For 1000 Friends of Oregon’s 35th anniversary – and Oregon’s 151st birthday – the non profit decided to celebrate the past, present and future by honoring 35 Innovators Under 35…young Oregonians making a difference in their communities while continuing Oregon’s proud legacy of an active, engaged citizenry.
We were pleased to see so many award winners working on food and agriculture issues. Quite a few FoodHub members too! Here’s an abbreviated list of the award winners.
Gina Bell
Forest Grove
Gina helped get the Forest Grove Farmers Market off the ground and now manages the market. She is also Director of Development for Adelante Mujeres, a community-based organization that helps immigrant families achieve self-determination through 3 areas: Education, Empowerment & Enterprise.
Abby Bradbury
Langlois
Abby started Abby’s Greens, her own direct-marketing farm business in Bandon, while home on summer vacation during college. Her determination and commitment to providing local food for her region has helped her business blossom over the past 5 years. She works alongside her sister Zoe and her mother Betsy to re-invigorate the local food movement on Oregon’s south coast.
Zoë Bradbury (FOODHUB Member)
Langlois
A farmer and freelance writer, Zoe’s work in sustainable agriculture has engaged her with numerous non-profits, including Ecotrust, the Agriculture and Land-based Training Association, the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
Jen Brown
Corvallis
Jen is currently the Director of the Farm to School program at the Corvallis Environmental Center. Previously, she was the Education Director at the Watershed Project, where she ran the Kids in Gardens and Kids in Creeks programs.
Cory Carman (FOODHUB Member)
Wallowa
A fourth-generation rancher, Cory returned home after spending years working on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Cory has become a leader in the local grass-fed livestock movement and promotes the ecological health of the land by monitoring local grasses and analyzing prime feeding spots on the ranch.
Zach Christensen
McMinnville
A 5th-generation Yamhill County hazelnut farmer, Zach works to keep the agriculture industry in Oregon sustainable and profitable. He is currently President of the Yamhill County Farm Bureau.
Devin Dimeo-Ediger
Hillsboro
Devin is a driving force in the grassroots movement to save Helvetia farmland from suburban sprawl. He also works with the Bus Project to register and turn out sustainably-minded voters.
Kathy Freeborn Hadley
Rickreall
You may recognize Kathy as a ‘TV star’ from the Measure 49 campaign. She is also involved in biofuels research through Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Agriculture and teaches an Intro to Agribusiness and a Crop and Soil Science Seminar at OSU.
Paul Hudak
Portland
Paul first discovered farming in high school when he went to work at a local farm near his home in upstate New York. Now, at Terra Nova High School in the Beaverton School District, he directs a group of students that run day to day operations at the Terra Nova Community Farm.
Katy Kolker
Portland
Katy is founder of the successful Portland Fruit Tree Project. In 2009, the project harvested over 12,000 pounds of fruit that would have otherwise gone to waste, bringing together over 250 volunteers at 29 harvesting events. Half of the fruit picked each year is distributed to local food banks, with an estimated 1,000 families receiving fresh fruit in 2009 thanks to Katy’s efforts.
Marissa Madrigal
Portland
Chief of Staff for Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen, Marissa had the idea to create ‘County Crops’ – an effort to enlist volunteers and private contributions to help farm surplus county-owned land near Troutdale and donate 100% of the harvest to local charities. In its first year, the program raised over $25,000 and donated over 10,000 pounds of fresh, organic produce.
David Mostue
Medford
In just four years, David has turned a simple passion for sustainable agriculture into a full-fledged Community Supported Agriculture project in the Medford area known as Dunbar Farms. Mostue has set aside a plot that offers a bulk of its harvest to the Farm-to-Kitchen Youth Project, an effort that brings elementary-and-middle school students to the farm to teach them on the connection between the field and the dinner table.
Nate Rafn
Salem
Nate is a columnist for Salem Monthly, writing stories on local small farms, grocers, and cooking. He is also the Executive Producer of “Living Culture,” a monthly television series that showcases cuisine and agriculture in the Pacific Northwest.
Grace Wildhaber
Dayton
At just 16 years of age, Grace is the president of the Dayton Chapter of the Future Farmers of America. She works closely with a local fruit processing facility to collect surplus fruits to deliver to families in need and also works on a local campaign to provide health care access to seasonal vineyard workers and their families.