Food forum slated
Gathering will help frame key, future themes
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 10:12 AM PDT
| |
| Katie Weaver, Americorps volunteer, looks over some of the garden plants and produce at the Four Rivers Community Garden next to St. Matthew Episcopal Church. Community gardens will be part of the discussion at the Community Food Forum Friday. |
ONTARIO — Katie Weaver, Americorps volunteer, spent the summer criss-crossing Southeast Oregon talking with people about food production and with consumers regarding such matters as access to food and markets and the opportunities and issues for each.
One result of all the travel and input is a Community Food Forum slated for Friday at Treasure Valley Community College.
The forum is designed to get local food producers, sellers and consumers working together.
Weaver presented copies of her initial report, “Conversations across the Food System,” Wednesday to the Malheur County Court. It will be updated after the forum.
Her visits included food pantry patrons, cattle producers, onion packers and growers, grocers, and part of the report is a summary of her visits with individuals and focus groups.
The forum is the culmination of Weaver’s work to focus not only on the information but on what the next steps can and should be to help local producers and local consumers so they support each other and the local economy.
“We offer opportunities for access to food and potential for growers,” Weaver said.
Opportunities cited by Weaver in her reports include creation of coalitions to address community security and the needs of the agriculture community; increasing awareness of food and ag-related issues, creation of a food system that is supported by and benefiting local producers, processors, retailers and consumers; and increasing access to healthy, fresh, locally-grown food throughout the region.
The Community Food Forum will be a conversation about agricultural production and economic challenges and a search for solutions, Peter Lawson, branch manager of the Southeast Oregon Regional Food Bank, which is the host for the forum, said. Sponsors include TVCC, Sodexo Food Service, Oregon Farmers Union, Kinney and Keele True Value Hardware, Oregon Rural Action and the Malheur County Cattlemen’s Association. Participants include Janie Burns, owners of Meadowlark Farm in Nampa and co-owner of HomeGrown Poultry LLC, a poultry and rabbit processing business in New Plymouth; Weaver; Warren Chamberlain, dairy farmer; Logan Hamilton, owner of Logan’s Market; Tami Hart, food manager at Holiday Inn and DJ’s Restaurant; Andrea Malmberg, executive director of Oregon Rural Action; Andree Scown, Jordan Valley School superintendent and principal; and Lawson. “Sixty people are already signed up for the event,” Weaver said.
There will be break-out groups to address various awareness, access, community food projects and food system infrastructure. “They will work through these issues and present ideas which will become recommendations of the report,” Weaver said.
The forum will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Lunch is being sponsored by Malheur County Cattlemen’s Association and Sodexo. “All food is coming from local producers,” Weaver said.
The cost of the forum is $10, and for more information call the food bank at (541) 889-9206.
