WIMER, Ore. — There are dozens of local farms and companies contributing to the supply of food grown and made in the Rogue Valley. While many of those producers have mastered their craft getting a product to the consumer can take a very different set of skills.

The tiny basil plants at The Farming Fish outside of Wimer are going to spend three weeks on the shelves before they spend 4 to 5 weeks in the aquaponic system. Then they are branded and sent to market.

“This is the first official co-branding partnership with a local farm,” Tom Marks says.

At the beginning of the year, The Farming Fish started looking for a distribution partner.

“It just so happened it turned out to be the local guy who happened to have the same morals and ethics as we do and it worked out beautifully,” Olivia Hittner, one of the partners in the company explains.

Hittner and her partner Michael Hasey partnered with Tom Marks who launched the Rogue Nation foods brand.

“It allows a consumer to immediately see, ‘Oh, this is a product that represents the Rogue Valley,’ that represents this high level of integrity and quality,” Tom says.

Produce from the aquaponic farm is not new to the Medford Food Co-Op, but the living basil and its packaging is new.

“You might just see this little local symbol but with a larger brand and notoriety. It brings a real pop to the product line, and we do see that things that are marketed well sell better.”

Both sides expect to benefit from the partnership.

“It really allows them to focus on their skill set and allows us to focus on our skill set,” Tom explains.

The farming fish can now reach a larger customer base.

“The way to do that was to work with someone who could give us the support in marketing and branding and who knew the distribution system and had the experience with that level of distribution,” Olivia comments.

It pumps dollars into the local economy.

“The more we can export, the more money we’ll be importing. So, the idea is that we want to retain dollars in the community and export anything that we can,” Tom adds.

The branding also promotes what’s going on in the Southern Oregon food scene.

“So, the more we can gain notoriety for Rogue Valley brands, sell those to other distributors and other areas, they learn about what we are doing in the Rogue Valley and how we are working toward sustainability,” he says.

Olivia says that’s already happened at The Farming Fish and that recently some visitors stopped by the organic farm, “who were very interested in aquaponics and wanted to learn more about it.”

“I think that is going to happen more and more. That’s one of the reasons why we wanted do the packaging and the branding to help educate as well.”

Yet this week, the biggest and best of these basil plants will be sent to market. The little ones will be turned into pesto and they will be co-branded under Rogue Nation Foods as well and they’ll end up on store shelves.

MEDFORD, Ore. — The growing season has started and local produce is once again arriving at stores and farmers markets’. In fact, there are lots of ways to get local food on your table.

There are more than a dozen Community Supported Agriculture programs in Southern Oregon. They are more commonly called CSA’s and they offer a huge variety of local products and produce, so it can be a daunting task to find the one that’s right for you and your family. But, you can make it easy on yourself if you prioritize what’s most important to get your family eating local produce.

The idea behind a CSA is simple, community members buy in, sharing the risks and rewards, a.k.a. fresh food, with their local farmers.

Outreach Coordinator at The Rogue Valley Initiative for a Vital Economy (THRIVE) and CSA member, Becky Brown, describes her experiences: “It’s like Christmas. You open it up and someone else has made the decisions for me. Someone else has decided what is delicious and healthy and fabulous and I even get recipes to go along with it.”

If you’re a busy single mom like Becky Brown, you can choose a CSA that chooses your bounty for you; or if you’d like, you can customize. That’s one of the options you get with Rogue Produce.

“Most stuff you are going to know and be able to identify,” Adam Holtey from the local business explains. “They can choose from another list of available produce and they can choose what they want.”

Some groups offer just produce, others mix in eggs, dairy, meat, dry goods, preserves and breads. Becky says this is, “so that you are not just limited to what grows in the ground.”

The CSA Cooperative is entering its second season and Adam Holtey says it offers something else that makes it unique, delivery, “So we take it right to your door or where you work.”

Most CSA’s offer pick-up options at their farms or in central locations across the Rogue Valley. We have some that are more convenient for people in Josephine County or in the northern part of Jackson County. When finding the CSA that meets your needs you should also consider price. Some offer payment through the Oregon Trail card, others offer sweat equity.

This, Becky says, “For a low income family, would be an important consideration.”

Adam offers a minimum of four deliveries at $85, which can grow to a year long membership, “They don’t sign up for a whole season so they don’t need to invest that whole huge chunk of cash.”

The cost is kept low because Rogue Produce is a mini CSA, which reduces potential spoilage.

“Waste is definitely not what it’s about,” Becky says.

Many CSA’s, including Rogue Produce, offer a hold in service.

“We give people the option of skipping a delivery or however many deliveries they want, then you can skip three weeks if you go on vacation and then get three more,” Adam explains.

Rogue Produce is dropping off about 50 baskets for its CSA this week but Adam says he’d like to see that grow to a couple hundred meaning there is room for people who are interested in CSA’s.

You can learn more about CSA’s in Southern Oregon by clicking here.

MEDFORD, Ore. — Half a dozen restaurants have moved into downtown Medford in the past year and there’s a new movement to highlight both the new and established locally owned eateries.

People new and familiar with Medford’s food scene are crawling all over downtown for Medford’s DishCrawl. DishCrawl organizer Michael Davis explains why, “It’s good to be able to get out to be with family friends and make new acquaintances and eat great food!”

“We have a lot of new people coming into the area and they may find it’s not easy to find the haunts that are the best places to go. And with downtown Medford growing and expanding as it is, there is a real element and a new flavor to it that we want other people to be aware of as well as the locals.”

Local participant Jennifer Davis says, “We thought it would be really fun to do.”

The DishCrawl movement started in San Fransico and has spread to 100 communities, including Medford, which recently held it’s first event that started at Bricktown Brewery.

Jennifer went to the event, “It was crowded and a lot of energy and great beers and we are not big beer drinkers but I didn’t even know that existed, and so that was awesome.”

As participants move, or crawl, from dish to dish they are visiting locally owned establishments. Often serving local food menu options.

The second stop for these DishCrawlers was Rocky Tonk. “We are getting a little bit of a taste of food, and it’s about the food,” Jennifer stresses. “They had a lamb stew there. I haven’t had lamb stew ever I don’t think and it was really really good.”

Then it was off to 38 Central, “I feel like giving back to all these restaurants on this event; so now we know what’s here so it’s really exciting.”

Michael and other organizers say the upcoming events promise to highlight new restaurants and new local cuisine each month, “The restaurants are all really excited about the opportunity to take one of their slower days, bring people in whether it is existing customers that they had or new customers.”

“We want to be introducing different restaurants, in other words we don’t want to choose the same type of restaurant.”

The next DishCrawl event is this upcoming Tuesday, the 23rd. March’s event sold out so if you want tickets you may want to act fast! Click here for more information.

MEDFORD, Ore. — Words like “capital,” “enterprise,” and “economics” may not conjure up images of locally grown lettuce or the farmer’s market, but a diverse group of people invested in local food production want to change that.

Over a dinner of local food and wine, local investors and leaders in the food industry met to learn more about money. Specifically, how to keep money in the Rogue Valley and on Southern Oregon farms.

“Only 9 cents of every dollar spent on food goes to a farmer, and the rest goes to processors and distributors and retailers and advertisers,” says author and founder Woody Tasch.

Tasch is from Boulder, CO and is the founder of Slow Money. He is also the author of the book “Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered.”

“I had no intention to start a movement or an organization or a network.”

17 chapters across the country and 6 investment clubs have invested $21 million in 180 small food enterprises, supporting localized farms rather than industrial agriculture.

“Given how crazy the global situation is, one of the most satisfying and important things to do is take some of our money out of it and put it to work in things that we understand, near where we live, keeping out communities healthier and we think food is the place to start doing that,” Tasch says.

Amy Pearl, founder of Spring Board Innovation of Portland, couldn’t agree more.

“Every community gives away at least 80% of are capital goes outside our communities,” explained Pearl. “In the form of mortgages, in the form of are long term savings; it’s all on Wall Street.”

Pearl and Tasch know, just like with local food, local investment starts from the ground up.

“The first way you can participate to start shifting things is to use your purchasing dollars more wisely,” Woody explains. “But, our consumer dollars aren’t enough to support this transition.”

This is why Pearl suggests local food enterprises consider a DPO, or Direct Public Offering.

“You can raise up to a million dollars, it’s relatively low cost,” she says. “80% of the money comes from a 50 mile radius so it’s true community investing.”

For those who don’t think they fall into the “investor” category, she says the shares can be as low as $5, so there isn’t really anyone who couldn’t invest or who would be afraid of loosing their money.

“It’s best if we are not preaching to the choir.  It’s good to get people in town saying, we’ll I’d like to make 5% or 10% on my money and take it out of my savings account. I have $2000 I’d love to invest locally!”

For more information about Spring Board Innovation you can head to their website here.

Also, Woody Tasch’s Slow Money website is here.

ASHLAND, Ore. — A grocery store was named “Ashland’s Business Conservationalist of the Year” in 2012, and their efforts to produce zero waste are paying off in more ways then one.

The Albertson’s store in Ashland went through a green remodel one year ago. One of the many things they changed to be more energy efficient was the lighting in their coolers.

“They actually power down when no one is on the aisle,” explained Store Manager Paige Vaughan. “That’s really helped with energy savings.”

Automatic lights may be one of the more noticeable changes, but it certainly isn’t the only one. The store faces competition from four others in town, three of which manager Paige Vaughn says fall into a different category.

“They are more of the whole foods organic total store. I think of Albertson’s as your traditional grocery store,” Paige said.

To connect with what some would call an un-traditional town, the store’s parent company “Super-Valu”, funded a green remodel.

“We were embraced so much because of it,” said Joan Johnson, the Customer Service Manager.

A year ago, Albertson’s added motion sensors; LED lights; more efficient coolers; doors on more of it’s coolers; and 22 composting bins.

“100% composting in our produce department,” Paige said. “So, everything that’s unsalable to our customers gets composted.”

The store also created a more intense tallowing effort.

“Anything that’s got fat in it; cheese, meats, salads, dressings, anything like that, can all go in the tallo bin,” said Kris Wilson, the Deli Clerk.

That “waste” is picked up by companies then used to create dog food, soap and candles.

“It’s a lot more organized now,” Kris remarked. “We have a lot better control of what goes where. It used to be everything went into one big bin, it didn’t matter what it was.”

“Garbage is an expense and it’s part of business, so anywhere you can save money it’s better for your bottom line,” Paige said.

The bottom line has seen an extra $14,000 in savings.

“In return we want to use that money to invest it into our company and to drive better adds and better pricing,” said Paige.

While it could help you at the check out, Albertson’s zero waste effort is also helping the environment, and customers have taken notice.

“People love it, people love it that we are a green store they ask questions all the time,” said Joan. “They really appreciate the fact that we are trying to improve the environment and not leave a carbon footprint.”

While shrinking their carbon footprint, Paige says they are leaving a larger impact on the community too.

“We donate that to the Ashland Food Bank so those items stay here locally in the community,” Paige said.

The store has also gone plastic-less, except for collecting them. Last year, they donated three benches to Ashland schools after the students met their challenge.

ASHLAND, Ore. — There are many local meat producers in Southern Oregon. There are also many consumers, from families and schools to restaurants and grocery stores, but connecting producer to consumer without a middle man can present some challenges.

The cows out to pasture on Valley View Beef Ranch in Ashland are all mamas and new calves. The majority of the male calves will end up being local beef, produced and sold to consumers in the Rogue Valley. Valley View Beef knows a thing or two about getting their cattle from pasture to plate and now they are passing that knowledge on to others.

“We’re really grass farmers, we’re not beef farmers,” explains rancher Dave Westerburg.  Valley View Beef’s many happy customers may disagree. One look at the happy cows shows how much stock the ranch puts into its stock.  “Now, I am bringing my mamas and babies in here so the babies have good pasture and the mamas have good feed,” says Westerburg as he surveys the old hay field.

Westerburg’s family has been on the Ashland property for 90 years. “The last eight years we’ve been raising grass fed beef on the best Angus bull genetics we can find,” elaborated Westerburg.  His experience and success has landed him the duties as panel member at the upcoming Niche Meat Marketing Workshop in Jackson County. The discuss will cover current obstacles in getting meat from pasture to plate and what methods are working best.

Elizabeth Murphy from Jackson County’s OSU Extension Office’s Small Farms Livestock Division, says the biggest hurdle is the availability of processing facilities, “Any time you are going to sell a cut and wrap product, you have to have it killed at a USDA processing facility and that results in a real loss of product and also huge transportation costs.”

The closest USDA facility is outside of Eugene. To get around this local producers must sell the cow, or portions of the cow, rather than cuts.

Westerburg comments, “I cannot legally sell you a steak, killed on my farm and processed here locally.”

Instead, consumers can get a whole, half, or quarter cut and wrapped at a local processor.

“The last one I harvested the price for a quarter came out to $455, but if you average it out you’re buying hamburger and t-bone steaks for approximately $4.50 to $5.00 a pound,” he explains.

When you’re getting a quarter of beef, you’re gonna get a lot more than a couple of pounds of hamburger or a few t-bone steaks. This brings up the next obstacle, consumer education.

Murphy says, “That involves a lot of direct customer contact, a lot of customer education because you get a lot of pieces of the animal that you’re not really sure what to do with.”

The education doesn’t end there, to promote their product, producers must also be able to explain the benefits on buying locally raised meat that runs around $5.00 a pound.

She also states, “What we’ve been more accustomed to lately as a culture, is corn fed Midwestern grown beef where cattle are finished in big feed lots, so there is a quality difference in terms of texture and taste.”

Not only is their a difference by the fork-full, locavores will argue grass fed beef, like these guys, are more sustainable for our environment and economy.

“You’re keeping it local, so you’re not using fossil fuels to transport meat in from somewhere else. And, you’re sustaining a thriving, local economy and keeping our farmers employed.”

Westerburg is proud of this, “We feel like we can actually improve the grass, the property, the environment through properly managed land.”

“This grass is our free resource; it’s capturing solar energy from the sun and it can really help producers meet their bottom line if they can grow the food for their cattle on the land,” Murphy explains.

If producers can communicate all that with potential customers, they might earn lifelong loyalty.

Westerburg says, “They can get totally engaged in what you’re doing, and really feel like they have a connection between the producer and the consumer and you don’t have this retail disconnect in the middle.”

The Niche Meat Marketing Workshop welcomes all individuals, not just producers and livestock instructors. If you’re just interested in buying local meat in general and learning more about what you get when you do, then the workshop is a great place to do this. It is Tuesday, February 19,  and seats are still available.

MEDFORD, Ore. — On a day full of sunshine, perhaps you were tempted to do a little yard work. For most places in Southern Oregon it’s a good time to start pruning your fruit trees, and while you’re at it, find out the do’s and don’ts of creating a “giving tree.”

If you were lucky enough to inherit an old fruit tree, you might consider your self unlucky. You also might consider taking it down, replacing it with something a little more manageable. But this apple tree, lovingly referred to by orchardists as a rescue tree, can in fact be rescued and provide your family with fruit all year long.

This knotted, narly old tree can be intimidating and annoying, dropping fruit that’s not as edible as one might hope. But 40-year-orchardist, Terry Helfrich, says with a few snips, okay maybe a lot of snips, a rescue tree can become the giving tree.

“Try to get layers of cross hangers out, dead branches out, branches that come down onto other branches; you want to cut those branches off,” she says.

When pruning any fruit tree, apple or otherwise, there are some pretty basic rules to follow.

“That big fat bud by my thumb, that’s a fruit bud. That’s the first thing you should identify when you’re in your back yard.”

Once you know what to save, figure out what to get rid of or change. Most of the time that means anything growing upward.

“Now that it’s horizontal it’s going to have fruit wood on it. If you leave it vertical it’s going to be vegetative, so there is always this balance going between vegetative and fruiting.”

However, cutting off the vertical growing branches isn’t the only option. You can also train them using a nail and kite string or a spreader.

“Once you tie them down then you set fruit for the following year.”

Helfrich says ultimately you need to get more light into the tree, spacing the horizontal branches about a foot and a half apart.

The same basic rules apply if you’re planting a new fruit tree. Four Seasons Nursery will prune your new fruit tree right before you take it home so you can see how to do it. A good nursery will also help you pick the tree that’s best for you.

Tim Elbert from the Nursery says, “We have a whole series of trees called easy pick. And, the easy pick fruit trees are a variety that are dwarfed with a low branching pattern so it makes them easier to pick. You can keep them very, very small so you’re not having to climb ladders to harvest, yet they do get kind of wide.”

Picking from up high or down low, a well pruned 10 foot tree can produce 60 to 80 pounds of fruit.

Terry suggests picking fruit early, “In October you can go out and pick a couple of boxes of fruit, put ‘em in your cellar and you’ll have fruit all winter. How ever you preserve the fruit it’s going to save you at the super market plus the satisfaction of knowing that you grew it.”

And like the words from Shel Silverstein’s beloved book, The Giving Tree, “and the boy loved the tree…very much. And the tree was happy.”

A happy tree will lead to a more sustainable table.

“I mean, wouldn’t anybody love to have a tree like this in their backyard?”

For more information on taking care of the tree in your backyard check out the fruit tree pruning class Helfrich is teaching at the Jackson County OSU Extension Office on Saturday, February 16th.

EAGLE POINT, Ore. — For nearly two decades a Southern Oregon family has raised high quality Angus cattle by breeding for the best genetics. They are at the beginning of the process which may end with a steak on your plate.

It doesn’t happen very often; in fact, it’s never happened to anyone from Oregon until 15-year-old Ashley Cox took the Grand Champion for Angus Female at the National Western Stock Show. That grand champion may be a little less muddy, a little more spoiled and all around showier than these hefers, but make no mistake, the Cox kids are learning valuable lessons from both.

“I’ve just done it all my life ever since I was little,” said Ashley Cox.

Between Jackson and Klamath Counties, three generations have 1,100 head of cattle, almost all female, spread over 8,000 acres.

“We do provide all natural beef, which means no hormones,” explained Brad Cox. “A lot of our cattle go through a qualify for certified Angus beef. So, that’s the steaks that’s the hamburger that’s everything in the restaurant.”

“Our mainstay is the bulls, raising these bulls to about 18 months or two years of age, and then selling them on into breeding programs,” said Buckley Cox.

The Cox family says to ensure high quality breeding bulls, they give the animals plenty of space and are careful not to over-graze.

“Taking care of the land like it’s your own even if it’s not, because if you don’t it’s not going to take care of you,” said Brad.

“It’s also the fencing,” explained Buckley, “the maintenance of the fencing, the maintenance of the ditches for irrigation.”

They believe by doing this, they allow the land to be sustainable for generations to come.

“There is a lot of stuff that goes into the land that makes it useful and keeps it up to quo,” said Buckley.

Traynham Ranch does vaccinate the animals twice a year, but limits the antibiotics to need only.

“If you keep your animals healthy, you don’t have to use antibiotics,” said Brad.

On top of living conditions and healthcare, the cattle are also very well fed.

“We don’t have to buy any outside hay so everything our cattle eat is grown right here on the property with exception of the grain which we buy locally,” said Brad.

This limits the need for trucking it in, cutting the carbon footprint. Besides the bread and butter of the bull breeding program, the Cox’s also sell live animals privately that can be processed locally and feed local families for months.

“We get good raves on the meat, it’s a quality piece of meat. They are very happy it’s tasty,” explained Buckley. “We also sell a lot of project steers to F-H and FFA members.”

Which brings us back to the grand champion heffer, which has won Ashley so many honors and taught her so many lessons.

“I do hope to have a heard of my own someday, when I am old enough and stable to do it,” Ashley said.

“It’s not forced or pushed, but it’s a way of life that they see as beneficial to themselves. It makes you proud,” Buckley said.

The majority of the young bulls will be sold to breeding programs that are in Eastern Oregon as well as Washington and California.

ASHLAND, Ore. – In the cold months a hearty loaf of bread pairs perfectly with a hot bowl of soup. One Southern Oregon bakery is making a local loaf, made with ingredients harvested from around the region.

You could say Sunstone Artistry Bakery has a “hands-on” approach. The care they put into each loaf is replicated throughout the business. A basic loaf of sour dough has just four ingredients: flour, water, salt and starter. After that, the possibilities are endless.

Marked with the State of Jefferson’s emblem, these Jefferson loaves live up to the name. The Rogue Valley brambles olive oil is from Northern California. The honey and seeds are from and the wheat is grown about 20 minutes away.

David Mostue started growing a couple of varieties of wheat a few years ago. In order to diversify Dunbar Farms’ offerings. A partnership grew between the two companies. Right now, it still costs more to make a loaf with Dunbar’s wheat but it’s still the bakery’s second best seller at the farmers market.

Shelia Carder said people must be picking up on what Sunstone Bakery and Dunbar Farms has known all along. Not only does it look heartier, David says it is healthier. David says it’s packed with more nutrients that is physically sustainable. Opting for local ingredients lessens the carbon footprint, a sustainable choice for the environment. All that handiwork requires employees, sustaining the local economy.

Buying a loaf of Sunstone’s bread sustains a local family business. Sunstone is now competing with another Oregon bread company, nationally known as Dave’s Killer Bread, a nitch that could come with butter, cheese, jam, olive oil or just plain hot out of the oven.

Sunstone Bakery’s sustainability doesn’t end with the Jefferson loaf. The packaging, even clear plastic-like material, is actually made from sustainably harvested wood products. While you won’t find the Jefferson loaf here yet because of limited shelf space, you can buy it direct, and Sunstone is working on getting it or another local wheat product on shelves soon.

Sunstone breads are available at several stores in Medford, Ashland and Talent, including The Medford Food Co-op, Ashland Food Co-op’s, and Harry & David Country Village. For more information on Sunstone Artistry Bakery and where to get their products, or Dunbar Farms, consult their websites listed below:

Sunstone Bakery

http://sunstonebakery.com/

Dunbar Farms

http://www.dunbarfarms.com/

MEDFORD, Ore. – If you’ve ever overlooked an apple because it was bruised, or passed-over tomatoes that had gone soft, they’ll likely end up in the garbage or the compost, but a Rogue Valley woman is using those items on a much larger scale. Anne Eldridge started “Our Local Bounty” about 5 years ago. In the off-season, she caters events.

“I had goat milk from a farmer who had excess, so I started to make yogurt and I’ve put it in the potato leek soup and I just love it,” Anne explained. “So, that’s my latest invention for tonight.”

Of course, Anne doesn’t really believe in an “off-season”.

“Personally, I don’t believe we should be getting our food from half way around the world,” Anne said. “Growing is something we can do right here We can live very well with local food.”

She teams up with “Green Drinks” and Medford Co-Op to provide the food at monthly events.

“She also has the unique opportunity to take advantage of food that is available that is in the moment and transform it into delicious food for events,” said Green Drinks Co-Host Lynn Blanche.

The majority of Eldridge’s ingredients come from local farms and stores – things that wouldn’t sell, not that have spoiled.

“What I work with is stuff that would go into the compost and hopefully in the right situation would be feeding gardens, but the average is small to large farm 40% of all that the farmer grows gets composted,” Anne said. “We can take excess, slightly off colored slightly off shaped, makes no difference to a soup or a stew.”

The partnership makes sense; “Green Drinks” is a public group meeting in addressing all sorts of ways to live sustainability.

“Our focus is on triple bottom line sustainability: People, Planet, Prosperity,” Lynn explained.

Medford and Ashland are two of over 600 cities participating across 75 countries. Of course, “Green Drinks” requires drinks, which is where the Pallet Wine Company comes in. Founder Linda Donvan donates the space and the wine, supporting the group, because pallet values sustainability too.

“Our whole business model is very sustainable; basically we are a co-op, we have clients that share our resources, our equipment, our employees, our education,” Linda explained.

“If we can just utilize stuff that doesn’t look just right,” Anne said, “Our society now is used to everything being perfect and shiny and that’s not the way it always is when it comes out of the garden.”

These women are creating a sustainable table while sipping on wine made in Southern Oregon, from Southern Oregon grapes, and tasting food grown in Southern Oregon and saved from the compost. For more information, consult the links below.

Green Drinks

Pallet Wine Company

Anne Eldridge’s “Our Local Bounty”