Buyer Testimonials & Connections



What Buyers are saying about FoodHub

It was like magic.

- Laura Ohm, Grand Central Bakery (about using FoodHub to find local rhubarb) Read their connection story

When I joined FoodHub it made my life so much easier. All of the growers are there in one place.

- Rebecca Andersson, Know Thy Food Read their connection story

FoodHub has been a great way for us to find local sources. We want to keep these smaller farmers in business, and the only way to do that is if we're all buying from them.

- Susan Baker, Columbia County Natural Read their connection story

With the connections we find on FoodHub we can extend and refine our product line, keep our quality and production scale high with a small staff. FoodHub is going to set a standard for farmers and chefs connecting year-round.

- Jennifer Brooks, Sassafras Catering Read their connection story

I've had a lot of success posting an ad saying I'm looking for a product and ultimately making a connection.

- Melissa Williams, Adam's Sustainable Table Read their connection story

FoodHub is great because we can connect so quickly to a lot of farmers and they can connect really quickly to us.

- Susan Barker, Beaverton School District

I think it's great for the farmer. They can list everything that they have and you can see when it's available. If I want to see what's new that day I just open up FoodHub and look at the Marketplace. If I want to browse I can see who's within 10 miles and who is within 100 miles.

- Lisa Vincent, Beaverton School District Read their connection story

Buyer Connection Stories

Grand Central Baking ↔ Big B Farms

With bakeries in Seattle and Portland, Grand Central Baking is committed to working with regional producers across the Northwest. The bakery has nurtured relationships with regional vendors for years, but there are always holes to fill. This spring, Grand Central Baking used the FoodHub Marketplace to find ingredients for its legendary pies. The post read, "We are in search of local rhubarb for pie season. We prefer once a week deliveries to our North Portland Bakery. We need 250–350 pounds per week while in season (April–July)." FoodHub member Big B Farms, who had never worked with Grand Central Baking before, responded to the post and struck a deal for an entire field of rhubarb. "It was like magic," said Grand Central Bakery's Laura Ohm.

Know Thy Food ↔ Our Family Farm

A year ago Derek Brandow, along with his wife, started pasture-raising poultry on five acres in Eugene, OR, and called it Our Family Farm. While scanning FoodHub Brandow happened upon Know Thy Food, a buying club out of Portland. Read Full Story

Columbia County Natural ↔ Val's Veggies

Columbia County Natural is a non-profit food buying club started in May of 2010 in Scappoose, Oregon. Susan Baker and Monique Tindall started the buying club to provide more options for local residents, who have minimal access to regionally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Using FoodHub they started sourcing winter squash and pumpkins from Val's Veggies. Read Full Story

Lents Food Buying Club ↔ A&B Farms

A&B Farms posted on the FoodHub Marketplace about the local strawberries they would soon have available. The Lents Food Buying Club responded. After bringing samples to the main buyer, A&B Farms sealed a deal for weekly delivery of 42 flats. Read Full Story

Sassafras Catering ↔ Wobbly Cart Farm

After placing a "Wanted" post in the FoodHub Marketplace, Jennifer Brooks of Sassafras Catering connected with Joseph Gabiou of Wobbly Cart Farm, a grower in Rochester, Washington. Now, she's hoping that Joseph will not only be able to grow sunchokes for her famous relish, but also a list of 12 other essential ingredients to support Sassafras' line of nine canned goods.Read Full Story

The Black Rabbit Restaurant ↔ Worden Hill Farm

Wolfgang Ortloff and his wife Susan run 12 1/2-acre Worden Hill Farm in the Dundee Hills, where they raise Berkshire and Duroc pigs. John Zenger of the Black Rabbit Restaurant, part of McMenamins Edgefield Hotel, found the Ortloff's unique peach-raised pork in the FoodHub Marketplace. Read Full Story

Nostrana ↔ Provenance Farms

Chef Kelly Meyers of Nostrana was looking for eggs, what she ended up with were stewing hens. While looking online at FoodHub she met farmers Rachel and Keith Prickett who run Provenance Farm in Philomath, Oregon, where they raise pastured lamb, turkeys, and chickens. Read Full Story

Adam's Sustainable Table and Café Maroc ↔ Hummingbird Wholesale

Adam's Sustainable Table and Café Maroc, two restaurants in downtown Eugene, discovered organic foods distributor Hummingbird Wholesale when it began posting to the FoodHub Marketplace. "We were looking for a dried Oregon cranberry," she relays. "As it turns out, Hummingbird Wholesale dries its own Oregon cranberries with a touch of wild Oregon blackberry honey. We love them." Read Full Story

Gervais School District ↔ Tipping Tree Farm

The Nutrition Services Director for the Gervais School District near Salem, Oregon, found out that her regular farmer would not be able to supply the lettuce she needed for the Harvest of the Month she had planned. Instead of panicking, she used FoodHub to send a quick message to several farms nearby that listed lettuce among their products and also posted her request to the FoodHub Marketplace section. By the end of that day, she had found her lettuce! Ivan Maluski from Tipping Tree Farm in Colton (only 6 miles down the road from Gervais schools) got in touch and delivered the lettuce himself the next week. Read Full Story

David Douglas School District ↔ Treasure from Heaven Farm

In their first years, Treasure from Heaven Farm supplied CSA members and the La Grande Farmers' Market. Upon joining FoodHub, they discovered that Portland-area food buyers were requesting many of the products that Treasure from Heaven grows and raises. The farm now sell fruits to the David Douglas and Beaverton School Districts—"We feel that it is a privilege to have our produce served to school children," she says—and whole pigs and farm fresh eggs to Portland fine dining restaurants. Read Full Story

Portland Public Schools ↔ Cal Farms

Every month during the school year, Portland Public Schools features one regionally grown or produced item on their menu so that students can learn more about and taste regional agriculture. At 20,000 meals a day, the Portland school district is one of the largest in the state. The district is often challenged to find producers who can meet its volume needs. Read Full Story

Beaverton School District ↔ Springbank Farm

As the farm-to-school movement grew, Beaverton Public Schools Nutrition Services Director Susan Barker became excited about the possibilities for her school. "What we're looking for is a good product that's fresh, that we can afford," she says. "If we can get something that's local we are all for that. We want to support our local Oregon farmers." Luckily, through FoodHub, she found Springbank Farm to do just that. Watch the video

Wilderness Poets ↔ Honor Earth Farms

John Bannerman of Wilderness Poets was able to spread the good word about his products with the Marketplace and find a new source for hazelnuts for his line of artisan nut butters: Linda Perrine of Honor Earth Farms, a 35 acre organic hazelnut farm in Eugene, Oregon. Read Full Story

The Pretty Pickle Company ↔ Gales Meadow Farm

Margaret Shell is the talent behind The Pretty Pickle Company of Salem, Oregon. Originally, Margaret started The Pretty Pickle Company as a way to use the excess vegetables from her family's abundant garden. Today, she purchases most of her vegetables from Oregon family farms. This year, she discovered Rene and Anne Berblinger of Gales Meadow Farm, who had an exceptional garlic harvest. Margaret and Anne are arranging to have Margaret pickle some of Gales Meadow's garlic to sell at their respective farmers' market stands. Read Full Story

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