ally. Both farms supply ground beef to a restaurant in downtown Rose-burg. Mike Lofrano from Circle Star Ranch explained that raising beef for a local market was not an easy process. The regulations are diffi-cult to navigate, and since the close of Boyer’s Meats, a USDA certified meat processing facility outside of Roseburg, transportation costs are much higher. He emphasizes that since farmers get retail prices for the meat, that the costs balance out. Lofrano men-tioned that it is especially difficult to supply specialty cuts locally be-cause each animal only has a few servings of the cut. While he fre-quently sells out of bacon and filet, he usually has a good supply of ground beef and sausage. He has found that customers are willing to wait for the good stuff, and keeps a running “bacon list” for customers who don’t want to miss out on the limited supply. Similarly to Kerry Olson who raises chickens, Mike says that there is a much larger demand for local meat than the current produc-ers can supply. “Farmers who are willing to jump through the hoops to produce meat would likely find a willing market,” Mike said. Ranchers can find support

through the OSU Extension’s Live-stock and Forage Specialist, Shelby Filley, who is based in Roseburg. The Douglas County Livestock As-sociation also provides support to ranchers by sponsoring Beef and Lamb Shows annually, hosting monthly informational breakfasts and supporting 4-H and Future Farmers of America.

Fish and Seafood

Similar to many agricultural in-dustries in Douglas County, the fishing and seafood industries were much more prominent in the past than they are now. Much of the in-frastructure required to store, proc-ess and distribute the fish and sea-food no longer exists in Douglas County. In the past, large commercial can-neries operated in Winchester Bay to process and export the catches of fishers from Douglas County and beyond. Now Sportsman’s Cannery is the only cannery at Winchester Bay and caters primarily to sports

fishers. They sell wholesale canned seafood, but their target audience is tourists. According to locals, com-mercial boats usually sell to a buyer who comes up from Coos Bay be-cause there is no longer enough business in the Winchester Bay port to support a local buyer. Roseburg residents can get fresh seafood from Port Orford Sustain-able Seafood, which operates a

Community Supported Fishery. Customers pay an annual fee to re-ceive locally-caught and processed local fish every week. Seafood can be picked up at Umpqua Local Goods. Salmon Harbor is a marina in Winchester Bay managed by the county. There is currently a discus-sion about whether the county will remove docks from Salmon Harbor. The County hopes to save on main-tenance costs on little used docks, but coastal residents believe that they removal will have a negative impact the tourism and fishing in-dustries as access to boats and boat slips diminishes. While some commercial fishing activity is still happening, one local resident who was formerly a fisher and boat owner seemed resigned to the decline of coastal fishing in Douglas County. “No one can make a living at it anymore,” she said. Distribution and storage

Opportunities for local distribu-tion of local produce in Douglas County are limited. Therefore many small farmers face challenges get-ting their produce to local consum-ers outside of farmers markets and CSAs. Distribution is a key element in a local food system because it con-nects farmers and markets. Dis-tributors form a bridge between producers and consumers by coor-dinating pricing, deliveries, quanti-ties and quality of goods. Distribu-tors can open opportunities for small farmers by aggregating goods for large orders and taking care of the time-consuming logistics farm-ers and food buyers often don’t

If it wasn’t moving, we’d can

it. If it was moving, we’d shoot it first, then can it.

-Roseburg resident on family preservation traditions

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have time to manage. In many ways, distribution can be the limiting factor for the growth of a local food system. Improving dis-tribution offers opportunities to grow both supply and demand. There are two businesses that Douglas County farms currently use for distribution locally. Both com-panies work exclusively with or-ganic producers, though New Leaf Delivery does not require organic certification. New Leaf Delivery is a bicycle delivery service that purchases and picks up food from local farms and repackages it for home delivery to their clients. Last season was their first year of operation, and they supplied 15 clients with produce from a handful of local farms grow-ing organically. This season, they are using the commercial kitchen at Umpqua Lo-cal Goods as a distribution base and estimate they could serve up to 45 households through the season as well as grocery stores and restau-rants in Roseburg. Growth of New Day Delivery is limited by the supply of local pro-duce that small farms have avail-able. Additionally, though Umpqua Local Goods is an expansion of the existing program, the location is quite small compared to other dis-tribution hubs and has limited stor-age space. That also may become a limiting factor in the future. Organically Grown Company (OGC) is a regional distributor based in Eugene. They supply large amounts of produce to grocers throughout the region. Only two farms in the county supply food to OGC according to their website. Local grocers including Sherm’s Thunderbird, Albertsons, Ray’s

Food Place, and Promise Natural Foods, carry OGC’s Ladybug Brand produce.

Home-scale processing

Many households process and store foods for themselves annually. There is a strong tradition of putting up food by canning, freezing, smoking or curing. One lifelong resident had this to say: “If it was-n’t moving, we’d can it. If it was moving, we’d shoot it first, then can it.” Another local said her daughter took her canned goods with her when she moved across the country. An abundance of u-pick farms in the area assist this tradition. Resi-dents pick seasonal produce in bulk when it is at it’s cheapest, then pre-serve it for use throughout the year. The OSU Master Preserver pro-gram is very strong in Douglas County. In addition to their annual certification class, they host a num-ber of topical workshops through-

out the year. The Master Preservers have a booth every week a the Um-pqua Valley Farmers Market and occasionally at other markets and community events where shoppers can have their canning gauges tested for accuracy to ensure they are canning safely. Freezing is a popular preservation method as well, especially for meat. Many families in the area hunt and freeze meat for use throughout the year. Farmers can sell half and whole animals to customers without slaughtering at a USDA certified plant. Families can then have the animal butchered to their specifica-tions. They can use the meat them-selves or give it away, but can’t re-sell it or donate it. Families must have the freezer space to store bulk meat. Though the majority of beef raised in Douglas County is sold to brokers in other areas, some of the meat is consumed locally through this process.

Private and commercial trolling boats dock at Salmon Harbor in Winchester Bay. The County is debating whether to remove some docks in the marina.

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1. Offer technical assistance opportunities for farmers, especially small diversified and organic farmers

and increase awareness about technical assistance opportunities already available.

Douglas County offers opportunities for technical assistance to small commercial farmers, but there is rela-tively little compared to the areas directly north and south of the Umpqua Valley in the Willamette and Rogue Valleys. Some farmers reported having difficulty finding information locally about farming organically or be-ginning a CSA. In addition to offering more opportunities in Douglas County, more information should be shared locally about statewide events for farmers like the Small Farms Conference.

2. Create opportunities for farmers to network formally and informally.

Some networks for farmers already exist like the Douglas County Livestock Association and Farmers Markets, but better connections among farmers growing food for a local market could lead to resource and information sharing to improve access to both of these things for young and beginning farmers.

3. Provide information and support for farmers wanting to add value to farm goods

The Farm Direct Bill was a huge step for small producers wanting to add value to their products on farm. In a county that has such a strong tradition of gardening and preservation, there are surprisingly few taking advan-tage of the allowances made through this legislation. A value-added producers course is scheduled for Winter 2014 and can help address this, but more awareness is needed.

4. Increase supply of local food.

This recommendation is much more easily said than done, but much of the evidence gathered from farmers, distributors and consumers for this report pointed to a limited supply of local produce, meat and other farm goods. Future activities should keep this in mind when considering future program and focus on activities that will increase the supply of local goods such as support for new farmers, technical assistance for farm market vendors, and creating pathways for new supply to meet local demands.

5. Support efforts to coordinate and strengthen food distribution networks locally.

Currently, there are two food distributors that operate at two very different scales serving small, diversified farms in Douglas County. The small scale distributer, New Leaf Delivery, connects Douglas County-grown food to Douglas County homes and businesses. Supporting their efforts to expand and serve more local farms and families will help grow supply and demand in tandem. In particular, they are looking for support while creating their first growing and purchasing plan with farmers for the 2014 growing season.

6. Investigate potential for expanding free-range poultry farming

Douglas County has the only state licensed poultry processing facility in Southern Oregon, but in 2007, farm-ers raised and sold only 243 poultry. Chickens processed at this plant can be sold at farmers markets, through retail stores, and to restaurants, but must stay within the State. Kerry Olson at B & K Natural Farm can process up to 20,000 poultry before reaching the plant’s capacity.

Recommendations for Agriculture in Douglas County

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Growing Crazy Farm Farmers Sarah and Joe Humphries can’t imagine doing anything else. Sowing seeds, pull-ing weeds and working together on a farm they are paying for themselves is a dream come true. They farm a variety of crops on 10 acres in central Douglas County, selling direct to consum-

ers through farmers markets and CSA shares. Sarah and Joe got their start through Sarah reselling local pro-duce at markets with a produce peddlers’ license. They began their CSA operation in 2011 with 18 CSA members. “That grew into this possibility because the owner here saw that we were interested in that and gave us the possibility, so we jumped,” Sarah explained.

When you’re doing

something like this, people are just amazed that

you’re doing it. -Joe Humphries

They were committed to growing a wide variety of farm goods for their CSA customers from the beginning, growing three or four varieties of each fruit or vegetable to keep things interesting. Starting a CSA was as much a practical decision as an idealistic one. “The first year we had to do a CSA. Our (farm payments) started in January and the mar-kets didn’t start until April. We had to do that and we got it done” Joe said. “It’s not really a good posi-tion to put yourself in, but it worked,” Sarah added. Growing Crazy does not use any chemical herbicides or com-mercial fertilizers in their growing process, making them one of a small group in the Umpqua Valley. This commitment to organic prac-tices has also been a challenge. “To get information has been hard around here, about doing it organic, or all natural in our case. For the most part when we’ve had ques-tions about it, the answer has been you’re crazy to try to do it without

Growing Crazy does not have a high tunnel or greenhouse, but row covers help to protect plants in raised beds from the cold. The orchard behind was already planted with varieties that \ripen at different times in the season. Photo submit-ted

Sarah and Joe pose in their germination house during a chilly day on the farm.

herbicides,” Joe said. Hence the name: Growing Crazy. Sarah and Joe say that older farmers are the best source of in-formation for the type of farm they want to have. But it can be difficult to meet people with the information they need. Last year while looking for a specific im-plement, they went door-to-door introducing themselves and ask-ing. “When you’re doing something like this, people are just amazed that you’re doing it. It’s not hard to get information out of them. They want to tell you,” Joe said. As parents and farmers, Sarah and Joe have certainly put in their fair share of effort to make Grow-ing Crazy a reality. So far, they have been successful. “The work part comes easy to us, and the want comes easy. That’s the biggest adventure of it, going from one thing to another and to not be doing the same thing every day. It’s physically hard, but it’s awesome,” Joe said.

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B & K Natural Farm Southern Oregon is not known for it’s poultry, but that didn’t matter to Beth and Kerry Olson. When they began B & K Natural Farms in Sutherlin they were looking for a way to begin plan-ning for retirement that would also benefit the community. “We came down and thought, how are we going to improve the land and provide something that not everyone is doing. It kind of dealt us a hand and a direction to go,” said Kerry, who grew up in a farming community in Wisconsin. Beth’s job at a cancer center also influenced their decision to raise chemical-free poultry be-

cause she saw the patient’s desire for good quality food. Their chickens are raised on pasture without chemicals and antibiotics. The rinse water used on processed poultry is also chemical-free. “They’re totally chemical-free. No chemicals, no antibiotics, no nasties at all... Once we get peo-ple to try it, they come back,” said Kerry. But just a vision of raising

healthful meat was not enough to get B & K Natural Farms off the ground. The property they bought was zoned rural residential and bor-dered a subdivided neighborhood. They needed a conditional use per-mit to build the processing facility. Neighbors protested, but the county planning board eventually approved the permit. Kerry bought processing equip-ment built in the 50’s (when things were made to last, he says) for pennies on the dol-lar. Information about poultry farming has been hard to come by in Douglas County because there are so few peo-ple doing it. The 2007 USDA Agricultural Census lists that nine farms raised 243 broil-ers, or meat chickens, in the county that year. “We’re so much away from anything else that there was nobody in this area who had any idea what we should or could do... If we didn’t have information, we went on the internet to get resources,” said Kerry. But Beth and Kerry have proven to be fast learners. Kerry says he can now eviscerate a chicken in two minutes. He learned by watching Joel Salitan’s methods in the docu-mentary Food Inc.

Kerry hopes to see poultry production increase in the area, because it will be good for his business and will pro-vide economic opportunities to others in the area. The processing limit for his facil-ity is 20,000 chickens in a year, which far exceeds what he could raise on his farm. He would like to expand by proc-

essing poultry that others have raised. He also invested in portable processing equipment that he rents out for $25 per day. This encourages others to raise chick-ens, but Beth also mentioned that once farmers spend the whole weekend processing a few chick-ens, they’ll realize they could use B & K’s services to do it cheaper and more efficiently. “It’s a twofold thing. I’m trying to find somebody else, if I give

them the right seed, they can join with me and be part of my busi-ness,” Kerry said. Kerry is looking strategically at expansion, weighing the benefits and drawbacks of hiring new em-ployees and raising more birds. At the moment, they are barely meeting direct-to-consumer de-mand and don’t have the capacity to sell wholesale. “We’re the only game in town. We can’t supply everybody, we’re just not big enough,” said Kerry.

We’re the only game in

town. We can’t supply everybody. We’re just not

big enough. -Kerry Olson

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New Leaf Delivery Anne and Bernard Kintyhtt love bikes and love to think big. In 2012 they created New Leaf De-livery, a produce delivery busi-ness that uses only bikes. They purchase local produce that has been grown without chemicals and deliver it to customers in the Roseburg area. The business is

one-of-a-kind in the county. “We wanted to create an oppor-tunity for people to choose the right way,” Bernard said. They saw that many people want to eat healthy local produce, but don’t always know where to find quality products or have the time to go out to farm stands to purchase what they need. They remove the hassle for the cus-tomer by delivering fresh produce directly from the farms to peo-ple’s doors. “We’re bringing the farming community in touch with the city community so they can help farm-ers.” Bernard said. The new business was also an opportunity for the couple, who were out of work at the time they began. Facing a tough job market, they decided to start their own business that let them do some-thing they loved while supporting the community. Using bikes to deliver organic food seemed like the perfect mix to them. The couple had a successful opening season in 2012 and is expanding in the 2013 season.

This produce has zero food

miles in a car. People are used to fast and we’re

not fast. -Bernard Kintyhtt

They fore-see hiring an em-ployee in the near future to help them include more farms and more cus-tomers in pick ups and deliv-eries. They have built relation-ships with at least eight local farms in the past two years to provide a variety of produce for their customers. They say they have more farms and more buyers interested in their service. They don’t advertise their business because they can get the customers they need by word of mouth. Most of New Leaf Delivery’s cus-tomers are families who receive deliveries at their house, but they are expanding to serving local busi-nesses in downtown Roseburg. Um-pqua Local Goods, a retail store with a small grocery selection, stocks their produce and Blackbird, a restaurant, purchases local pro-duce for their salads. Anne and Bernard hope to con-tinue to grow, but right now they

Bernard and Anne Kintyhtt package fresh--picked local produce at the Umpqua Local Goods commercial kitchen.

say that the supply of local food available is their limiting factor. “Some farms aren’t producing enough to take us on. We’re try-ing to show there’s demand,” Anne said. Anne and Bernard will expand again next year, and intend to plan with farmers for the first time for the 2014 season. She hopes to figure out which farms will grow which produce and how much they should plant to supply New Leaf Delivery. “It would be like planning to grow for a CSA but for many farmers,” Anne said.

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Barriers to Accessing Food

For too large a percentage of our community, the barriers to access-ing food are many and varied. Ob-stacles can be difficult to see and even more difficult to overcome. Add the stigma often associated with accepting assistance, the re-mote nature of rural areas, and a nationwide economic recession and the state of food access here can be downright alarming. This section will examine the cur-rent state of food access in Douglas County, what residents report as the largest barriers to accessing nutri-tious food, and programs, organiza-tions, and projects aimed at meeting and alleviating the need for food assistance. The problems are real and the so-lutions are complicated, but many are working to keep families, chil-dren, or individuals in our country from going hungry.

What is hunger?

“Hunger” describes when an indi-vidual or family’s immediate food needs are not being met. This in-cludes skipping meals or eating re-duced portions. “Food insecurity” refers to a state of uncertainty about how much food will be available. A family experiencing food insecurity may be able to use emergency food resources and avoid hunger. Dianne Pietrzak is a policy ana-lyst at the Douglas County District of the Department of Human Ser-vices. She succinctly sums up the reality of many families experienc-ing food insecurity: “When people lose their income or don’t have income, they often rely on their extended family and

The shape of hunger: food insecurity in Douglas County

friends to help them through those hard times. Well, one of the things that I believe has been happening in this county is that those family ex-tension’s income has also been negatively impacted. So now we have situations where people don’t have extended family financial help and that drives people even further into poverty. It makes it very, very hard to dig out and to regain finan-cial stability.” In other words, these families lack financial and economic resil-ience. Though a family may be get-ting by day-to-day, there is no long-term support. Community efforts, faith-based organizations, and state and federal programs are filling in to bridge that gap. Addressing hunger and food

insecurity successfully will mean

meeting day-to-day needs while

working toward long-term resil-

ience.

Hunger by the numbers

Douglas County has high rates of food insecurity, hunger, unemploy-ment and poverty. The area ranks poorly in these categories compared to other Oregon counties. One in four children in Douglas

County lives in poverty. One in

three children faces uncertainty

about where his or her next meal

will come from. Both of these fig-ures are higher than the state or na-tional rates. It is undeniable that hunger and poverty, especially for children, is an important and com-plicated issue in Douglas County. Douglas County also ranks as the third least-healthy county in Ore-

What is food insecurity?

Food insecurity: Being uncertain about having enough food for all household members. Very low food security or hunger: when households or household members skip meals or reduce portions, sometimes going with-out food for whole days. From Ending Hunger Before it Begins: Ore-gon’s Call to Action by Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon

gon, where over one in four adults

is obese. The complex links among and between food insecurity, health, and poverty bring into question not just whether food is available to indi-viduals, but what types of foods are available. True food security is achieved when the available food is nutritious and allows people to live an active, healthy lives. In this con-text, accessible food means afford-able and readily available. Personal preferences such as taste, cultural appropriateness, and variety are also important in meeting an indi-vidual or household’s food needs. Seniors experience food insecu-rity at higher rates than the general population. Seniors are often living off on fixed incomes, lack mobility, and can be resistant to asking for help. The Douglas County Health De-partment coordinates home delivery and congregant meals for seniors in six Douglas County communities.

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Even though Douglas County has a lower unemployment rate than the state, there are higher rates of poverty for adults and children. Children experience poverty and food insecurity at higher rates overall. Chart uses most recent data available.

Douglas County Oregon

Poverty Rate 2006-2010 15.61 percent 14.00 percent

Unemployment 2006-2010 12.65 percent 14.23 percent

Food Insecurity 2009 20.5 percent 16.8 percent

Food Insecure with hunger 2000 5.2 percent 4.9 percent

Children in Poverty 2006-2010 24.31 percent 18.27 percent

Child Food Insecurity 2009 33.90 percent 29.20 percent

They provide 600 meals per day, three days a week. One trend noted by Jeanne Wright, Senior Services Program Manager with Douglas County is that it isn’t just older seniors or re-tired people who are depending on meals. Younger seniors, meaning those just over sixty, and those still holding jobs, are more commonly attending community meal sites.

Rural hunger is hidden

It is difficult to address a problem you can’t see, and this is part of the challenge when dealing with hun-ger. This is especially true in rural areas because people can live in extremely remote areas and lack transportation to grocery stores or food pantries. The flip side of this is that many remote communities are tight-knit and neighbors help neighbors with-out needing to be asked. In many small, remote communities, hunger and food insecurity is handled at the grassroots, with driven local com-munity members getting food to those who need it. Since this sup-port exists outside of a formalized system, those in need may be more

willing to accept help in the form of food from a neighbor, rather than an organization or the government. Nutrition and Cooking

Economic barriers are not the only ones to accessing nutritious food. Interviews with food bank managers, county officials and homeless teens, identified that a key factor in food insecurity for their clients or themselves was lacking information about cooking and nu-trition. The OSU Extension staff and Master Preservers volunteers offer classes in elementary schools and have done cooking demonstrations at food banks and the Department of Human Services office where the

I think that many, many

people in our culture have lost the knowledge of how

to cook, and particularly how to cook foods that are

nutritious, cost less, and can be made in bulk.

-County DHS Official

food stamps program is adminis-tered. According to Mandy Hat-field, Nutrition Education Program Instructor at OSU Extension, class-room curriculums are highly suc-cessful and kids love the program. Cooking demonstrations have var-ied success and depend on the loca-tion, volunteers, and food item for sampling. One Master Preserver volunteer at a food bank felt that the most suc-cessful method she found for shar-ing nutrition information was stand-ing by the produce table and casu-ally engaging clients about how to handle, store and cook the produce they selected.

Deserts in Douglas County?

Few would describe the lush Um-pqua Valley as a desert, but when it comes to food access 42 percent of Douglas County residents live in a food desert. A food desert is an area of low food access due to lack of places to buy food. According to the USDA, food deserts are areas where a sig-nificant portion of the population lives more than .5 miles away from a grocery store for urban areas and 10 miles from a grocery store for rural areas. Families without cars have more difficulty overcoming distance bar-riers. Low income families already face tough decisions about how to allocate their limited income, and living at a distance from a grocery store adds to the cost of food by requiring more fuel to get there. Residents in food deserts depend on rural grocery stores with limited inventories. Gardening is another way families in food deserts supple-ment their diet. Each of the Markets of Umpqua, a coalition of five

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• “(I buy) whatever I’m craving or what looks good… mac and cheese, ramen, cereal of any kind.”

• “I look for sales, but some months I run out (of SNAP).”

• “It’s tight at the end of the month, but it does last.”

• “(I buy) what I like, but some-thing that will last through the week.”

• “Sometimes I like to make

In our own words: Comments on food from

residents of a shelter for teens and the parents of teens

good meals. It all depends on how I cook.”

• “(I learned about nutrition from) WIC classes and health classes in high school”

• “(There’s) not much info on cooking or nutrition.”

• “We have to do processed foods. We were used to home-made stuff but we can’t keep a budget on veggies.”

• “I survive.”

Orange –shaded areas represent food deserts in Douglas County. Areas of Douglas County not included on the map do not contain food deserts. Food deserts are low-income census tracts where a significant share of residents live more than .5 miles (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from the nearest supermarket. In Douglas County, 42 percent of residents live in a food desert.

Douglas County farmers markets, is located in a food desert.

Transportation

Food deserts become an even lar-ger barrier when families lack ac-cess to transportation. Seniors are more likely to experience limited mobility and access to transporta-tion. Public transportation options are limited in Douglas County and are concentrated along the I-5 corridor between Sutherlin and Canyonville. UTrans busses run in Roseburg, Canyonville, Riddle, Myrtle Creek, Winston and Sutherlin. Busses pro-vide access to four grocery stores in Roseburg (two stores), Myrtle Creek and Sutherlin.

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Meeting immediate food needs is the purpose of the emergency food network. Pantries, meal sites, and other assistance programs help feed people who otherwise might go without their next meal. While the emergency food system addresses immediate needs, it has a harder time meeting the long-term needs of families. The emergency food system is necessary and can be a crucial support for families in need, but providing emergency food is not an end goal of creating a resilient food system.

The food bank network

The UCAN Regional Food Bank, located in Roseburg, supplies about 15 food pantries in towns across Douglas County. UCAN also runs


The Emergency Food System: Filling “the hole in the belly”

six meal sites and provides other services for low-income residents. The regional food bank is tasked with supplying food to the 15 part-nering pantries to keep the shelves stocked. UCAN acquires food from corpo-rate donations, community food drives, the USDA commodities pro-gram and thee Oregon Food Bank. Each of the pantries operates in a similar manner, coordinating dona-tions from nearby groceries and community food drives and order-ing both donated and purchased food through UCAN Regional Food Bank. Pantry operations

The day-to-ay operations at pan-tries are handled by the pantry man-

ager. Some pantries have paid staff while others operate on an entirely volunteer ba-sis. Most pantries are open only a limited number of hours each week. Open hours range from eight hours a week at some pan-tries, to just a few hours monthly at oth-

ers. The amount of food distributed to an individual depends on their fam-ily size. A food box generally pro-vides about three to five days worth of food, depending on what the pantry has available. Pantries dis-tribute their boxes to clients differ-ently too. Some provide clients with a pre-packed box of food, while others allow clients to walk through the pantry selecting which products they would like to take. This “shopping-style” method allows for personal taste and ideally reduces the amount of food that goes to waste because clients will not, or cannot, eat it. Fresh produce is usually the only item not allocated by family size. Clients are allowed to take as much as they want. Grocery stores, back-yard gardeners and gleaners are im-portant suppliers of fresh produce. Produce found at pantries is some-times past its prime but is still edi-ble and nutritious. Still, the low-quality of available produce some-times keeps families from taking it. Even though produce donations are not rationed in the same way as other food, most pantries find that clients will not take more than their fair-share in order to leave enough for others. Generally speaking, pantries are grateful to receive whatever dona-tions are available, but more re-cently some pantries are consider-ing the nutritional value of the food boxes they supply. Pantry managers walk a fine line when discussing nutritional value of donated food. They do not want to alienate well-meaning contributors by dictating

Full shelves at the AARP Pantry in Reeds-port hold food that will be given out in food boxes. Available stock at pantries can vary widely depending on the time of year and the number of clients served.

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donations, but providing nutritional food, or at least food that is not un-healthy, is an important aspect of serving their clients, some of whom suffer from diet-related diseases. All donated food is made available to clients, regardless of nutritional con-tent.

Produce for pantries

Many food pantry managers ex-pressed gratitude for the support of local gardeners who donate their surplus produce to the food banks. Pantry managers said some residents intentionally plant more than they can eat with the intention of donat-ing extras to the food bank. Grocery stores also donate a large supply of produce to local pantries. UCAN maintains many of these partnerships, but since Douglas County is so spread out, individual pantries also sometimes work with local groceries to supply their clients with produce. A handful of pantries, namely the Saint Vincent de Paul pantry in Sutherlin, maintain relationships

with local farms to take in dona-tions. The pantries benefit from this arrangement, but farmers say it is difficult to make deliveries and they would be able to give much more if the pantry could coordinate dona-tion pick-ups directly from farms and farm stands.

Meal Sites

There are six meal sites in Doug-las County sponsored by UCAN and seven sites serving meals to senior citizens three days a week.

In the Rose-burg area, meals are offered five days a week at the Friendly Kitchen. The only other towns offering meal sites are Suther-lin, Reedsport and Myrtle Creek. Senior Meals cover those towns and also Yoncalla, Glide, Winston and Riddle. Meal sites

help bridge a small gap for food insecure people, but transportation to the meal site can be a challenge to clients. These meal sites aren’t the only place people to find a hot dinner when in need. Homeless shelters such as the Roseburg Rescue Mis-sion and Casa de Belen in Roseburg provide meals to their residents who qualify for their services. Oc-cupy Roseburg hosts a free commu-nity meal in downtown every Satur-day afternoon where all are wel-come. Gleaning

Gleaning is the act of taking sur-plus food from a field or orchard to donate and donating it to commu-nity based organizations. Gleaning reduces the amount of food that goes to waste and channels it to the people who need it the most. Many of growers who invite the gleaners to harvest their property have private orchards that provide more fruit than they can use them-selves. The group donates to differ-ent nonprofit organizations depend-ing on the volume of produce they have. Douglas County has one official gleaners group. The Community Gleaners are based mostly in Rose-burg, but take gleans and volunteers from other areas. People in other areas have ex-pressed interest in gleaning in their own area. Elkton in particular has taken action by creating a connec-tion with the Community Gleaners to generate more volunteers and places to glean. Federal assistance

Federal programs provide finan-

When people don’t have

anything else, what’s that supplementing? Community-

based efforts are supple-menting the food stamps. It used to be families, and that still exists, families help each other when they’re able to, but now it’s becoming the

greater community. -County DHS Official

SNAP in Douglas County

• 97 percent of people who qualify for the program receive SNAP benefits.

• 29 percent of seniors who qualify for the program receive SNAP benefits.

• An individual receives $78 per month on average. • A household receives $277 per month on average. • The average meal costs $2.39. * • An individual receiving $78 per month in benefits

will need an additional $137 per month to eat 3 meals a day at the average cost of a meal.

Source: “Addressing Hunger-SNAP in Oregon Counties: Douglas County.” Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon. 2010 * Source: “2010 Food Insecurity & Food Cost in the US: Douglas County.” Map the Meal Gap, Feeding America. 2010

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cial resources directly to individuals to help them meet food needs. Bene-fit recipients must meet certain in-come requirements or other criteria to qualify for benefits. Federal benefits bring a significant amount of money into Douglas County annually. Though only a small fraction of this money is spent on locally-raised produce, farmers markets, farm stands and locally-owned businesses are expanding access to low-income shoppers by accepting benefits.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Program (SNAP)

SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, brings nearly $3 million into Douglas County each month in the form of food benefits for low-income families. Over 10,000 households in Douglas County re-ceive benefits and the average per-son receives about $78 per month. Households receive benefits based on income and the number of people

in the household. Benefits can be used only for food items, but the program excludes hot deli items, takeout or restaurant food. The program supplements a fam-ily’s food budget so that other ex-pected or unexpected costs such as rent, car repairs or medical bills wont leave families choosing be-tween feeding themselves or paying the bills. It adds much-needed resil-ience and reliability to food budg-ets. “The numbers, of course, have just climbed, and climbed, and climbed,” said Dianne Pietrzak, Op-erations and Policy analyst for the Department of Human Services. However, she noted that in recent months the number of SNAP recipi-ents has decreased slightly. “That’s probably an indicator that the economy is improving. And so probably some people are being employed and are no longer eligi-ble.” Even though participation is slightly declining at the moment, the numbers are still much higher today than they were in 2006. In July of 2006, 5,919 households re-ceived SNAP benefits. In July of 2012, 10,514 households received SNAP benefits. Similarly, the benefit amounts received in the county have spiked by almost $1 million per month in the past eight years. In July 2006, SNAP Douglas County issued $1,353,602 in benefits. By 2011, that dollar amount was up to $2,942,668. Pietrzak noted that even though SNAP is intended to supplement a family’s food budget as the pro-gram’s name states, more families are depending on the program for

all or most of their grocery budget since the economic downturn. This is especially true for families facing long-term unemployment. Though the rising dollar amounts mean more families are struggling, the benefits mean more sales for grocery stores. One rural grocery store owner estimated that 10 years ago their sales were 1/3 SNAP and 2/3 cash, and today those propor-tions have switched.

Women Infants Children (WIC)

The WIC program issues food vouchers for pregnant women, women who are breast feeding up

to 6 months after giving birth, in-fants, and children under 5 years old. WIC vouchers will buy a pre-determined list of grocery store products including fresh fruits and vegetables, hot and cold cereals, canned fish, milk, cheese, juices and baby food. WIC brings more than $2.3 mil-lion into Douglas County annually. Nearly $16,000 is directed to local farmers through the Farm Market Nutrition Program. Clients can use these benefits at a limited number of farms and farmers markets in-cluding Kruse Farms, Brosi Sugar Tree Farms, Umpqua Valley Farm-ers’ Market, Canyonville Farmers market and more. Information on where to redeem WIC Farm Direct

Anecdotally, families try

new things when they have the money in their hand at the market. If they decide

it’s good, they’ll reprioritize their spending later. -County WIC Official

How can I get SNAP?

Do you want to find out if you or your family can receive SNAP

benefits? The first step to finding out is to fill out an

application online at: https://apps.state.or.us/

onlineApplication/

The Department of Human Services handles application for food stamps. In Douglas County,

contact them at: (541) 440-3301 1-800-440-3301

1937 W Harvard Ave Roseburg, OR 97470

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vouchers can be found at www.myoregonfarm.org. Mothers are required to take nutri-tion education classes as part of the program. Topics include appropriate feeding for a child’s age, pregnancy nutrition, breastfeeding, healthy snacks and fun with fruits and veg-gies. Dale Erickson, WIC Program Director for Douglas County said that the nutrition classes are a “soft requirement” and mothers will still receive benefits if they don’t attend. The health department is exploring ways to make classes more conven-ient such as offering classes online and using a self-paced program. Some young mothers living in a shelter for teens and parents of teens in Roseburg said that WIC nutrition classes were one of the only ways

they received information about nutrition and cooking. The Douglas County WIC depart-ment advertises through advertise-ments and newspaper stories, but Erickson said that the majority of new clients were referred by friends and family who had received WIC themselves. Douglas County receives an an-nual grant to distribute WIC Farm Direct Checks to their clients. Checks can be used at farms, farm stands, and farmers markets throughout the county. Erickson estimated that the redemption rate was 60-80 percent and that he is exploring ways to increase the re-demption rate. School Lunch

For some students, the breakfast and lunch they eat at school are their primary source of nutrition during the school year. The school lunch program requires that meals meet cer-tain nutritional guidelines. Even still, some district’s cafeterias lack the proper equipment to feed fresh cooked meals to their stu-dents. For example, at Tiller Elementary School, the school cook serves hot food to 51 students from a four-burner range because they lack the proper equipment to keep food warm between cooking and serving. The rates of children who qualify for free and reduced lunch are high in Douglas County. Students can qualify for free or reduced lunch de-pending on a family’s in-

come. Families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level qualify for free meals and families with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the pov-erty line qualify for reduced-price meals. Schools are reimbursed $2.86 for each free lunch they serve and $2.46 for each reduced-price lunch they serve. Each full-price lunch is reimbursed $0.27. Each school district in Douglas County serves free or reduced lunches to over half of the students.

Summer Meal Sites Summer meal sites are an exten-sion of the National School Lunch Program that serves students in the summertime when they are not in school to receive school lunch. Stu-dents qualify for meals in the same way, but there are many fewer pro-grams offering lunches in the sum-mer than there are schools offering lunches during the school year. This leads to a spike in childhood food insecurity during the summer months. There are 24 summer meal sites in Douglas County and they are concentrated in the towns along the I-5 corridor. Community members in Elkton and Tiller expressed a de-sire to have a summer meal pro-gram, but said that transportation would be an issue. They predict that children wont come without being offered transportation, and they do not have the resources themselves to offer transportation.

71 percent Days Creek School District

52 percent Roseburg School District

78 percent Elkton School District

88 percent Glendale School District

53 percent Glide School District

61 percent North Douglas School District

61 percent Oakland School District

65 percent Reedsport School District

80 percent Riddle School District

65 percent South Umpqua School District

59 percent Sutherlin School District

59 percent Winston-Dillard School District

72 percent Yoncalla School District

Free and reduced school lunches The rate of children qualifying for free and reduced lunches in each school district illustrates the geography of childhood hunger in Douglas County. The percent-ages listed here are the average percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunches all the schools in that district. For the full table visit: http://www.ortop.org/Documents/SCH_2012_FreeReducedLunchReferenceTable.pdf

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1. Consider long-term resilience an important priority for emergency food assistance programs.

Immediate hunger is a pressing issue in Douglas County and many churches, volunteers, organizations and businesses support hunger alleviation by donating food and time. Unfortunately the need is so great, most of these organizations continually operate in crisis mode, with little acknowledgement of long term issues. These organizations must address long-term food security in their organizations and practices in spite of funding and personnel constraints. Oregon Food Bank staff and future Community Food Assessors can offer support for organizations wanting to address this important issue.

2. Increase access to fresh, local food to recipients of federal benefits like WIC and SNAP.

Outlets for fresh produce, like farmers markets and small retail stores that offer produce or healthy food selec-tions should try to offer this service to customers. Considering that nearly one third of Douglas County resi-dents qualify for federal food assistance, this could be an important source of income for food businesses, and can also reduce the stigma and myth that low-income individuals do not want to purchase fresh, healthy food.

3. Increase access to cooking and nutrition education for low-income students and adults as well as the

tools needed for cooking at home.

Many contributors to this report indicated that their clients at food banks or shelters did not have the knowl-edge or materials to cook meals from scratch at home. Master Preservers provide support at some pantries in the county and schools and afterschool programs like the Boys and Girls club offer nutrition education, but they face funding and volunteer constraints and cannot reach everyone. Other organizations, especially those serving youth could adopt nutrition education programming.

4. Expand the gleaners group throughout the county.

Elkton residents expressed a need for gleaning in their area. The Roseburg group is providing support and in-formation to Elkton residents interested in beginning this new group.

Recommendations for food access

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Community Gleaners

Craig Reed, Community Gleaners organizer, prepares to shake plums out of a tree onto a tarp. On this day, volun-teers gleaned about 100 lbs. of plums from a private orchard for donations to five community organizations.

Gleaning is the act of removing unused or unwanted produce from a field or orchard to donate to those in need of food. Gleaning has been happening in Doulas County for decades. The Commu-nity Gleaners began about 12 years ago. The group has about 20-25 regular volunteers. Gathering pro-duce to donate to community or-ganizations is the main purpose of gleaning, but volunteers are al-lowed to take home about of what they glean to use for themselves. Volunteering for gleaning is popular among home canners who can take home large amounts of produce for processing. Those who have gardens or trees for gleaning are typically elderly people who are no longer able to harvest their fruit trees.

The property owners are also able to keep some of the harvest if they choose to do so. Three people help coordinate the Community Gleaners: Gerrie King, Craig Reed, and Virginia Elandt. Virginia fields calls from volunteers and landowners. Craig and Gerrie recruit and supervise volunteers at the gleaning sites. Volunteers meet at a central point in town, then drive to the gleaning site. Experienced volunteers are always present to assist new glean-ers. Volunteers work for about two hours at a time. The gleaners have a list of com-munity partners who accept gleaned produce which includes homeless shelters, schools, and afterschool and summer programs. One challenge for the gleaners is

that there us usually little notice between calls from landowners and when the produce needs to be gleaned. This makes it difficult for the gleaners to plan ahead or coordinate community groups who might want to volunteer on a specific day. There are a few opportunities for gleaners to expand volunteer options. A recent meeting in Elk-ton strengthened connections be-tween the Elkton Community Education Center and the Com-munity Gleaners.

Want to glean? Have produce to glean?

Contact Virginia Elandt at

(541) 673-4909 or [email protected]

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ORCCA Snack Packs The weekends can be a tough time for students who depend on school meals during the week. Without the meals provided at school, some students may have to go without on Saturdays and Sundays for the meals provided by the school lunch program dur-ing the week. The Snack Packs provided to about 50 students at Highland Elementary School are one way to address this problem. To qualify for a Snack Pack, students must be eligible for free or reduced school lunches. Students can be referred to the program by a teacher or parent. Students en-rolled in the program are given a

package of food on Friday after-noon to have during the weekend. The program began in Coos County in 2006 when teachers no-ticed students hoarding food from their lunches to take home on Fri-days and arriving at school hungry on Mondays. Since then, the pro-gram has spread to serve about 700 students in three counties. At Highland Elementary School in Reedsport, 50 students are en-rolled in the program. Highland is the only school in Douglas County that provides packages of food to students for the weekend. Oregon Coast Community Action (ORCCA) provides the snack packs to students primarily serves Coos

and Curry County, and includes Reedsport in its service area too. Food for the Snack Packs comes from the Oregon Food Bank and a local Walmart. It is a combination of purchased food and donations. Cintia Henry, who administers the program, says that the cost of food is a big factor in what they can provide in the Snack Packs. They try to balance healthy foods like oatmeal with less-healthy op-tions like slim jims and pudding. They provide nonperishable foods because the program lacks refrig-erated space.

FISH Food Pantry The FISH of Roseburg began in the early 1970s with just a hand-ful of volunteers pulling food from their own pantries and per-sonally delivering it to those who expressed a need. Since then, the FISH has expanded in nearly every way, changing throughout the years to better meet the needs of people without enough food in the Roseburg area. The FISH of Roseburg was one of the first shopping-style food pantries in the county, which means clients have the ability to choose which items they take. FISH began operating as a shop-ping-style pantry in the 1980s when Executive Director Vern Haas noticed that clients were walking out of the pantry, sifting through their groceries, and set-ting food they wouldn’t eat on the curb before leaving. Haas says this style of pantry offers more

flexibility. “My guess is very little food gets wasted,” he says. Recently, volunteers and staff have given more attention to the nutritional content of food available for clients. Haas has a saying that succinctly summarizes the often complicated interaction of poverty and obesity: “Mac and cheese goes straight toward obesity”, but it is an inexpensive and fast meal option. The pantry stopped purchasing bulk macaroni and cheese even though it had served as a staple in the past due to its low price. The pantry still accepts macaroni and cheese as do-nations and makes all donations available to clients regardless of nutritional value. Than pantry often has fresh produce available for cli-ents, and places no limits on the amount they are able to take. Vol-unteers staffing the produce section often offer clients tips about how to clean, store and prepare produce. In

one volunteer’s experience, this informal exchange is more effec-tive at increasing the amount of produce distributed than classes or cooking demonstrations. According to Haas, an OSU Ex-tension consultant concluded that most families could find a well-balanced diet from the selection available at FISH. They approxi-mated that even those with dietary constraints like diabetes could find a selection of foods to meet their needs if they conscientiously read labels. FISH of Roseburg is dependent on donations from the commu-nity. In October 2012, the pantry received about 4,200 lbs. of gro-ceries donated from local stores, abound 5,200 lbs. of groceries from community food drives. Nearly 5,000 lbs. of groceries were donated from a new pro-gram called the Roseburg Food Project, in which residents collect donations on a rolling basis from their neighbors with reusable gro-cery bags.

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The Umpqua Valley has seen an uptick in community food activity in the past five years. Along with the rest of the country, words like organic, food miles, community garden, and farm to table are begin-ning to capture the interest and imagination of Douglas County residents. Many recognize the valu-able role food and agriculture can play in building community and promoting healthy lifestyles and there is growing awareness that these activities can promote eco-nomic development and create much-needed jobs. Food, gardening, and self-sufficiency have always been im-portant traditions in Douglas County. This heritage is a great platform to support community food efforts and many are forging the way to connect the dots between health, food, agriculture, education, and community. However, because these are new ideas, the learning curve is steep. But that challenge has not de-terred committed community mem-bers from seeking out, addressing, and overcoming barriers. Much of the work detailed in this section is recent and will require continued community support to remain successful. Just as impor-tant, leaders of these projects must maintain their collaborative attitude to provide support and encourage-ment to one another. Buy Local

Assessing the demand for local food in Douglas County depends on what scale is considered. Many residents grow food in backyard

Community Food Efforts

The Demand for Local: Maintaining Momentum

gardens to eat, preserve, and give away to friends and family. This type of local consumption is impor-tant for food security and self-sufficiency, but isn’t captured in the Agricultural Census or other meas-ures of economic development. For the purposes of this section, “demand for local food” refers to those growing food for commercial sale. Non-commercial gardening will be covered later in this chapter. In 2002, 395 farms in Douglas County sold products directly to consumers. In 2007 that number was down to 347. During that time, however, the dollar amount of farm products sold directly to consumers increased substantially from $1,382,000 to $2,162,000. These numbers include sales from road-side stands, farmers markets, u-picks and livestock, but the census does not break down the figure into items.

The jump in the dollar amount of direct sales is significant for the lo-cal economy, but it is difficult to pinpoint the cause in expansion, especially given that the number of farms decreased. Other counties in the state experienced similar jumps between 2002 and 2007. OSU Extension horticulturalist Steve Renquist offered some specu-lation about the cause of the in-crease: his theory is that the jump was not entirely demand driven, but was a result of higher prices for vegetables, nuts and fruits (ie. foods likely to be marketed locally) dur-ing that time. He also mentioned that some farms began CSAs and u-picks during that time, which could have driven up the number. “It’s a battle in this area,” Ren-quist said of direct marketing, but he has seen demand for local goods in the general population growing in recent years.

Sutherlin Farmers Market relocated to its current location in spring 2013 and has more vendors and customers than previous seasons.

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Community Food Efforts Statewide, direct sales count for about one percent of total agricul-tural sales. In Douglas County about four percent of agricultural sales are direct-to-consumer. Without more specific statistics, it is difficult to tell where the demand comes from, and which types of farm goods are generating the most revenue for local farmers. The in-formation in this section is intended to illustrate demand for local food in lieu of numbers to cultivate a better understanding of what oppor-

tunities are ripe for expansion.

Farmers Markets

The growth of farmers markets is perhaps the most visible indicator of the growing demand for local food in Douglas County. There are five formalized farmers markets in four communities, and at least three small, informal markets in three other communities. The Umpqua Valley Farmers Market was the only farmers mar-ket in the county when it began 20

years ago. The majority of the other markets have begun within the past four years. Each market has its own reason for getting started and aims to serve a different purpose in the community, but common among the markets are a desire to provide produce and craft vendors a place to sell their products while providing community members with a high quality product. Lookingglass Market and Suther-lin Farmers Markets particularly have an eye towards providing eco-

Umpqua Local Goods retail specialist Xander Fitzhugh stands next to a cooler full of local produce for sale in the food desert of downtown Roseburg.

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Community Food Efforts nomic opportunity, Lookingglass for its community members and Sutherlin for a struggling down-town area. Cindy Phillips is a beekeeper, gardener, and grange member in the Lookingglass area who helped be-gin the Lookingglass Farmers Mar-ket. She says that she and others in the community saw family bread-winners losing their jobs and farms that were struggling. They wanted to provide them with an alternative. “One of our ideas as a family was that there are farmers out here who couldn’t make a living. So how do you help them begin? Well, here’s a store front for thirty bucks all sum-mer and another thirty all winter. It’s the cheapest store front you could have,” said Phillips. The Sutherlin Farmers Market had been struggling with limited vendors and customers. Mar-ket volunteers saw they were caught in a common market dilemma: vendors wanted to see high customer flows be-fore committing and custom-ers want to see lots of vendors with diverse selections before becoming frequent shoppers. A vendor recruitment effort over the winter garnered five to six new vendors (up from one or two last year). One of the new vendors is a new farmer who has recently ex-panded her operation from backyard garden to market garden. The Sutherlin Market’s committed volunteer manager also owns a storefront a block away from the market. On the opening day of market her store had more sales than the

rest of the month combined. Though this evidence is anecdotal, it shows the immense potential for farmers markets to serve as eco-nomic drivers. Many of the Markets of Umpqua are in the fledgling stage, and two of the five are categorized as “micro markets” based on the num-ber of vendors attending. The Mar-

kets of Umpqua advertising cam-paign (see pg. 37) can help ease some of the growing pains while these new markets develop an ex-perienced and committed customer and vendor base. Retail outlets

Few retail outlets in the area source food and farm goods locally even when the product could be or is grown or produced locally. Store owners and farmers both report that

retail and wholesale relationships are particularly challenging, espe-cially for small farms and small store owners. For large retail outlets, local farms do not produce a large enough quantities of individual products to make a business rela-tionship worthwhile. Smaller store owners in rural areas find it difficult to sell produce before it spoils Farmers producing at a scale ap-propriate for supplying small store owners often opt for direct market-ing, where they can earn the retail value of the product themselves, rather than earning a wholesale price. Farmers and store owners of all sizes often lack the time to coordi-nate relationships with individual farmers. Some retail outlets order produce

from Organically Grown Company, a distributer based out of Eugene. OGC sources much of its produce from Ore-gon farmers, but only two growers in Douglas County have a relationship with this distributor. Promise Natural Foods in Canyonville and Umpqua Lo-cal Goods in Roseburg are both small retail stores that are committed to providing small farmers with a retail outlet and providing the high-est quality local produce to consumers. Promise Natural Foods is a small grocery and health food store in downtown Canyon-ville owned and operated by Javelin Ormond. Promise has been in operation for more than 40 years.

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Community Food Efforts Umpqua Local Goods is a social enterprise in downtown Roseburg aimed at providing a retail market for local food and craft producers. The store opened at its current loca-tion in September 2012 and has been gradually increasing its pro-duce offerings since then. Store managers initially faced many of the challenges of connecting local products to local wholesale mar-kets, but a new partnership between Umpqua Local Goods and New Leaf Delivery has resolved many issues. The delivery service sup-plies the store with produce, and uses the community kitchen as a site for packaging and aggregating the products they purchase. As a social enterprise with non-profit support from NeighborWorks Umpqua, the store is poised to ad-dress some of these challenges for small stores supplying fresh pro-duce in a way that would scale to other businesses. The goal is to create a model that similar small retail establishments, such as rural grocery stores could

build on. Additionally, farmers wholesaling with Umpqua Local Goods will be able to use that ex-perience when dealing with other local wholesale buyers. Restaurants and institutions

A handful of committed restau-rant owners and chefs offer local food options on their menu. Restau-rant owners and chefs often face the same constraints when purchasing local as retail stores.

The Mark V in downtown Rose-burg purchases grass-fed beef from Circle Star Ranch in Riddle. Sean Vincent, head chef and son of the owner, has pushed to serve more locally-sourced product in the res-

taurant within the past year. He says his drive to source locally comes from a personal desire to serve better quality food, rather than customer demand. Vincent worked on an organic farm near Portland before returning home to Roseburg to work at his family’s restaurant. The orders started small, and the restaurant is still only sourcing 10 to 20 percent of the ground beef they sell from Circle Star Ranch. Since Mark V began purchasing meat regularly, Vincent has pushed to make sure customers know about what they are eating, putting small information cards about Circle Star Ranch on each table. “Customer education is key. There might be customers thinking about it, but they don’t verbalize it to their servers.” Other restaurants in the down-town Roseburg area source prod-ucts from local farms, but the proc-ess is less intentional and more piecemeal. This can benefit farms and restaurants who wish to sell or

Customer education is key.

There might be customers thinking about it, but they

don’t verbalize it to their servers.”

-Head Chef at Mark V

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Community Food Efforts serve produce when convenient, but could potentially lead to misunder-standings and miscommunications. However, these casual or occa-sional business relationships can serve as a stepping stone to more formalized supply agreements.

Farm-to-School

“Farm-to-School” in its most gen-eral definition describes any activ-ity that connects students to locally-produced food. Efforts primarily focus on getting local food into cafeterias for children’s lunches, but Farm to School can also include field trips to local farms and cook-ing and nutrition classes centered around seasonal, local food. The latter is more prominent in Douglas County and farm to school efforts in Douglas County have ex-perienced many of the same diffi-culties school districts across the country have faced when trying to source cafeteria food locally: • Nutrition service officials and

farmers are short on time to co-ordinate purchases

• The growing season and the school year don’t match up

• Cafeterias have specific purchas-ing criteria (shape, size, quantity, packaging) that can be difficult for small farmers to meet

Farmers and school cafeteria pur-chasers both say they’d like to see it happen, but don’t have the time for working with each other. One farmer stated that school buyers didn’t necessarily under-stand the seasonality of local pro-duce and that popular summer crops like squash and melons are not available in the fall and winter when children are in school. Many schools have educational

vegetable gardens that produce food, but few, if any schools have a plan for consistently serving food produced on site in school lunches. More frequently, produce is served as snacks, which are easier to or-ganize and are more appropriate for small quantities of food. Sometimes the food from these gardens is of-fered for students to take home. Many individuals in different fields—farmers, teachers, students, AmeriCorps and nutrition special-ists—have expressed interest in farm to school activities, but no one and no organization has stepped forward as a leader for the cause. Hannah Morris, an AmeriCorps VISTA, submitted a Oregon De-partment of Agriculture grant for Farm to School Activities. The pro-gram focuses on educating students about local agriculture and on sourcing cafeteria food from local farmers. “[Energy for farm to school] isn’t naturally already present in an obvi-ous way. But once we start taping into it people get excited about it.” She sees the need for a farm to school coordinator that could act as an intermediary between school dis-tricts and farmers to facilitate pur-chasing and maintain momentum for farm to school sourcing. Community Supported

Agriculture

Community Supported Agricul-ture (CSA) is a direct marketing model for local food. CSA mem-bers purchase upfront a share of the farmers crop and their investment is repaid throughout the growing sea-son in the form of weekly produce boxes. The idea behind CSAs is that customers adopt the risk of

farming with the farmer, and pay for the bulk of their produce at the beginning of the season, when the farmer experiences high costs with little incoming cash flow. Some CSAs request that members volun-teer hours on the farm weeding, harvesting and packing boxes for other members. The number of CSA farms and members in Douglas County has grown over the past five years. Cur-rently, four farms offer CSA boxes. Two of the farms increased the number of shares for the third year in a row and have sold out of mem-berships. One farm that had offered CSA shares in the past no longer does so, so it is unclear if the mar-ket for CSAs is expanding, or if their expansion is merely an ab-sorption of another farm’s custom-ers. For Growing Crazy farm, the CSA model wasn’t just an ideal, it was a necessity (See pg. 13). The CSA model allowed them to re-ceive a cash advance to grow crops for the season. The growth of CSAs in Douglas County, even in light of one farm discontinuing their program, indi-cates that CSAs could be a way to encourage the growth of small farms that market direct in the area.

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delivering to Roseburg this year. The event included live music and a local dessert. Though CSA farm-ers from a business standpoint are in competition with one another, this event emphasizes the coopera-tive nature of local farming. Food . Education . Agriculture .

Solutions . Together—FEAST NeighborWorks Umpqua and the Oregon Food Bank have hosted five FEAST events in the county in the past year. Events were held in Roseburg, Riddle, Reedsport, Elk-ton and in Roseburg with the Cow

food system. Three events particu-larly are notable over the past four years. That’s My Farmer This annual event invites Douglas County Community Supported Ag-riculture (CSA) farmers to display their programs to interested custom-ers. The First United Methodist Church hosts this public event in their parish hall. This year, all 4 CSA farms in the county were pre-sent, as well as Port Orford Sustain-able Seafood, a Community Sup-ported Fisheries program that began

Anyone who has ever shared a meal with friends or family knows the power that food holds for bring-ing people together and creating community.

Community food Events

Over the past few years, a number of food systems events have be-come prominent in the Douglas County area. These events provide a way for community members to gather around the food systems in a fun interactive way, meet others involved in food systems work, and learn about different aspects of the

Building Community with Food

Lookingglass Grange and Neighborworks Umpqua hosted Douglas County’s first annual Food Day on October 24th, 2012. Attendees shared dinner and traded seeds they saved from their gardens. Photo by Anna Jen

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Community Food Efforts Creek Tribe of the Umpqua Indians. The events gather people from diverse sectors of the food system including farmers, pantry managers, government and agency officials, teachers, and nonprofit employees, to discuss the assets of their food system and find ways they would like to make it better. The Oregon Food Bank provides extensive information about plan-ning and hosting a FEAST on their website. More information about the discussion and outcomes of 2013’s FEAST events can be found on page 38.

Food Day Food day is a national event cele-brated in communities across the country. In Douglas County, the Lookingglass Grange and NeighborWorks Umpqua hosted dinner and a seed swap in Looking-glass. The event debuted the Com-munity Food Assessment project that created this report and was a social way for many community members to enjoy a social evening together.

Community gardens

Community gardens are taking root all across Douglas County. In an area with a strong tradition for gardening and self sufficiency, the area has expertise and commitment necessary to make a garden grow. There are many different types of gardens, but most can be grouped into two categories: community gardens and learning gardens. Community gardens provide gar-den plots for people without ade-quate space to garden at their homes. Usually, gardeners pay an annual subscription to reserve a personal plot where they can grow

1 Availability of satisfactory labor

2 Competition with large chain grocery stores

0 Debt and/or high payments

6 Government regulations

3 High inventory costs/low turnover

0 Shortage of working capital

2 High operations costs (utilities, building lease, repairs/maintenance, etc.)

0 Lack of community support

4 Low sales volume

4 Narrow profit margins

2 Required minimum buying requirements from vendors

4 Shoplifting/bad checks/internal theft/unpaid accounts

4 Taxes

Challenges facing rural grocery store owners Numbers represent total stores listing that item as an issue. Total stores represented is 9. Store owners could select more than one item.

whatever they choose. Learning gardens are focused more on education of a particular group. Usually, the garden is tended as a whole and does not offer per-sonal plots. Any food grown may be donated to a local pantry or shel-ter or sent home with volunteers. Some gardens offer a combina-tion of these characteristics, for in-stance, providing personal plots, with a plot dedicated to education. Many gardens of both types have support from an organization out-side of the garden organization like a church, school, or nonprofit. Many churches create community gardens while schools are more likely to build a learning garden. Most depend on core volunteers to take care of the day-to-day activi-ties and have wider community support to take on bigger projects like building fences or raised beds. Funding for community gardens comes from a variety of places. Many gardens are funded through grants from government agencies,

private foundations or corporate sponsors. Sometimes the sponsor-ing school or church will provide funds, tools or water to keep the garden growing. Donations drives and fundraisers are also common. See page 37 for a profile of some of Douglas County’s community gardens. Rural grocery store survey

In rural areas like Douglas County, the closest source of food for residents are small grocery stores offering a variety of products and services to their community members and passing tourists. These grocery stores often do not look like the typical full-service grocery store, but they serve an im-portant role in their small commu-nities. Owners are dedicated to provid-ing their customers with the best possible products, but they face a number of constraints to providing this purpose. The following bullet points summarize some of the big-

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Community Food Efforts gest challenges to providing quality food at an affordable price. • Stores often do not receive

regular deliveries because of their remote location. Five stores reported difficulty having products delivered. Owners of the most remote stores said they drive to Walmart or Costco to purchase items to sell in the store. This causes higher retail prices at the store. The longest round trip reported was 110 miles.

• Store owners expressed diffi-culty offering fresh fruits and vegetables for sale at their stores. They reported turnover was too low for fresh items and that the risk of fresh items going bad was too great. One store had a cooler with produce from southern Oregon. The owner reported that she didn’t make money from her produce due to spoilage, but felt it was an im-portant product to offer. Two stores reported having give-aways of fresh produce in the summer time when community members had an abundance of backyard garden produce.

• Two stores reported that they accepted WIC in the past but no

longer did because the required baby formula was too expen-sive, had a short expiration date, and turnover of the product was low.

The eleven stores interviewed created a total of 73 jobs, not in-cluding the owners. Thirteen of these jobs are full time. Stores often fill an important role in the community. All but two stores had been at their current lo-cation over 20 years. The oldest store, Lookingglass Market has been at it’s current location for 161 years. Likewise, store owners bring lots of experience to managing their stores. Store owners had 20 years of experience as owners or managers on average. They say the main cause of their success is their com-mitment to customer service. Every store but one listed that as the as-pect of their business that was most important. Many also said it’s what they do best. “Customer service is how I stay in business,” one owner said. Most stores don’t advertise exten-sively, but depend on word-of-mouth advertising. Many markets used social media sites or spon-

sored community events for addi-tional marketing. Notably, seven store owners ex-pressed that a statewide alliance of small, independently owned gro-cery store owners would benefit their business. Owners offered two main reasons for supporting this idea: 1. Store owners could aggre-gate purchasing to get better pricing for their products, and 2. Store owners would have a unified voice to represent the needs of small gro-cers to the legislature. “We would have more purchasing power, more voices when it comes to regulations,” said one owner. Some store owners concerned about government regulations af-fecting the way their store operates were actually exempted from the regulations because their stores did not make enough money or had too few employees and were not re-quired to comply. A coalition of grocery owners could also compile reliable information about policies pertaining to store owners to avoid confusion or misunderstandings. At the moment, there is not a statewide effort to organize grocery owners, but there would be support for such an alliance in Douglas County.

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Recommendations for community food efforts

1. Encourage communication among groups and individuals working towards a resilient food future for

Douglas County.

Communication among groups and individuals should continue in a way that makes sense for all involved.

2. Identify or create a key organization or coalition that can adopt the goals outlined in this assessment for

completion.

At the moment, there is not a unified organization in Douglas County whose mission addresses all aspects of this assessment. There are many organizations that build community, address food insecurity, and support farmers, but none addresses all of these goals, though many recognize the need and see the connections among those facets.

3. Measure economic impact of farmers markets to generate support for Markets of Umpqua

Farmers markets, especially the fairly new markets in Douglas County, are likely more of an economic driver in their small communities than expected. Numbers collected through the Markets of Umpqua could create a case for county or city support for the Markets of Umpqua when funding from the USDA expires in 2014 to continue to advertise for local food and provide vendor workshops.

4. Decrease hurdles for small- and mid-scale local wholesale markets such as restaurants and institutions.

Douglas County lacks the distribution infrastructure needed to support a thriving local food system and con-

nect local farmers to local food outlets. Food distribution should be considered an entrepreneurial endeavor

that could create jobs in Douglas County.

35

Tiller Market in Tiller, Ore. Tiller Market on Tiller-Trail Highway is much more than a store for many in the Tiller com-munity. Tiller Market has been at its current location since 1951, and Erika and Ed Carlyle have been the owners for the past 16 years. The store has a grocery selection, but it’s also a place where custom-ers and community members can use the phone or internet, call for emergency help, purchase a hunt-ing license, or catch up with friends over homemade sand-wiches. Tiller Market is located along a remote stretch of highway between Canyonville and Crater Lake Na-tional Park on the edge of Umpqua National Forest. It is about 30 miles away from the grocery store in Canyonville and 55 miles away from the Walmart in Roseburg. As one of the primary sources of food in her rural community, Erika has seen firsthand the effects of the Great Recession on the Tiller Community. She has noticed customers cut-ting back on their purchases, even to the point where she suspects the family is not getting enough food to eat. At the local elementary school, 86 percent of the 51 students receive free and reduced lunch. Shelving in the market’s storage area is used for back stock and food that Erika has gotten do-nated or purchased herself. When it looks like a cus-tomer is leaving without enough food for their family, she will offer to supple-ment their purchase

with a donation. Some refuse while others gladly accept. She also stocks donations of toilet paper and other necessities to give away. The closest food pantry to Tiller is in Canyonville, 30 miles away. Tiller Market is currently providing that service in this community ex-periencing acute poverty. Food stamp purchases are a large part of Tiller Market’s sales. Erika estimates that three years ago, their

sales were one third food stamps and two thirds cash. Now that fig-ure has flipped and about two thirds of her total sales are in food stamps. This fact doesn’t necessarily change the finances of the store, but it does illustrate the challenges the commu-nity as a whole is facing. Erika and Ed are dedicated to pro-viding their customers with the best selection possible, but that becomes a bigger challenge when there are no food distributors they’ve found

willing to deliver to their store. Erika even says trucks from a par-ticular company drive by but wont stop at her store because her orders are not big enough. “It’s more important for vendors to get bigger accounts than to serve rural areas,” she says. That means that Erika and Ed drive to Roseburg once a week to purchase stock for their store from Walmart and Costco. This costs them about $80 in transportation every week. This also means that the prices they are able to offer at their store are higher, since they are adding their own markup onto the retail price of another store. Stocking the store with fresh produce is also difficult because there is low turnover and the pro-duce sometimes spoils before it is sold. In the summers, the Carlyles purchase food from Kruse Farms outside of Roseburg to sell in the store. Tiller Market can’t sell pro-duce grown in backyard gardens, but they do provide space outside in the summer time where garden-ers can bring surplus produce to give away.

It’s more important for ven-

dors to get bigger accounts than to serve rural areas.

-Erika Carlyle

36

Community Gardens Galore! Douglas County has many com-munity gardens. Each is different with its own set of volunteers, re-sources and goals. This is a list of just a few of the gardens in Doug-las County. The Cow Creek Tribal Gardens:

Located in Canyonville, this 13 acre plot seems more like a farm to many. The garden grows a variety of fruit trees and row crops includ-ing berries, greens, and vegetables. Food is available for tribal mem-bers, a restaurant at the Tribe’s Seven Feathers Casino, and the Tribe’s internal food bank. The garden is intended to be cultivated and used by tribal members, but non-Tribal members are welcome at open work days. In the coming years, the Tribe would like to make the garden a hub of garden-ing and food preservation informa-tion where Tribal elders can pass their knowledge down to younger Tribe members.

Westside Community Garden:

After a long process of planning and beginning the garden, Westside is in its first year of culti-vation. The garden is located at First United Methodist Church in Roseburg and is open to the entire

community. A $40 garden member-ship guarantees a 16’ by 16’ garden plot for a year. Fremont Middle School next door grew plant starts for garden members.

The Great Garden: The Great Garden is a service learning program at Reedsport Community Charter School. Ele-mentary school students have class in the garden learning science and nutrition and maintaining garden beds. The Great Gar-den has subscription plots for community members and plots tended by students and volunteers. Pro-duce is used for snacks at the school and Thursday after-noons the garden has a produce exchange where the garden’s produce is free for the taking for par-ents, students, and anyone who comes.

Phoenix Charter School Garden:

The Phoenix Charter School Gar-den is tended by high school Agri-cultural Sciences students and pro-duces a variety of annual and peren-

nial fruits and vegetables. Students and AmeriCorps volunteers staff a booth at the Umpqua Valley Farm-ers Market on Saturdays to fundraise for the garden and develop professional skills for students.

The Victory Garden: The Victory Garden is in it’s third year of produc-tion at River Forks Park in Roseburg. The OSU Ex-tension’s Master Garden-

ers began the garden as a way to train Master Gardeners students on vegetable production, and contrib-ute to the community. Production is all chemical free and produce is donated to the FISH Food Pantry in Roseburg. Last year, the garden produced about 3,300 pounds of produce for the pantry. They fund-raise through the Master Gar-dener’s annual plant sale in the Spring.

The Wooley Center Learning

Garden:

The Wooley Center is an exten-sion of Umpqua Community Col-lege for GED, high school diploma and English as a second language classes. Students ranging in age from elementary school students to college students pitch in to pull weeds, build trellises and keep the garden in order.

Master Gardeners pose with “heads” of cabbage at the Victory Garden

Student volunteers move a raised bed into the Wooley Center Learning Garden. Photo by Hannah Morris.

37

Markets of Umpqua Five farmers markets in Douglas County have come together to form the Markets of Umpqua, a collective branding campaign for farmers markets in Douglas County. Each market maintains its own identity and logo, and the Markets of Umpqua label gener-ates buzz about local food and farmers markets while directing people to their nearest and most convenient farmers market. NeighborWorks Umpqua re-ceived a Farmers Market Promo-tion Program grant from the USDA in 2012 to create logos for the markets and the umbrella Mar-

kets of Umpqua logo, print public-ity materials like fliers and stick-ers, run radio ads, have billboards, and host a website as a central lo-cation to get information about the hours and location of all five Mar-

kets of Umpqua. “People are hearing about the markets... It will continue to grow in popularity,” Heather Barklow, Markets of Umpqua grant coordi-nator, said The program also offers work-shops to increase vendor participa-tion at market. The classes focus on the business of market vending, an aspect of farming that is some-

Markets of Umpqua Schedule

May - October Wednesday

4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Seven Feather Casino

South Parking Lot, Canyonville

May - September Thursday

5 p.m. - 8 p.m. 700 SE Jackson St,

Downtown Roseburg

Open All Year Friday

3 p.m. - 6 p.m. 7426 Lookingglass Rd.,

Roseburg at the Lookingglass Grange

May - October Friday

9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 215 W Central Ave and Calapooia St.,

April - October Saturday

9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Dutch Bros lot

Diamond Lake Blvd, Roseburg

times overlooked in favor of build-ing production skills. Classes have focused on pricing goods for mar-ket, exemptions under the farm di-rect law, and appropriate licensing for farm and ranch businesses want-ing to direct market. Aside from fulfilling its stated objectives, Markets of Umpqua has helped connect the county’s market managers and allows them to com-municate regularly. Informal dis-cussion at monthly meetings allow managers to discuss resources for their markets, vendor relations, and best practices for a variety of activi-ties. Notably, vendors have shared information about how to apply to accept SNAP at their market and how to recruit vendors.

Managers of the participating markets are tasked with collecting data from their markets about how many customers attend, how many vendors attend, and how much revenue is generated. These num-bers are not meant to compare the markets, which are all very differ-ent, but will provide benchmarks throughout the season and from year to year to illustrate individual market growth. So far, managers have been im-pressed with the numbers of cus-tomers and sales, which were higher than managers had esti-mated based on past experiences. The advertising grant will last only two years, but the support structure and lines of communica-tion will surely last longer than the life of the grant. Managers hope that the data collected will show that farmers markets are an impor-tant community resource that gen-erates meaningful economic activ-ity for the community. “Many of the markets are man-aged by volunteers and it would be great to gain enough momentum [and funding] for hired staff,” Barklow said.

38

FEAST Community Organizing Events About 60 Douglas County resi-dents participated in four commu-nity food organizing events in March and April of 2013. Sharon Thornberry, Community Food Systems Manager at Oregon Food Bank, guided discussion at the events. NeighborWorks Umpqua and the Oregon Food Bank hosted events in Riddle, Elkton, Reeds-port and with the Cow Creek Band of the Tribe of Umpqua Indians in Roseburg. The primary benefit of the FEAST and Community Conversa-tions in Douglas County has been making connections among neighbors. Meetings provide a fo-rum for individuals and organiza-tions to organically form worth-while partnerships that make sense and that sometimes have immedi-ate benefit. Each discussion was different because participants generated top-ics based on their own interests, knowledge, and concerns. All discussions began by high-lighting the assets of the area. The conversations also addressed chal-lenges, and focused on what resi-dents could do to make the im-provements they wanted to see. Each conversation was unique, but some common themes emerged from all. Additionally, community gar-den and food pantry connected at the Reedsport Community Conver-sation and plan to partner on nutri-tion education and supplying the pantry with fresh produce. Elkton residents found they could connect with a regional gleaners organization to form a local group and reduce the amount of produce going to waste in pri-vate orchards. The FEAST and Community Conversation also provided partici-

pants with information about re-gional and state resources, people learned about organizations who had solved the problems they were facing themselves. Another benefit of the events was connecting communities with re-gional or state resources. The Cow Creek Tribe of Umpqua Indians

learned that the could accept Tribal Commodities to increase the amount of food offered through their Tribal food bank. Residents in Elkton learned about gleaning and have since connected with the Community Gleaners based in Roseburg. Particpants also explored accepting EBT (food stamps) at a local store and farm stand.

[The FEAST helped me]

start connecting with others in the community interested in developing local food connections. -Riddle FEAST Participant

The conversation at each FEAST event was unique, but some com-mon themes emerged from all of the conversations: • A lack of nutrition and cook-

ing education is a significant

barrier to buying and eating fresh, local foods.

• The emergency food network

receives generous community

support and does a good job

of providing services. De-mand for services remains high.

• There are limited opportunities

for processing and distributing food that is locally grown, pro-duced, or caught which makes it difficult for these products

to be marketed locally. • Educating children about

farming and gardening is an effective way to work towards a sustainable food system.

Riddle FEAST participants discuss South Douglas County’s food system.

39

Elkton Community Education Center Some have called what’s hap-pening at the Elkton Community Education Center (ECEC) as a “rural renaissance.” The Center’s many programs, activities and events bring culture, information, food, art, nature, and history to residents and tourists alike. The ECEC began as a café called The Outpost as a way for high school students to have meaningful and well paying employment in the summers, something that can be hard to come by in a town with fewer than 200 residents. The ECEC employs about 16 teens who undergo a traditional hiring process with applications, inter-views and training. Since that time, ECEC has ex-panded to offer a wide variety of programs and services to the Elk-ton community. The Center has a library with over 5,000 books, com-puters, and wireless internet. There is of-ten an art exhibit decorating the walls. Elkton is the only in-corporated area of Douglas County that does not have a local branch of the County’s library sys-tem so the ECEC li-brary offers interli-brary loans with County library branches. In 2012 the ECEC produce stand opened for business. Volun-teers and teen em-ployees cultivate an onsite garden which supplies all the pro-duce for the produce stand. Excess produce

is donated to local food banks. A large greenhouse provides a place for the ECEC to start vegetable and native plants for the garden and to sell. Students in Elkton High School’s FFA program also use the greenhouse to grow plants for their annual hanging basket fundraiser. After more than 10 years of serving the Elkton community, the ECEC has had a profound ef-fect on the community. Volun-teers report that tourists who used to pass through Elkton on their way to the coast, now stop at the Center for refreshments, gifts, and tours of the butterfly garden and recreated Fort Umpqua. Some passersby have even made it a tradition to stop at the Center. The ECEC is run almost en-tirely by volunteers. A handful of

the current volunteer staff mem-bers began as AmeriCorps volun-teers and continued securing grants and managing operations after their official term ended. Ameri-Corps still plays a large part in de-velopment of the ECEC which has hosted a group of AmeriCorps vol-unteers for a few months in the summer. These volunteers have helped build the garden, expand the butterfly pavilion and through It is funded by a combination of donations, grants, and income from the social enterprises. The ECEC’s volunteers are dedicated to their responsibilities, but are beginning to feel maxed out themselves. The current pro-jects are humming along success-fully, but its unlikely that the Cen-ter will take on new projects with-out additional volunteer help.

Sarah Perfetto-Wood sells vegetable starts grown at the Elkton Community Education Center as a fundraiser for the garden program.

40

Methodology

T his Community Food Assessment is intended as both a community process as well as a document. Many Douglas County residents contributed to the report with their time

and consideration This report is primarily a qualitative assessment of Douglas County’s food system. Information was gathered through formal interviews and informal conversations between September 2012 and July 2013. Farmers, store owners, concerned citizens, local food advocates, food bank man-agers, community volunteers, small business owners and more contributed to this report. When possible, multiple sources informed on a topic. Participation for all contributors was voluntary. Because there are so many farmers and types of farms in Douglas County, priority was given to those direct marketing their products, though others contributed as well. Two quantitative reports contributed to this assessment: A Rural Grocery Store Survey and a Farmers Market Customer Dot Survey. The results of both of these reports can be found in the appendices of this assessment. The Rural Grocery Store surveys were completed in partnership with a Healthy Communities grant administered by the Public Health branch of the Douglas County Health Department. Eleven store owners were surveyed between January and May 2013. Author Laura Stroud and contributor Laura Siltanen conducted interviews with respon-dents that usually lasted an hour. The Farmers Market Customer Dot Survey was completed at the five Markets of Umpqua July 17-20, 2013. Customers responded to questions by placing a dot on a poster board question to record their answers. The results of this survey are included in Appendix B. Please Contact Virginia Elandt for the full Rural Grocery Store Survey Report or Farms Market Customer Dot Survey Report. She can be reached at [email protected] or (541) 673-4909. This assessment is a working document that has changed and evolved during the writing proc-ess and will continue to change and evolve after publication. Readers are encouraged to share thoughts and reactions or follow up on interesting topics or topics not covered. Most impor-tantly this report intends to continue engaging Douglas County residents, farmers, volunteers,

41

Bibliography “Addressing Hunger in Douglas County, 2009.” Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, n.d. Web. Sept. 2012. < ore-

gonhunger.org/files/county-data/Douglas.pdf>. Beckham, S. D. Land of the Umpqua. Roseburg, Oregon: Douglas County Commissioners. 1986. “Branch and District Data.” Self Sufficiency Programs. Oregon Department of Human Sercices, May 2013. Web.

<http://www.oregon.gov/dhs/assistance/branch%20district%20data/may%202013.pdf>. “Community Facts—Douglas County.” American Fact Finder. United States Census Bureau, n.d. Web. May 2013. “Executive Summary: Stopping Hunger Before it Begins.” Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, 13 Nov. 2012.

Web. 16 Dec. 2012. <oregonhunger.org/files/reports/Oregons-Call-to-Action-Exec-Summary-Web.pdf>. “Food Access Research Atlas.” United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, May 2013.

Web. May 2013. <http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas.aspx>. “Grussing, Jay D. “Predicting County-level Food Insecurity and Hunger in Oregon.” Communities Reporter. Ore-

gon State University Rural Studies Program, 2007. Web. Oct. 2012. Data from article retrieved from Com-munities Explorer database.

“ODA Food Safety Farm Direct FAQ.” Oregon Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 12 March 2013. “Oregon State and County Data.” 2007 Census of Agriculture. United States Department of Agriculture, Feb.

2009. Web. Sept. 2012

“Pantries and Kitchens in Douglas County.” United Community Action Network, n.d. Web. Sept. 2012. <http://www.ucancap.org/_pages/pantries_kitchens_doco.php>

“Poultry Slaughter General Information.” ODA Food Safety. Oregon Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. June

2013. “Resources and Information.” Umpqua Transit. Umpqua Transit, n.d. Web. June 2013. <http://www.utrans.com/>.

“Students Eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch 2010-2011.” Oregon Department of Education, n.d. Web. 17 June 2013.

Walling, Albert G. A History of Southern Oregon. Portland, 1884. Print. “WIC: Nutrition for you and your family.” Oregon Health Authority, n.d. Print. April 2012.

42

Appendix A

Rural Grocery Store Owner Survey Rural Community Food Systems Assessment Project

Would you like to be added to a listserv for rural grocery store owners and advocates?

____ yes ____ no 1. What major products and services does your store offer? Check all that apply.

2. Who is/are your primary grocery supplier(s)? _____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What products do your secondary suppliers supply? ____________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Do minimum (purchasing/ordering) buying requirements create a problem for your grocery store?

____ yes ____ no If yes, how? 5. If minimum buying requirements are a problem, what solutions might you suggest?

Name of store:

Address:

Phone number:

Contact person for store:

Email address:

ATM Bank Hunting/fishing/camping supplies

Books/cards/gifts Institutional supply (school, hospital)

Café/restaurant Pharmacy

Catering Photo development

Delicatessen Pre-packaged snacks

Fuel Self-serve snacks/drinks

Groceries Video rental

Other (specify)

43

Appendix A 6. As an independent grocer, do you feel you are getting fair pricing from your suppliers compared to chain

stores? ____ yes ____ no

Comments:

7. Have you had problems getting products delivered because of your location? ____ yes ____ no

Comments: 8. Do you sell locally-produced food in your store?

____ yes ____ no

If yes, what products? 9. Do you accept Food Stamps/SNAP?* ____ yes ____ no

Do you accept WIC?** ____ yes ____ no

* Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

** Women, Infants and Children Program

10. Has your business been negatively affected by the presence of emergency or supplemental food distribution in your community (i.e. people get bread from food pantry or gleaners so don’t buy it from you)? ____ yes ____ no If yes, explain: 11. Which of the following are major challenges for your store? Check all that apply.

Which of the above do you feel is the most significant for you and your store?

Availability of satisfactory labor Lack of community support

Competition with large chain grocery stores Low sales volume

Debt and/or high payments Narrow profit margins

Government regulations

Required minimum buying requirements from vendors

High inventory costs/low turnover

Shoplifting/bad checks/internal theft/unpaid accounts

Shortage of working capital Taxes

High operations costs (utilities, building lease, repairs/maintenance, etc.)

Other (specify)

44

Appendix A _____________________________________________________________________________________ 12. Do you collaborate with other small independently owned stores? ____ yes ____ no If yes, for which purposes? Check all that apply.

If no, would you be interested in doing this?

____ yes ____ no

Why or why not? 13. Do you feel that a statewide alliance of small, independently owned grocery store owners may have value?

____ yes ____ no

If yes, how could it help? 14. What marketing strategies have you used in your grocery stores that have been effective in drawing in cus-

tomers?

Cooperative advertising/marketing

Grocery distribution purposes

Sharing concerns and/or ideas

To achieve minimum buying requirements

Other

Advertising

Newspapers

Radio

TV

Flyers/inserts

Facebook

Internet/WWW

Promotions

Word of mouth

OTHER: Please identify:

45

Appendix A

When running a grocery store, how important is it to you to offer each of the following? Rate the impor-tance of each by circling the number that best fits your response. Not Very

Important

Very Important

1. Quality of food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

2. Availability of food (variety, brand choices) Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

3. Prices of items offered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

4. Customer service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

5. Business hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

6. Buying locally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

Which of the above do you feel is the most significant for you and your store? ______________________________________________________________________________

46

Appendix A

How do you assess the buying needs of your customer? Is your stocking of products responsive to customer requests?

How does your store do at providing the following to customers? Rate your store by circling the number that best fits your response.

Not Very Well__

Very Well

1. Quality of food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

2. Availability of food (variety, brand choices) Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

3. Prices of items offered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

4. Customer service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

5. Business hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

6. Buying locally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

7. Accepting Food Stamps/SNAP and WIC. . . . . Comments:

1

2

3

4

5

Which of the above do you feel is the most significant for you and your store? ____________________________________________________________________________________

47

Appendix A What other concerns or comments do you have?

Tell us about your store:

How long have you been in the grocery business as an owner? __________ How long has there been a grocery store at your current location? __________ Do you have more than one location? _____ How many? _____ What are your hours of operation? Mon _____ to _____ Tues _____ to _____ Wed _____ to _____ Thur _____ to _____ Fri _____ to _____ Sat _____ to _____ Sun _____ to _____ Are you open on the major holidays (Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, etc.)? _____ Are there other grocery outlets in your community? _____ a ‘quick shop’ _____ another full service grocery How far is it to the nearest discount grocery (Wal-Mart, etc?) _____ How many employees do you have, not counting yourself? _____full-time (40 hrs/week minimum) _____ part-time (less than 40hrs/week) What are your average weekly gross sales? _____Less than $5,000

_____Between $5,000 and $10,000 _____Between $10,000 and $20,000 _____Greater than $20,000 This survey was developed by Kansas State University Center for Civic Engagement and is being used with their permission. We thank them for their support of this project. For more information, please contact Sharon Thorn-

berry, Community Food Systems Manager, Oregon Food Bank, [email protected] or Megan New-

ell-Ching, Community Resource Developer, Oregon Food Bank, 1-800-777-7427 x2270 or mnew-

[email protected]

48

Appendix B Markets of Umpqua Dot Survey Results 1. How did you hear about our market? 2. How much do you anticipate spending doing additional shopping or eating at nearby businesses? 3. Where do you live? 4. How often do you shop at our market? 5. How much did you spend at today’s market?

Canyonville Farmers Market

Old Town Farmers Market

49


Sutherlin Farmers Market

Lookingglass Farmers Market

50


Umpqua Valley Farmers Market

Possible Answers 1. How did you hear about our market? Markets of Umpqua Website Market Website Facebook Radio Billboard Friend Flier Long time shopper Other 2. How much do you anticipate spending doing additional

shopping or eating at nearby businesses? None $1-15 $16-30 $31-45 $46+

3. Where do you live? Canyonville Area Roseburg Area Sutherlin Area Elsewhere in Douglas County Elsewhere in Oregon Out of State 4. How often do you shop at our market? Weekly Every two weeks Monthly Occasionally 5. How much did you spend at today’s market? $0-15 $16-30 $31-45 $46-60 $61+

1

Local Voices Local Food

The most permanent, reliable and available source of wealth Douglas possesses, is her

winding valleys and fertile soil. Here thousands of people have built their houses and here they draw from the willing earth the food that supports many thousands more.

- A. G. Walling in A History of Southern Oregon, pub. 1884

Addendum 2014

A look at food, agriculture, hunger, and economy in

Douglas County

Addendum

Purpose.....................................................................................................................................1

Introduction..............................................................................................................................1

Agriculture in Douglas County................................................................................................2

Strengthening Support for Farmers Markets................................................................3

Strengthening Farmer Networks and Communication.................................................4

Profile: Umpquatopia...................................................................................................5

Increasing Access to Food...........................................................................................6

Profile: Umpqua Dairy Community Dairy..................................................................8

Support Small and Beginning Farmers........................................................................9

Community Food Efforts.......................................................................................................11

Encouraging food literacy...........................................................................................12

Profile: Lighthouse Center Bakery & Café................................................................13

Improve Food Equality...............................................................................................15

Aid Institutional Purchasers........................................................................................15

Next Steps and Opportunities.....................................................................................16

Increase Supply and Demand for Local Food............................................................17

Augment and Improve Agricultural Infrastructure.....................................................17

Profile: Nickabob’s Meat Market...............................................................................18

Conclusion.............................................................................................................................19

Table of Contents

Agriculture in Douglas County Addendum

Purpose

Introduction

Since the Douglas County Community Food Assessment (CFA) was completed in July 2013, much has been ac-

complished to address some of the barriers and opportunities outlined in that assessment. This report provides an

overview of the activities and efforts done as a result of the assessment, as well as updates on existing communi-

ty projects to strengthen the local food system of Douglas County.

Last year began the process of assembling the many pieces of information about Douglas County’s food system.

The Douglas County Community Food Assessment, completed in July 2013, described our local food system in

detail, identifying county-wide community food efforts, as well as some of the barriers farmers and food produc-

ers face within the local food system.

In summary, the food assessment revealed that there is a need for better support, communication, networking,

collaboration, and organization between the key players in the food system. Many of the asserted recommenda-

tions and opportunities put forward from the CFA were pursued over the past year and others were put aside to be

completed at a later date while other projects are tackled. The presence of a community food organizer to connect

and facilitate networking activities in Douglas County enabled numerous collaborations. We’ve developed new

partnerships and friendships, learned of new resources available, and discovered what priorities have risen to the

top.

1

2

There are more than five farm-

Addendum

Agriculture has long been a way of life in Douglas County, the area known for its abundance and bounty. Howev-

er, though demand for local and organic foods is increasing within the county, many small farmers face continual

economic hardships. For example, one of the farms profiled in the CFA in 2013, Growing Crazy, was unable to

continue planting in Douglas County during the 2013-2014 growing season due to financial restraints. Countless

small farmers must also travel long distances to larger cities and markets, such as Eugene and Medford, to make a

profit on their food product. Many farmers hope to sell more within Douglas County in the future, and this is look-

ing more plausible as the support of small farmers and the demand for locally-grown food continues to increase.


3

3 Addendum

Strengthening Support for Farmers Markets

One of the most important recommendations from the

Douglas County CFA was that more community sup-

port is needed for not only local farmers and their

produce, but also for the local markets in which those

farmers sell and promote their product. Over the last

year, strides have been taken to encourage better mar-

keting and support for the farmers markets.

Farmers Market Promotion Program

(FMPP) The Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) is a

two-year USDA grant aimed at providing support for

local farmers markets. In 2012, NeighborWorks

Umpqua (NWU) received an FMPP grant to print and

market logos under the umbrella Markets of Umpqua,

then a coalition of five markets in Douglas County.

Since launching the

program in 2012,

some changes have

been made to Markets

of Umpqua and les-

sons have been

learned. One farmers

market dropped out of

Markets of Umpqua,

but two more have

joined, making the

coalition six farmers

markets in Douglas

County. Nearing an

end to the two-year

program, Markets of

Umpqua is hopeful that they will receive a second two

-year FMPP grant to continue marketing and promot-

ing these six markets. By the end of that term, it is ex-

pected that the Markets of Umpqua will have gained

enough support and recognition from the community

to continue marketing without the help of grant fund-

ing. If they become really popular, it is hoped that

some markets will even be able to gain enough fund-

ing and momentum for hired staff.

New Farmers Market Changes

For 20 years the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market

(UVFM) has been operating out of the Dutch Bros park-

ing lot on Diamond Lake Boulevard, a major road/

highway in Roseburg. The UVFM is one of the most

popular and successful markets in Douglas County, yet

it has only operated April through October for 20 years.

Other farmers markets in Douglas County, such as the

Lookingglass Farmers Market, continue through the

winter months, providing much needed greens and win-

ter vegetables for community members. 2013-2014 was

the first year that the UVFM carried on through the win-

ter at a different, indoor location. Heather Barklow, the

Farmers Market Manager, was instrumental in working

with the market board to instill this change. The ar-

rangement was highly successful and supported by the

community, though, like any change, it also presented

some challenges.

For instance, the indoor winter location was inconsistent

with what market shoppers have been accustomed to for

years. The winter market was less busy than during the

spring and summer months, not only because less cus-

tomers came, but also because there were less food and

produce vendors. The market days were also sometimes

quite inconsistent, making it challenging for customers

to be supportive when they couldn’t be informed about

4

Addendum

which days the market was and was not operating.

However, despite these challenges, the farmers market

board wishes to continue operating year-round in order

to provide winter produce to Roseburg residents.

Though the location for the winter market has not been

confirmed to date, residents of Douglas County can ex-

pect to shop the farmers market through the winter

months.

Strengthening Farmer Net-works and Communication Although there are many strides being taken to in-

crease support for local food, much work is being

done individually with little communication between

groups. Farmers and growers emphasized in the CFA

that collaboration and networking is needed, especial-

ly among beginning farmers. Throughout the last

year, informal networks were formed, offering sup-

port for growers and an opportunity to share resources

and ideas. Potlucks were organized to bring farmers

and community members together, and partnerships

were made in order to create a supportive and active

farm community.

Food Day 2013

Food Day is “a nationwide celebration and a move-

ment for healthy, affordable and sustainable food.”

Each year about five thousand Food Day events, big

and small, are hosted around the country. In 2012,

Douglas County hosted its first Food Day potluck

event, where over 30 farmers, food producers and oth-

er community members attended to share a meal and

network with each other. Because of the great success

in 2012, NeighborWorks Umpqua (NWU) organized

another potluck event for Food Day in 2013, with an

even greater turnout in participants.

Additionally, NWU was able to partner with a local

holistic nutrition practitioner to bring nutrition edu-

cation to Douglas County high schools. Tammera

Karr, board member of Think Local Umpqua and

PhD in Holistic Nutrition, is an author, public

speaker, educator and clinician. By partnering with

Tammera, we were able to reach four high schools

in Douglas County, educating the students about

eating healthy, local food and the goals of the Food

Day movement. In future years we hope to reach

even more schools, partner with more organiza-

tions, and host more Food Day events.

High school students need to under-stand that what they’re eating now

makes a difference on their whole life. -Tammera Karr

Roseburg nutritionist Tammera Karr of Holistic Nutrition for the Whole You asks students about their eating habits during a Food Day presentation at Roseburg High School.

4

5

5

We started collecting heirloom seeds as a hob-by. Now it’s not only our hobby, but it’s our busi-

ness. -Cameron Hill

Umpquatopia was founded by

Geoff Puryear and Cameron Hill

in 2011. They started out as a

small business operating out of

their backyard, collecting seeds

and propagating succulents and

native plants as a hobby. Now they

cultivate hundreds of varieties of

specialty crops, selling produce,

edible plant starts, and native and

drought tolerant plants at the local

farmers markets. “It’s nice to

make money from a passion,”

Cameron Hill states.

As their business began to expand,

Umpquatopia moved to a new lo-

cation in the Umpqua area in late

2013, where they now cultivate

more than an acre of land at the

farm known as Ten Acre Arts.

Geoff and Cameron entered in a

formal partnership with property

owners Jean Wall and Stephanie,

founders of the local printing and

T-shirt company, AJ Snapper.

All of Umpquatopia’s endeavors

on the farm are built using perma-

culture techniques of soil prepara-

tion and continued care.

Much of their business structure is

inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka,

who spearheaded the organic per-

maculture movement in Japan in

the 1970’s. Fukuoka developed a

style of farming that is known as

“do nothing farming,” where the

grower aspires to have as little im-

pact on nature as possible. Camer-

on and Geoff strongly encourage

their customers to use these per-

maculture techniques when plant-

ing their gardens, mixing in flow-

ers, native and draught tolerant

plants with each row of vegeta-

bles. “You want to have a bal-

anced ecosystem,” Geoff explains.

“If you only plant edible plants,

you get just the bugs that eat the

edible plants. You have to plant in

other things that have different

chemical make-ups and different

bugs, so that everything is keeping

each other in balance.”

In recent months, the duo discov-

ered that they needed to add

changes to their business plan to

continue their success. They found

that edible and non-edible plant

starts are popular early in the

growing season, before the heat

sets in. Later in the summer, more

customers are interested in buying

produce, so Geoff and Cameron

have begun growing more vegeta-

ble varieties to meet that demand.

They focus mainly on specialty

food crops; because they are a new

up and coming small business,

they simply cannot compete with

larger farms in the area, such as

Big Lick Farm and Norm Lehne

Farm. Offering unique varieties of

vegetable crops keeps the interest

of their customers.

Umpquatopia plans on expanding

further in future years. They may

begin offering educational work-

shops at their farm to community

members, as well as provide a

printed copy of their online seed

catalog, which is now found on

their website

www.umpquatopia.com. Although

the business has expanded in just a

few short years, Umpquatopia

continues to follow their passion,

acting as stewards to the land and

servers to the community.

Umpquatopia

Seeds from Umpquatopia are shown.

Geoff Puryear and Cameron Hill, founders of Umpquatopia, stand next to a row of cabbage, inter-planted with chamomile and lettuce.

6

Addendum

Food. Education. Agriculture. Solutions.

Together (F.E.A.S.T) follow-up meetings

Five FEAST events were hosted within Douglas

County in 2012-2013. In the past year, follow-up

meetings were held in order to assess what was dis-

cussed during the FEAST events and what, if any-

thing, has been accomplished since. Sharon Thornber-

ry with the Oregon Food Bank attended a follow-up

meeting in Roseburg, an event that many community

members from different sectors also attended. The

group reviewed and discussed the opportunities out-

lined in the CFA and FEAST events and then voted

on the top three priorities to be completed in the com-

ing months. It was agreed that more cooking and nu-

trition education is needed, more networking and

communication between groups, and overall better

organization among groups and individuals.

Local Food Coalition

One successful outcome from the FEAST follow-up

meetings was the formation of a Local Food Coali-

tion. It was determined as a community need by the

group to create or identify a key organization or coali-

tion that addresses the goals of the food assessment,

as well as the many other barriers and opportunities

of the local food system. Many groups in Douglas

County work to end hunger and address food insecu-

rity, while others work to create a healthy thriving

community and economy. Yet there is little communi-

cation or partnerships between these groups and none

focus solely on local food and local economy.

For that reason, the Local Food Coalition was formed

by an informal group of growers, food pantry manag-

ers, Tribal garden managers, and people from the

health and education sectors. The group was able to

identify priority projects to address in the near future,

such as working with institutional purchasers, helping

raise funds and donations for the SNAP Match Pro-

gram and organizing cooking classes and demos.

It was soon realized by the Coalition that funding is

needed to accomplish many of the projects and goals. In

the future, the group will seek fiscal sponsorship from

an organization that shares similar goals, or obtain their

own non-profit status in order to qualify for and receive

tax-exempt grants and donations.

Increasing Access to Food Much of Douglas County is considered a food desert,

with 42 percent of all residents living within one. Ac-

cess to food, especially for low-income residents, is ex-

ceptionally important in reaching a resilient, stable food

economy. Several partnerships were made throughout

the year and creative ideas were brought to the table to

ensure everyone has access to local food in Douglas

County. A new community garden was developed in SE

Roseburg, a SNAP incentive program introduced to the

farmers market, and connections made between food

pantries, the gleaners group and market vendors.

Fresh Funds SNAP Incentive Program Most Douglas County’s farmers markets accept Supple-

mental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits

and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program

vouchers. However, the Umpqua Valley Farmers Mar-

ket in Roseburg, arguably one of the most popular and

successful farmers markets in the county, only received

an average of 7 SNAP participants using their benefits

at the farmers market each week.

In order to increase the number of SNAP recipients

shopping at the farmers market, NeighborWorks

Umpqua and the Farmers Market Manager, Heather

7

7 Addendum

Barklow, began researching

SNAP incentive programs in

other cities in Oregon, in-

cluding multiple cities in the

Portland Metro area. Many

of these programs were so

successful, SNAP recipients

shopping at the farmers mar-

ket increased three-fold,

with the community backing the pro-

grams by offering donations and

sponsorships.

To implement an incentive program

at the UVFM, NeighborWorks

Umpqua partnered with the Market

Manager to receive tax-deductable

donations for the program. Fresh

Funds SNAP Incentive Program was

implemented at the UVFM in July of

2014, funded by a sponsorship from the Architrave

Family of Companies, UCAN and other donations

from the community, while the local McMenamins

supported the program by donating 50% of one night’s

proceeds to the cause. Each SNAP recipient is eligible

to receive a $1 match for every $1 of SNAP benefits

spent at the market, up to a $5 match each person each

market day. This incentive program thus allows low-

income families and individuals to double their dollars

to provide fresh, local food at an affordable price.

NeighborWorks Umpqua reached out to the Depart-

ment of Human Services, where the SNAP program is

administered, to market the program to new and exist-

ing SNAP recipients. Additionally, the program was

covered on the “Spotlight on Your Health” segment on

KPIC, the local television channel in Roseburg.

Heather Barklow was able to lend her time to speak

about the Fresh Funds program and why it benefits the

health of our community. The program was featured in

mid-June, lending an excellent method to market the

launch of the new program to community members.

After a month of operating the program, SNAP transac-

tions doubled at the farmers market, with an average of

15 SNAP recipients each week utilizing the program to

purchase fresh, locally grown produce. The program is

expected to grow exponentially as the word spreads and

we hope to expand the incentive program to the other

markets in the Markets of Umpqua

campaign to help more communities in

Douglas County access local food. In

subsequent years, NeighborWorks

Umpqua will have to be creative in

obtaining funding for the program.

The organization is looking into fol-

lowing other program examples of op-

erating a lemonade stand at the market

to raise funds to sustain the program.

Food Pantries

During the FEAST follow-up meetings and several

Food Coalition gatherings, representatives from some of

the food pantries in Douglas County voiced their con-

cerns about making food at food pantries more accessi-

ble to low-income residents. Several ideas were dis-

cussed and implemented. A number of food pantries did

not have drop boxes at their site, and this idea was

looked into. Another idea was to have a representative

from different food pantries come to the farmers market

at the end of the day to collect excess produce from the

farmers. This proved to be beneficial to some farmers,

but others expected to sell their excess product at other

markets. Nevertheless, four food pantries were able to

increase the amount of food being brought to their pan-

tries simply by being present at the farmers market at

the end of the day.

A market money

matching program!

The idea of the Fresh Funds program is to get

people to use their SNAP benefits to buy much

healthier foods than what you can normally buy at a

grocery store. -Heather Barklow

8

Every year a Southeast Roseburg

non-profit organization called

SERVICE (SE Roseburg Voices

In Community Enhancement)

partners with NWU to coordinate

a community wide event or pro-

ject to organize and engage the

community of the Southeast Rose-

burg area. During 2013-2014,

SERVICE wanted to build and

develop a community garden in

SE Roseburg. Not only is the area

known for its low-income and

transient population, but it is also

located within a food desert, with

the nearest grocery store 1.5 miles

up the road. Many residents have

little to no access to fresh, healthy

food, making the idea of a com-

munity garden a desirable one.

In partnership with NWU, SER-

VICE was able to locate a vacant

plot of land on the corner of SE

Mill Street and SE Burke Street

owned by the Umpqua Dairy. Be-

cause the area was not in use

by the dairy, NWU, SERVICE

and the Umpqua Dairy were

able to engage in a one-year

rental agreement of the land,

with high potential to extend

the least to a more long-term

contract if the partnership

suits all associates.

The land is large enough to en-

close eighteen 14 by 14 foot gar-

den plots, and four 14 by 5 foot

plots designed specifically for

physically handicapped residents.

In subsequent years SERVICE

will build a small garden shed

with tools and a bench with a ga-

zebo. After the initial year of the

lease, SERVICE also hopes to

build a bulletin board with infor-

mation about their organization,

the garden, and the generous con-

tribution of the use of the land by

the Umpqua Dairy.

On the opening day of the gar-

den, numerous community

members came to see the gar-

den and get started on their

own garden plots. KPIC, the

local television station in

Roseburg, covered the garden

opening in a story about com-

munity development. Ruth

Smith, the Garden Coordina-

tor, was sure to explain how

the garden benefits the com-

munity as a whole by offering

a means to provide fresh,

healthy food to low-income resi-

dents.

The development of the Umpqua

Dairy Community Garden is ex-

pected to bring a sense of pride in

the SE neighborhood, as well as

beautification in an area that is of-

ten viewed as deprived and impov-

erished. Many residents in the area

are exceptionally excited to be able

to grow their own food and be self

reliant.

In the future, Ruth Smith plans to

hold various educational work-

shops and classes at the garden,

including tips on gardening, a bio-

char demonstration, and nutrition

and cooking classes led by the

OSU Extension Master Gardeners.

Umpqua Dairy Community Garden

Community members gather and work in

the garden during the grand opening.

A member of SERVICE helps water the

handicapped beds .

Our neighborhood really needs this and it will help

create the kind of healthy environment we want to see around here.

-SE Roseburg resident

9

9 Addendum

Support Small and Beginning Farmers Douglas County has a huge amount of land that is ripe

for agricultural purposes. Many small and beginning

farmers see the potential in this land, yet there is still

much support that needs to be given to small farmers in

order to assist them in becoming successful on a farm.

The CFA outlined the importance of offering technical

assistance to new and existing small farmers, helping

them get their feet on the ground and their business up

and running. NWU offers much support in the form of

business consultation and assistance outlining a budget,

developing a business plan, and information on licens-

ing and regulation of certain food products.

Value-added food course

One of the most important needs of new and existing

small farmers is to learn how to add value to their food

products. For instance, rather than selling vegetables

straight out of the garden, one may learn how to make

jams, jellies, breads, vinegars, etc. This was seen as an

economic endeavor, helping small farmers create a

niche for their product and provide a value-added prod-

uct for customers who could not make it for them-

selves.

Identifying this opportunity in the CFA was the first

step in offering support in this area for farmers.

NeighborWorks Umpqua was able to obtain a Rural

Business Enterprise Grant from the USDA to develop

and administer a value-added producer’s course for

small farmers. The grant included funds to recruit in-

structors and participants for the class, develop a cur-

riculum, and administer a series of workshops for the

recruited participants.

With a limited budget, it was decided that it would be

best not to reinvent the wheel, as other organizations

and institutions are certain to have an already developed

curriculum that would fit the requirements and needs of

the grant. After some research, a curriculum called Food

for Profit was discovered with Penn State University in

Pennsylvania, detailing all there is to know about creat-

ing and developing a value-added food product, includ-

ing marketing, packaging and pricing, licensing and reg-

ulations, food safety, and business plan development.

NeighborWorks Umpqua was able to undertake a part-

nership with Penn State to purchase the curriculum

while the Food for Profit team with Penn State assisted

in the replication and adoption process of the curriculum

for Oregon.

Because NWU is not necessarily an educational institu-

tion, the organization forged another partnership with

the local college, Umpqua Community College (UCC),

to adopt the curriculum. By partnering with UCC, NWU

could ensure that the curriculum would not only be

adopted by an educational institution, but also that it

may continue in subsequent years once the grant fund-

ing ended. The Community and Workforce Training

Center at UCC saw the opportunity in the value-added

curriculum and agreed to administer the course during

September of 2014.

Value-added products sold at the Umpqua Local Goods Store.

10

Other partners with this project, including the

Umpqua Business Center and the OSU Extension

Office stated that countless small farmers and food

producers have expressed interest in adding value to

their food products, making the endeavor well sup-

ported among the community and within UCC.

Agricultural Business Management

Program

It is clear that there is an increasing demand of local

agriculture and agriculture managers must work with

increasingly complex market demands and regula-

tions. UCC has recognized this need and they are

now developing a new Agricultural Business Man-

agement program at their institution in Roseburg.

The Associate of Science degree with an emphasis in

Agricultural Business Management is designed for

students planning to transfer to Oregon State Univer-

sity and complete their four-year degree. Douglas

County students seeking a four-year degree in agri-

culture will be able to complete their first two years

of higher education at their high school and UCC

rather than immediately relocating to OSU.

The two-year degree is designed to help farm owners

and managers succeed in today’s complex business

environment where sound business management

skills are as important as agriculture production

knowledge. Career paths for a student completing

the degree in Agricultural Business Management

include farm or ranch owner/manager, supervisor of

farm and ranch workers, wholesale and manufactur-

ing farm and ranch workers, wholesale and manufac-

turing sales representative, and agriculture worker.

The program will collaborate with OSU, area high

schools, FFA organizations, and Douglas County ag-

riculture organizations. FFA organizations at many

area high schools are already providing agriculture

classes, thus dual credit classes can be provided by

high schools that will meet the program needs for

both UCC and OSU. Additionally, Douglas County

agriculture organizations, high schools and area busi-

nesses will be invited to serve on the program adviso-

ry committee.

At this juncture, the agriculture program has been ap-

proved by the local college and has been sent to OSU

for approval, which is expected by November 2014,

with a program start up in fall 2015. Bill Armstrong,

who is working directly with the development of the

program at UCC, plans to offer program classes at

local high schools and FFA organizations in fall 2014.

These classes provide an opportunity for beginning

farmers and entrepreneurs to earn as much as one

third of the credits for the two-year program at the

community college before they graduate from high

school, providing an excellent method of support for

young agricultural entrepreneurs.

Addendum

11

11 Addendum

The idea of eating healthy, local food has been gaining ground in Douglas County in recent years. As the move-

ment becomes more supported within the community, barriers to accessing local food have also become more

well-known. The Douglas County CFA laid out the basis for these barriers, outlining the importance of increas-

ing food literacy and food systems education, encouraging better food equality and access to local food for low-

income residents, and increasing support for the gleaner’s group and farm-to-school programs. Over the last

year, many community members have become more proactive in promoting food literacy by organizing public

events such as cooking classes and demos, panel discussions, and educational movie screenings. Numerous com-

munity food events are planned throughout the county and throughout the year, more markets are accepting

SNAP and WIC vouchers, and more schools and other institutions are interested in buying local and promoting

healthy food at their facilities.


12

Addendum

Encouraging food literacy There are many groups and individuals promoting com-

munity food systems and local food through a number

of means. Many of these people, however, had little to

no connection or networking between one another be-

fore the CFA was completed. Since completing the as-

sessment, more people have made connections and

worked to increase community food system education

among the community.

Film Screenings

As part of the AmeriCorps VISTA anniversary, United

Community Action Network (UCAN) held a series of

film screenings in order to address the key goals of

AmeriCorps VISTA’s work in Douglas County, includ-

ing reducing poverty and food insecurity. The first film

screened as part of the series was A Place at the Table,

a 2012 film on hunger and food insecurity in Colorado.

After the screening, a panel discussion was held with

some key players in the food sector of Douglas County,

including Senator Jeff Kruse who also owns the popu-

lar Kruse Farms; Cheryl Carson with the local Depart-

ment of Human Services; Gabby Pauling, Community

Food Coordinator and RARE at NeighborWorks

Umpqua; and Sam Engel with the Josephine County

Food Bank. The panel discussion focused primarily on

food insecurity in Douglas County and ways we could

address these issues. Ideas were brought to the table

about solutions, as well as connections made between

different groups of people and sectors within the coun-

ty. The audience was permitted to ask questions and

brainstorm other ideas and solutions to address the bar-

riers we face in Douglas County.

Because the panel discussion turned out to be success-

ful and useful for the audience, NeighborWorks

Umpqua partnered with another non-profit organiza-

tion, UC-VEG (Umpqua Community Vegetable Educa-

tion Group), to screen the film GMO OMG. The film

offers educational insight into GMOs (Genetically

Modified Organisms), and how certain GM foods, such

as corn and soy, may be harmful to humans, animals,

and the environment. After the screening, a brief dis-

cussion followed on community food efforts occurring

in Roseburg and Douglas County to address health is-

sues in our foods. The audience was given a lengthy

amount of time to browse the informational tables and

booths, which included tables sponsored by Neighbor-

Works Umpqua, UC-VEG and Umpqua Watersheds,

and learn more about community food work in the

community.

Earth Day & Energy Fair

NWU was able to hold a booth at the annual Earth Day

and Energy Fair, organized by the Global Warming Co-

alition. This was not only a great opportunity to offer

useful information and insight into community food

systems in Douglas County, but also an occasion to

network and connect with other vendors and fair-goers.

The booth contained information about how to grow

your own organic garden and why it is important for

the community to grow their own food, rather than re-

lying on grocery stores and conventional methods of

farming. There was also a box of free seed packets that

would allow a person to plant their own Three Sisters

garden, an ancient Native American method of planting

with corn, pole beans and squash. Many community

members were reached and were enthusiastic about

learning more about gardening and the educational

booth offered a platform for those individuals to not

only learn but also try it out for themselves with the

free seed packets.

13

13

Vegan pizza ready to bake in the brick oven during a Saturday pizza night.

Lighthouse Center Bakery & Café

The Lighthouse Center is an or-

ganic farm and meditation retreat

center nestled on 300 acres of land

overlooking the Umpqua River

Valley. The Center was founded in

1998 with the intention of offering

and providing an atmosphere con-

ductive to meditation and inner

spiritual growth. In 2006, the farm

purchased the old Tyee Market in

Umpqua and started the Light-

house Center Bakery and Café,

specializing in fresh bread baked

from the wood-fired brick and cob

oven at the farm.

Now, the Bakery is well-known

throughout the region and they

offer a menu full of homemade,

vegan, non-GMO items, many of

which are grown on the Light-

house Center farm. There is also a

small country store at the bakery,

which serves the local community

by offering basic grocery items,

bulk dry and liquid foods, and

snacks and drinks.

The Lighthouse Center Bakery

was inspired by Sant Baljit

Singh’s teachings, which include

service to humanity, compassion

for all of creation, unity in diver-

sity and a natural lifestyle. The

Bakery was founded on these

principles, with the motto “In

love, serve one another.” Their

slogan is “our daily inspiration to

give our customers the friendliest

service and highest quality prod-

ucts possible, as well as play an

active part in the community that

we live in.”

The Bakery puts their slogan into

action by supporting numerous

organizations among the commu-

nity. They donate healthy bread

and produce to UCAN, Roseburg

Rescue Mission, and the St. Fran-

cis Community Kitchen; they pre-

pare meals for the chil-

dren and staff of Casa de Belen, a

transitional home for teens; and

they offer assistance and support

to Think Local Umpqua, The Boys

and Girls Club of Umpqua Valley,

Phoenix School, Umpqua Valley

Arts Center, Department of Human

Services and many others.

In 2007, Lighthouse Center Bakery

began a small holiday initiative

called “Peace Bread.” Every De-

cember they donate many loaves of

Peace Bread to soup kitchens and

people in need as an act of good-

will in the spirit of caring and shar-

ing during the holiday season.

Since starting the initiative, the

number of loaves donated has in-

creased with each passing year,

with over 1,600 loaves donated in

2013.

On select Saturday nights, the

Lighthouse Center Bakery holds a

pizza night, free for all

members of the commu-

nity. All pizzas are baked

in the wood-fired brick

oven and have organic and

locally grown ingredients.

These events have grown

in popularity over the yea-

rs and it offers an excellent

venue for community

gathering and networking.

Our inspiration is to play an active part in the com-

munity that we live in. -Lighthouse Center Bakery

14

Cooking Matters at the Store Tours

The Oregon Food Bank was able to receive a grant,

largely sponsored by Wal-Mart, to offer an education-

al class to people with low incomes. Cooking Matters

at the Store (CMATS), formerly known as Shopping

Matters, is a class that focuses on educating partici-

pants on how to shop at the grocery store on a budget,

specifically how to eat healthy foods without going

over a budget. Furthermore, the grant allowed each

partnering organization to receive funds to offer $20

per participant of the store tour, covering material and

supply costs, with $10 of the funds going directly to

the participant to take the “$10 Challenge.” The

$10 Challenge is a method of testing the participants

in the tour to measure their knowledge from the class.

Each participant must purchase all of their staple

foods without going over their $10 budget.

NeighborWorks Umpqua was one of the partnering or-

ganizations that received funds to administer these

store tours, with enough funds to allow 20 participants

to take the $10 Challenge. UC-VEG, a non-profit that

concentrates mainly on educational events to promote

healthy eating, held several store tours separate to the

CMATS with many of the same goals of the CMATS

tours. Seeing the opportunity in this correlation, Neigh-

borWorks Umpqua and UC-VEG partnered to adminis-

ter 2 CMATS tours to 30 low-income residents of the

community, with 20 residents receiving $10 to take the

Challenge. Both tours were highly successful, helping

to educate community members about not only the ben-

efits of eating healthy, but also ways to accomplish this

on a small budget, including an emphasis on shopping

seasonal and local foods.

Addendum

Bill Hershey, Presi-

dent of the non-profit

organization UC-VEG,

speaks to CMATS tour

participants about

purchasing in-season

produce to save mon-

ey.

Many people have lost the knowledge of how to cook nutritious, cost–effective foods. Education is one of the most im-

portant things we can do to reach out to those people.

-Roseburg resident

15

15

Improve Food Equality Douglas County is an economically depressed area

with a quarter of the population depending on food

benefits such as the SNAP and WIC programs. In fact,

many residents would not be able to participate in the

local food system without the use of government food

benefits.

Many of the farmers markets already accepted SNAP

and WIC vouchers, but within the last year, even more

local markets have taken the step forward to assisting

low-income residents afford fresh, healthy foods. The

Umpqua Local Goods Store got approved to accept

SNAP benefits, increasing the number of shoppers at

the retail location. Several other markets also got on

board with the trend, such as the Sutherlin, Reedsport

and Myrtle Creek Farmers Markets. The goal is to have

all of the farmers markets in Douglas County accepting

government food benefits, allowing low-income resi-

dents the same ability to shop for healthy, local food as

the rest of the population.

Aid Institutional Purchasers Farmers and institutions in Douglas County have had

difficulty for years coordinating farm to institution pur-

chasing. This type of market has a great deal of interest

and potential from both buyers and sellers who often

lack the time and resources to coordinate these transac-

tions. The CFA completed in 2013 mentioned that the

community would benefit from a farm-to-institution

facilitator assisting institutional buying of local foods.

The Local Food Coalition formed over the last year also

understood the importance of locally sourcing food in

grocery stores, hospitals and schools. The group identi-

fied that it was a priority to focus on methods to assist

institutional buyers connect with farmers and food pro-

ducers to source local food. In subsequent years, the Co-

alition hopes to develop projects to help source local

food in institutions and increase farm-to-school activi-

ties.

Furthermore, The Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Indi-

ans has expressed interest in expanding their role in the

community. At this time, their 13 acre Tribal Gardens in

Canyonville offers food for tribal members, a restaurant

at the Tribe’s Seven Feathers Casino and the Tribe’s

internal food bank. Ken Grizzle, the Tribal Gardens Co-

ordinator, attended several Food Coalition meetings and

has shared interest in growing food for the surrounding

schools and even some other restaurants and grocery

stores. In 2013 the Tribe began offering a youth garden-

ing program at the Tribal Gardens, which included sev-

eral educational workshops for youth aged 5-12. The

workshops focused on the Tribe’s cultural methods of

gardening, such as the Three Sisters gardening tech-

nique. Ken says that the classes were exceptionally suc-

cessful and enjoyable and the Tribe hopes to continue

the program in subsequent years.

Addendum

16

In spite of numerous community food programs occurring, there still exist multiple barriers within Douglas Coun-

ty’s community food system. Statistics still indicate a high level of the population depending on government assis-

tance programs, while numerous people still have trouble accessing nutritious food. Many farmers continue to out-

source their produce to other communities to make a profit, and others send their product elsewhere to be pro-

cessed due to Douglas County’s lack of agricultural infrastructure. Community groups have organized to address

these barriers, identifying creative ways to tackle and overcome obstacles that hinder the success of local food pro-

duction and the ability to access that food.

Addendum

Next Steps and Opportunities

17

17 Addendum

Increase Supply and Demand

for Local Food Although strides have been taken to strengthen commu-

nity support for local markets, there still is much work

to be done to accomplish the needed support for local

farmers and their food

products. One method to

tackle this barrier is to

measure the economic im-

pact of local farmers mar-

kets and other local food

markets to generate more

community support for local food. Farmers markets are

likely more of an economic driver in their small com-

munities than expected. According to the Local Multi-

plier Effect, which refers to the increased wealth crea-

tion that occurs when money is spent locally, for every

$1 spent at a local business, 45 cents is reinvested local-

ly, whereas for every $1 spent at a corporate chain, only

15 cents is reinvested locally. Numbers collected

through the Markets of Umpqua could create a case for

county or city support for the Markets of Umpqua when

funding from the FMPP grant expires in fall 2014.

Once the community shows growing support in local

food markets, farmers may then begin providing more

supply to meet the demand for local food.

Restaurants and institutions are another important as-

pect of the local community and economy, yet many

rural grocery stores, schools and hospitals find it diffi-

cult to regularly stock local food. Nutrition service offi-

cials and farmers often are short on time to coordinate

purchases, while school cafeterias have specific pur-

chasing criteria (shape, size, quantity) that can be diffi-

cult for small farmers to meet, not to mention the fact

that the growing season and the school year simply

don’t match up. Decreasing these hurdles for small- and

mid-scale local wholesale markets would be an enor-

mous step forward in helping the community access

fresh, healthy foods. Buying and selling local food at

markets and other facilities should be considered an

entrepreneurial endeavor that could create jobs in

Douglas County. In subsequent years, determining an

institutional purchasing facilitator would be beneficial

to support, assist and facilitate institutional buying

within the community.

Furthermore, it would be

advantageous to establish a

regional alliance of small

independently owned mar-

kets and grocery stores, be-

cause of the difficulty rural

stores have in selling local produce, getting regular de-

liveries and overall staying economically successful.

Assisting rural markets and stores establish an alliance

could help to aggregate purchasing and allow a unified

voice to represent small grocers, making it less difficult

for rural markets to thrive economically.

Augment and Improve Agricul-

tural Infrastructure The Umpqua Valley has been known in turn for its tur-

keys, hops, wool, prunes, melons, salmon, lamb and

more. It also had the capacity to process all of them.

Roseburg and other towns along the I-5 corridor were

home to regionally significant processing facilities in-

cluding dryers, canneries, and meat processing plants.

However, as the markets for certain products slowly dis-

appeared, the need for their processing quickly dimin-

ished, leading to a weakened hope and likelihood of the

revitalization of that product. Within the last two years,

the last prune drier in the county went out of business,

and the only USDA certified livestock processing facili-

ty in Roseburg shut down.

For every $1 spent at a local business, 45 cents is reinvested locally, whereas for every $1 spent at a corporate chain, on-

ly 15 cents is reinvested locally. – The Local Multiplier Effect

17

18

Local meat is becoming a movement. It’s also my passion and what I be-

lieve in. -Justin Morehohn

Nickabobs is a full service old-

fashioned meat and seafood shop,

owned and operated by Justin and

Machelle Morejohn since 2011.

They are a family run business

that strives to source out local

products for their customers to

purchase, featuring local grass fed,

all natural beef and lamb that

is cut daily to display in the meat

counter, as well as seafood that is

purchased from the Oregon and

Washington coastline.

However, Justin expressed frustra-

tion in the difficulty of providing

meats raised in Douglas County,

since the nearest USDA certified

meat processing plant is Mohawk

Valley Meats in Springfield. For

the first couple years of owning

Nickabob’s, the percentage of lo-

cal meats from within Douglas

County was slim, with many prod-

ucts coming from Eugene, Port-

land and other parts of Oregon and

Washington. Although Nickabob’s

has sent some products to Spring-

field in the past to be processed at

Mohawk Valley Meats, Justin said

they are often overloaded with

other processing orders, making it

exceedingly difficult to process

local meats outside of the county.

Realizing this barrier, yet witness

ing the high demand for local meats

led Justin and Machelle to strive

toward opening their own meat pro-

cessing plant in order to

make local meats and products

more accessible to the community.

In early 2014, Nickabob’s pur-

chased the old Boyer’s Meats Com-

pany processing plant,

which closed in 2012 and is located

about 3 miles from Nickabob’s re-

tail location in Roseburg. While the

building was refurbished, rehabili-

tated and renamed Crystal Creek

Quality Meats, Nickabob’s pur-

chased over 200 cattle, hogs and

lambs from local farmers, ready to

be slaughtered and processed at the

new USDA certified plant once it

received its inspection and opened

for business in mid-July. The plant

will be a huge asset to local farmers

and ranchers, whether they are sell-

ing direct market at Nickabob’s

Meat Market or at other retail loca-

tions.

Justin Morejohn stated how it is a

goal of his business to sustain the

local economy by supporting other

local businesses. “If we try to local-

ize what we [as a community] do,

we’d all be a lot stronger,” Justin

asserts. “If we would just all sup-

port each other, think of all the jobs

we would create.” The processing

plant will source 100% local meats

from Douglas County, as well as

farm kills that can be personally

consumed or sold at Nickabob’s

Meat Market and other retail loca-

tions. Justin says he already sees a

huge demand in local, all natural

meat in Douglas County. With the

opening of the new processing

plant, he expects to see a substantial

spike in the supply of these meats,

as more ranchers will have a means

to locally process and sell it.

“[Local meat] is becoming a move-

ment,” Justin states. “It’s also my

passion and what I believe in.”

Nickabob’s Meat Market

Nicakbob’s refurbished USDA certified meat processing plant, Crystal Creek Quality Meats.

18

19

19 Addendum The lack of access to local processing facilities, which

adds value to farm products, means farmers face addi-

tional costs in bringing their product to market. Access

to mid-level processing can make a huge difference

for

small farmers. Local storage and processing can help

remove some of the burden from farmers wishing to

expand by reducing the amount of equipment they need

to purchase.

NeighborWorks Umpqua has realized the importance

of increasing agricultural infrastructure in order to im-

prove the economic capabilities of farmers and ranch-

ers and thus has undergone a partnership with The

Cow Creek Bank of the Umpqua Indians The Umpqua

Valley Wine Growers Association, The Small Busi-

ness Development Council in Coos County, and other

groups, to obtain a large technical assistance grant

from WealthWorks Northwest. The grant will allow

the team to investigate the potential of expanding agri-

cultural infrastructure in not only Douglas County, but

also the entire region of Southwest Oregon, including

Coos and Curry Counties.

The partnering organizations are striving to use the

technical assistance grant to further develop the re-

gion’s food distribution systems by improving farmer,

producer and distributor focus on value-added, produc-

tion-market opportunities. This endeavor includes fo-

cusing on obtaining a regional incubator site to include

a food-processing facility, a “test-kitchen” to assist lo-

cal businesses to develop new and enhanced products,

and a centralized cold storage warehouse. With this

proposal, SW Oregon partners will seek to expand local

opportunity to its farmers, rural agriculture land base

and entrepreneurial food producers to diversify eco-

nomic development in the region.

Conclusion Despite numerous community efforts to expand local

food throughout Douglas County, there still exists great

need. Douglas County has many resources available,

but in many cases it is finding the time and persever-

ance that become the deciding factors in the longevity

and success of projects and goals. Constant attention

and engagement with those involved with Douglas

County’s food system is vital to ensure community ef-

forts are adequate and the momentum is continued with

current activities.

This document has identified methods in which indi-

viduals and organizations are addressing barriers in be-

coming a resilient food system, as well as areas of

needed attention. Interest and possibility have sprouted

over the past two years, with many beneficial actions

taken to impact the community. The most important

continuing steps are to continue to organize, network

and collaborate interested residents and groups in order

to foster partnerships and programs and thus strengthen

the rich food system of Douglas County.