Author Archive for Amanda

Food banks are changing their ways. To the extent that you’re familiar with food assistance programs, you may think of them as huge pantries full of boxes and cans made available to those in need.

That has been a valid image until recently, but the times they are a-changin’. Check out this article about how fresh fruits and vegetables are now being incorporated into emergency food assistance programs. Mike Moran, food resource manager of the Oregon Food Bank, recently explained that OFB’s network of 935 hunger-relief organizations distributed 40% more fresh food in 2010 than in 2009, and he expects that number to grow another 50% in 2011. Rotary First Harvest, Seattle, WA, operates Harvest Against Hunger, a program in which AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers are placed at host sites across Washington state to work on gleaning programs, community gardens, and food recovery.

Producers – would you rather see your beautiful, nutritious bounty feed hungry people in your area rather than being plowed under? FoodHub makes it very easy for you to let food assistance professionals find you using the Emergency Food Assistance Badge.

If you are open to donating product, allowing gleaning, or growing a row dedicated to a food assistance program, simply add the EFA Badge to your FoodHub profile!

The badge lets food assistance professionals on FoodHub know that you’re open to working with them.

To add the badge to your profile, sign-in to FoodHub and click [My Profile] under [My FoodHub]. From your profile, click the blue [Edit] button in the About Us section and answer “yes” to the question “are you interested in donating food to the local food bank?”.  Save the change by clicking [Save] and the badge will be added to your profile. If you’d care to specify the type of donations you’d like to make, the best times to contact you, or any other parameters, feel free to note that information in the How to Do Business With Us section of your profile.

Each week, approximately 5.7 million Americans use food banks, soup kitchens, government nutrition programs and other emergency food assistance providers to feed themselves. You can help those in your own community just by making yourself available on FoodHub!

It was just confirmed last night, FoodHub’s own Deborah Kane has been invited to The White House (!) next week as a “Champion of Change”.  She will be representing the interests of rural agriculture in the FoodHub region at a roundtable discussion hosted by a newly established entity, The White House Rural Council.

As we first mentioned in this FoodHub blog post a couple of weeks ago, on June 9^th President Obama established the Council, the mission of which is to, “promote economic prosperity and quality of life in rural America.” According to this press release, the council’s activities in the coming weeks and months will focus on job creation and economic development by increasing the flow of capital to rural areas and promoting innovation, among other tactics.

Our question to you is, what do you want Deborah to tell The White House?

Deborah wants to get on the plane to DC Tuesday armed with a full slate of ideas, innovations and creative thinking going on in the rural areas of our region so that she can highlight and elevate them, and the people and organizations working on them, as possible solutions to meet the challenges facing rural America.

Obviously there isn’t much time, and the holiday weekend is almost upon us. To share your thoughts and work, please do one of three things:

• Comment on this blog post or on FoodHub’s Facebook page (best for short commentary on key priorities and/or links to projects).
• Answer two key questions on this survey (room for longer comments and explanations).
• Send an email to meet@food-hub.org (please keep any attachments under 2MB).

Deborah and the FoodHub team will comb through all the input and summarize key themes and great ideas to share at the roundtable in Washington on Wednesday. Obviously not every good idea will get discussed that day, but will be provided directly to the leadership of the USDA, and we will post a summary so that all the input and ideas are shared within the region.

We will also of course post pictures and stories when Deborah gets back!

A recent AP article in USA Today sheds light on how some major retailers define “local” for their stores…

“Whole Foods Market says a food cannot be labeled as local unless it traveled to the store in seven or fewer hours by car or truck. Wal-Mart labels produce as local if it is from the same state where it is sold. Supervalu, which operates some Albertsons stores, Jewel-Osco and other supermarket chains, defines local as within regions that can encompass four or five states. Safeway defines local as coming from the same state or a one-day drive from field to store. Many retailers just leave it up to individual store managers.”

The question “how do you define local?” is always a hot topic when we’re out talking about FoodHub. We don’t prescribe one definition – FoodHub(TM) is a virtual food hub used by chefs, restaurateurs, foodservice directors and wholesale food buyers of all kinds to track down product that meets their own definition of local/regional. That definition could be within 100 miles, from the county or state in which they’re operating, or from the region. FoodHub currently welcomes wholesale buyers, sellers and associates (food/ag industry suppliers and organizations) from Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

We like the approach taken by Dan Barber, chef of Blue Hill in NYC, who said, “The question really should be, are you taking advantage of your region’s natural ecology?”

To read the full article, please click here.

To learn more about FREE memberships in FoodHub, please visit www.food-hub.org.

I was struck reading this month’s Mix Magazine by a quote from Matt Lightner, chef at Castagna, that so captures the very essence of what sourcing locally is all about. Oregonian writer Leslie Cole joined Matt on a foraging trip to Sauvie Island recently and captured Lightner’s philosophy:

“People come to your restaurant to eat the area, to get a sense of your culture. We’re only as unique as this,” he says, arms stretching wide to take in the forest around him.

Read the full article here: http://www.oregonlive.com/mix/index.ssf/food-trends/castagna-chef-matt-lightner-forages-the-northwest.html