Author Archive for Deborah

Click yes for email notifications

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 by Deborah

When you are creating your profile, there is a spot in the ‘Account Management’ section that asks, “Receive email notifications from FoodHub?” A drop down menu lets you select either YES or NO.

This is just a friendly reminder that we strongly recommend you check YES.

The other day I heard from a farmer who had three unread inquiries from food buyers sitting in their ‘Message Center’ but didn’t realize it because they weren’t receiving email notifications from FoodHub. Why weren’t they getting this crucial information? They’d checked NO when asked if they wanted to receive email notifications from FoodHub.

Respond to potential new customer inquiries in a timely manner by checking YES.

(To make sure you have email notifications turned on, click ‘Edit profile’ from your ‘Dashboard’ tab.)

Posted in Best Practices | No Comments »

Big “B” Farm

Friday, January 15th, 2010 by Deborah

Matt Battilega of Big “B” Farm joined FoodHub today.

I love the story of Frank Battilega and other members of the Oregon Fresh Market Growers Association that ran in Edible Portland’s Summer 2009 issue (page 50).  (Full disclosure, Ecotrust, the creator of FoodHub, is also the publisher of Edible Portland – that’s how we know it was a great story!)

Some call these farmers “ag of the middle” – not too small, not too big. I just call them fantastic.

Welcome Matt!

Posted in Member Spotlight | No Comments »

Product management

Thursday, January 14th, 2010 by Deborah

YES – thank you – we have heard you.

The feedback regarding FoodHub’s ‘My Products’ tab has been consistent across numerous types of FoodHub users. You want us to make it easier and faster to add products you buy or products you sell. Some of you want to be able to say I buy “potatoes” and leave it at that without having to detail the specific variety of potato you buy. Others want to be able to click through a whole sheet of products without having to detail information for each product they buy/sell one by one.

For what it’s worth, we debated and fretted and wrung our hands over this one for months pre launch.

One of the many things that sets FoodHub apart is its extensive taxonomy, built in partnership with you.  Thus, we need to make sure that in making it easier and faster for you to indicate your desire for potatoes, we still allow the potato producer who is really proud of his/her Pontiac Red Potatoes to indicate they grow this specific variety.

We’re working now on a solution that let’s us have the best of both worlds. It will probably be March/April 2010 before the new system goes live. We have to build it, then test it, revise it based on user feedback and then incorporate it in such a way that those of you who have already added products don’t lose your data.

We’re on it.

If you’d like to help us test the new system or have thoughts or concerns on this one, please don’t hesitate to be in touch or to post a comment below.

Posted in Site Updates | No Comments »

Portland Public Schools served RUTABAGAS to kids today

Thursday, January 14th, 2010 by Deborah

“Farm to School”

You’ll hear that phrase every now and then. Quite simply, “farm to school” represents the basic notion that we can get better food into our schools. Beyond better, we can and should get regionally produced food into our NW schools.

Today I ate rutabagas with my 6-year old son at Atkinson Elementary in Southeast Portland. The rutabagas were on his tray because Portland Public Schools (PPS) worked with Hilltop Farms to source the yummy root vegetable. PPS has a Harvest of the Month program where they feature a regionally sourced product every month (the same product ends up on the menu at least twice in one month). PPS features both fresh and processed products in their Harvest of the Month program, helping kids understand that freezing blueberries is a great way to enjoy the yummy berry after the growing season has come and gone. Beyond the Harvest of the Month program, PPS goes out of its way to source as much local product as possible, routinely featuring “Local Lunches” such as Truitt Brothers 3-bean vegetarian chili.

And PPS isn’t alone. Schools THROUGHOUT the Northwest are interested in strengthening partnerships with regional vendors.

Food producers – please keep checking to see which schools have joined FoodHub and reach out to them. Can you commit to one or two items? Can you grow on contract for next school year? Suffer through the necessary paperwork and you might just find yourself making some little kid’s day.

Schools – please keep watching to see which FoodHub producers might be a good fit for you and reach out to them. Figure out how to translate your serving needs into poundage or case quantities that make sense to farmers.

Yummy food, happy, healthy kids. Let’s do it.

Posted in Farm to School | No Comments »

Oregon Department of Agriculture hires Michelle Ratcliffe

Thursday, January 14th, 2010 by Deborah

Michelle Markesteyn Ratcliffe will be leaving Ecotrust this week to join the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) as ODA’s new Farm to School Coordinator. One of her key responsibilities at the Oregon Department of Agriculture will be to help us make sure FoodHub is a fantastic resource for school food service directors and the regional vendors they work with.

Those of you active in getting great regional food into schools will understand what wonderful news this is. Michelle joined Ecotrust’s Farm to School program in June of 2007 and immediately made her mark.

During her tenure she led an ambitious local, state and national research agenda, supported farm to school activities in an eight-state region of the West as the Regional Lead Agency for the National Farm to School Network, was instrumental in creating the Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network, successfully promoted farm to school legislation that changed policies and practices within the state of Oregon, personally answered 1,000s of parent, teacher, and concerned citizen inquiries about food in schools, mentored numerous graduate students and interns, brokered connections between schools and food producers that resulted in real change on the lunch line, launched a pre-K initiative, served as an eloquent and informed spokesperson, nurtured innumerable relationships and partnerships, acted as a beloved colleague and friend to many, and set an example for excellence that continually challenged us to do our very best all while having an extremely good time. (And this list really only scratches the surface.)

Please join me in congratulating Michelle on her new position and her many accomplishments.

Posted in Farm to School | No Comments »

Iowa Prosciutto – How’s that related to FoodHub?

Monday, January 11th, 2010 by Deborah

I was excited enough that USDA Deputy Undersecretary Ann Wright was coming to town to help us celebrate the official launch of FoodHub. But guess what? Her chief of staff is coming too!

Big whoop you say?

Turns out Sara Eckhouse, the Deputy Undersecretary’s chief of staff, is none other than the daughter of Herb and Kathy Eckhouse, the amazing Iowa couple behind La Quercia (aka some of the best prosciutto made in the United States).

La Quercia (pronounced La Kwair-cha with a slight roll of the r if you can do it) means the Oak in Italian. The Oak is a traditional symbol of the province of Parma (where the Eckhouses lived) and, through its acorns, has been associated with the history of prosciutto for 500 years. Coincidentally, it is also the state tree of Iowa!

In the Portland-metro area Provvista carries La Quercia products. We’re going to take Sara to Navarre while she’s in town. Navarre along with Ned Ludd (a FOODHUB member), Lincoln, Wildwood, D.O.C., Clarklewis, Paley’s Place, Nostrana and Toro Bravo, among others, carry this highly regarded prosciutto.  Not too many listings for Washington. I’m curious where Washington restaurants are getting their prosciutto. In Oregon I know we’re looking forward to the day when Tails & Trotters (a FOODHUB member) gets their USDA-inspected curing facility up and running. Maybe Tails & Trotters should send a little note to Sara…  just saying, I’m really loving our new USDA.

Posted in Misc Morsels | No Comments »

Food Services of America wants you on FoodHub

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 by Deborah

Food Services of America, the nation’s 6th largest broadline foodservice distributor serving customers in 15 western and mid-western states from nine regional distribution centers, has generously offered to rebate $20 off the $100 FoodHub membership fee to any Oregon based FSA restaurant or school that registers for FoodHub before January 31, 2010.

Wow! Thank you FSA!

“FoodHub is a natural extension of our services as a broadline food distributor and our commitment to local agriculture and food manufacturing,” said Jim Reynolds, vice president of marketing for Food Services of America. “FSA combs the area for the best our local farms and food manufactures have to offer. FoodHub helps us and the entire foodservice industry by strengthening the connections between committed growers and food buyers.”

Just check the FSA box when you fill our your profile and we’ll get you the $20 rebate tout suite. Then you can write a thank you note to Food Services of America. We’ve already got ours started!

Posted in Misc Morsels | No Comments »

USDA Deputy Undersecretary Ann Wright will cut the FoodHub ribbon

Monday, January 4th, 2010 by Deborah

We launched FoodHub on October 30, 2009 and made sure there was a bright orange BETA banner in the right hand corner. We knew we’d built a tool that would be immediately useful. We also knew that the second we showed it to the universe of NW food buyers and sellers we’d get tons of great feedback about how to make it even better.

THANK YOU universe of food buyers and sellers.

Your feedback and support and encouragement and enthusiasm have been tremendous. Thanks to you we’ve made changes large and small over the last few months that ultimately make FoodHub a more useful tool for you.

Soon we’re going to graduate from the “beta” phase because FoodHub is here to stay and continual improvement, rather than a one time thing, is part of our DNA.

Graduation day for us will be February 1, 2010. To mark the occasion USDA Deputy Undersecretary Ann Wright is traveling from Washington, DC to help us cut the FoodHub ribbon. Or, er, smash a proverbial champagne bottle against a computer screen. We’re thrilled!

USDA recently launched a new initiative called Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food and FoodHub is perfectly aligned with the goals of this USDA program. We’re planning a whirlwind tour of Oregon for Deputy Undersecretary Wright; stay tuned for more details.

Posted in Misc Morsels | No Comments »

December 2009 Member News

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 by Deborah
Dear FoodHub member,

First we want to say THANK YOU for joining us in our first weeks. As you know, we launched on November 1st. Since that time, we’ve gone from 44 members to well over 100 and the membership roster grows daily.

Who is on FoodHub?

So far, there has been an even split between buyers and sellers. On the buyer side, we’ve got restaurants, retail grocers, specialty retailers, hospitals, corporate campuses, schools and even a food cart or two. On the seller side, we have farmers, ranchers, and fishermen all represented within FoodHub. The membership is also geographically diverse. Our primary service area is Oregon and Washington, but already we have representation from California, Idaho and Alaska. Montana and its big skies can’t be too far behind. Click browse to see who has joined recently.

Winter is a Great Time to Update Your Profile

It’s tempting to put marketing and business development aside while you take a much deserved break. But the food market never stops! Please take the time now to make sure your profile is up-to-date and accurately conveys information about all the products you buy or sell.

We’re here to help you make your profile as attractive and complete as possible.

  • Can’t find the time to update your profile with all the products you buy or sell? Send your product list via email to meet@food-hub.org or via fax to 503.222.1517 and we’ll do the work.
  • Not sure how to position your business or don’t know what to say? Give us a call at 503.467.0816 and we’ll work with you to make your profile as engaging as possible.
  • Are we missing products or certain varieties that you buy or sell? Let us know; it takes us mere moments to enter new products into FoodHub.

FoodHub is YOUR Tool – Please Help Us Reach 200 Members by December 31st

Please remember that FoodHub is as great and useful as we make it together. Who is missing from our community? Please encourage three friends or current customers to join FoodHub by sending them an email and suggesting they check out http://food-hub.org. Note that we’re offering one week free trial memberships and a 20% discount to anyone who joins between now and the end of the year. Note too that Food Services of America is offering an additional 20% discount to any FSA restaurant and school food service accounts in Oregon, so now is the time to encourage FSA customers to join.

Forward Ho

You’ve sent in great feedback during our Beta period, and we’re at work executing many of the changes you’ve suggested. We’ll roll out new features and improvements throughout January 2010. The Beta tag will go away on February 1st and we’ll smash a proverbial champagne bottle against a computer screen as we formally launch FoodHub with USDA Deputy Under Secretary Ann Wright who is traveling all the way from Washington DC for an official FoodHub launch ceremony. Watch for details early in the New Year.

In the meantime, please help us grow by referring a friend, send us feedback or your product lists and have a wonderful, delicious holiday.

All best,

Team FoodHub

Posted in Misc Morsels | No Comments »

Break a leg Genoa!

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 by Deborah

Doors (re)open at Genoa tonight and we wanted to let FoodHub member David Anderson know we’re thinking about him. Also, for food producers, here’s a great new/old Portland restaurant that is likely in the midst of building up its supplier base.

As the Oregonian says, for pioneering Portland diners, no happy restaurant memory can match those special occasion dinners at Genoa, where from 1971 to 2008, an elaborate Northern Italian meal was an evening-long production.

Opened by visionary (now deceased) local restaurateur Michael Vidor, Genoa was a culinary cloister — inward looking, quiet and intimate — and a proving ground for some of Portland’s finest chefs. In later years, Genoa became a shadow of itself, vanquished by a bright new restaurant generation, more casual tastes and the weight of its history.

A year after the curtain fell, Genoa looks to rise again. Read more here.

Posted in Member Spotlight | No Comments »

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