‘Upon my arrival Chef J.C. assigned me tasks for the evening: making potato salad using the goose eggs that a local farmer had dropped off earlier in the day, sautéing the beets and beet greens and then plating the vegetarian entrée, making vegetable stock to use as cooking liquid, and plating the rhubarb dessert.’

Sunbow Farm workshops are designed to provide both farmers and gardeners with the skills to produce healthful food on healthy soils, cultivating  independence in the face of difficult economic conditions and the transition from fossil fuel dependance.
Harry MacCormack started Sunbow Farm in Corvallis in 1972, while also teaching at Oregon State University. Forty years later he has retired from OSU but still farms full-time, growing a variety of vegetables, fruits and grains.
To market his produce in the early years, MacCormack co-founded the Corvallis Saturday Market and the Peoples Wednesday …

As any Oregon fish-lover knows, fresh local Chinook salmon and albacore are available for a few months at most in spring and summer. But a new company based near Newport is now distributing Oregon-caught Chinook and albacore in a convenient, high-quality frozen format that preserves the fish perfectly and extends the season throughout the year.
“Frozen fish is freshest” is the motto of Moonshine Park Fish Company. Owner Wendy Yorkshire buys hook-and-line-caught Chinook and albacore directly from Newport-based fishing vessels, paying fishermen a bonus for premium handling. The fish is expertly …

As farmers’ market season comes to a close, not only does access to local food become much more of a challenge, but small farmers also lose out on an important source of revenue. In Lincoln County, a dedicated group of community members decided to take matters into their own hands to resolve these dilemmas. Saturday, November 19th will mark the opening of the Lincoln County Fairgrounds Farmers’ Market. Lincoln County customers can now buy food direct from farmers from November through March.
It all began as a result of the Lincoln …

For anyone who pays attention to where our food comes from—and many more do nowadays—the future of agriculture is worrisome.
Many farms have grown to enormous size and are operated by expensive technology rather than human hands. Individual pieces of equipment to work such acreage cost more than a college education. How can young farmers afford that? How do they learn how to farm if they don’t grow up on one?
Then there’s the head-scratching Farm Bill that few people, if any (including those who write it), understand. Farmers growing some …