Ecotrust Food&Farms Program

OVERVIEW:
By promoting the seasonal products of local farmers and striving to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture on healthy watersheds, Ecotrust is fostering a regional food system in the Pacific Northwest.

KEY OBJECTIVES:
Our key objective is to improve public understanding of local agriculture and increase the market share of locally grown food.

Why? In an era where ten cents of every food dollar eventually ends up in the pockets of Altria (a.k.a. the Philip Morris Companies) and an average dinner travels 1,300 miles to reach our kitchen table, the people of this bountiful region are losing the ability to make real choices about where their food comes from.

Indeed, the food industry is consolidating at an alarming rate. In many food sectors, the top five companies control 80 percent of the market. This leaves our local farmers, ranchers and fishermen to compete with other family food producers worldwide. For example, Oregon raspberry farmers are pitted against Chilean raspberry farmers, forcing both to consider compromises on quality, environmental safety and wages paid to workers. We are fast ceding local control of our food system to global processors, manufacturers, distributors and retailers — all of whom are beholden to their shareholders first.

Ecotrust’s Food & Farms program is focused on creating a vibrant, healthy, values-based regional food economy where access, quality, resource stewardship and local control are the norm, not the exception. We do this through several projects:

The Farmer-Chef Connection and Fisherman-Chef Connection
Imagine two lines: farmers, ranchers and fishermen down one side, food buyers down the other, animated conversations taking place among all the pairs. “Ding.” It’s time to move on to the next conversation. This kind of “speed dating” is a common occurrence at Ecotrust’s popular Connections conferences, where we help create robust regional markets one handshake at a time.

Guide to Local & Seasonal Products
Well-used, dog-eared copies of the Guide – used to both buy and sell product – have become an indispensable part of doing business for producers and buyers alike. Look for the next edition in June 2006.

Autumn Graze
What would you do if handed a box of just picked red peppers? Fresh from the sea tuna? Autumn Graze pairs Portland's finest chefs with the region's best farmers, ranchers and fishermen on the evening of the autumnal equinox. Please join us this year on Friday, September 22, 2006.

Eat Local Challenge
Grapes from Chile, tomatoes from Israel, lamb from New Zealand; one look around the supermarket confirms that we live in a global food marketplace. But one delicious bite of a locally grown apple creates a ripple effect of positive impacts on our local community. Take the challenge; eat local. Watch for campaign details in late summer 2006.

Farm to School
In partnership with Abernethy Elementary and Portland Public Schools Nutrition Services we’re “thinking outside the school lunch box,” helping to ensure that results from Portland, Oregon’s first Farm to School experiment are methodically tracked, analyzed, and shared. Results from our work will inform larger scale planning and strategy discussions within Portland Public Schools.

Foods at Risk in Salmon Nation
Look for a list of foods at-risk in Salmon Nation, coming in summer 2006. Perhaps counter intuitive, but the best way to conserve them is going to be to eat them!

Vivid Picture
Tasked with creating a change agenda for a sustainable food system in the state of California, Ecotrust is developing a comprehensive vision that provides energy and direction, has more winners than losers, reinforces sustainability values, and appeals to a large number of people and organizations that are vested in the outcome.