Strategic Plan
Vision
Mission
Needs Statement
Case Statement – Our Niche
Programs
Organizational Capacity Building
We will increase the resilience of the Ten Rivers foodshed in the face of climate and economic uncertainty by locally growing, processing and distributing at least 30% of the food consumed in Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties.
The Ten Rivers Food Web supports, educates and organizes farmers, processors, buyers, retailers and individuals to increase and diversify local food acreage, promote local food processing and expand access to affordable and nutritious foods.
When we use the term “food web” we are indexing the multiple networks that exist between producers, processors, and consumers of food. We attempt to knit together social relations through food, creating a fabric that is so dense that no one falls through. The primary way we work is through education. We inform ourselves and others about how the food system works and discuss how it could be improved for the well-being of all. Our focus is on the local level where we can be most effective. If one stands on the top of Marys Peak, one can almost see the ten rivers that feed our region stretching from the Cascades to the Pacific; an area capable of sustaining itself and others. While our web necessarily stretches beyond this area, our focus is on increasing the density of food relations with those closest to us. We are also a convening organization. We facilitate projects that increase the amount of food grown, processed and distributed locally.
Changes in the global economy have recently made export-based agriculture a more risky proposition. Tight credit and slumping home building and commercial real estate development have cut into markets for grass seed and nursery plants – two of the highest value agricultural sectors in the Willamette Valley. Many local farmers are turning to traditional food crops such as soft white wheat, which has a large export market but volatile international prices. Farms such as Stalford Seed Farms and Sunbow Farm are leading the way to local and regional markets – particularly for beans, edible seeds, and organic grains. The fertile soils of the Willamette Valley once supported a diversity of food crops, including grains and storage beans. Our role is to support the emerging growers’ network, as they rediscover old crops and harvest methods and develop new means to tap into local markets.
Truck farmers selling fruits and vegetables primarily through farmers’ markets are also feeling the stresses of the changing economy. Food stamp usage at Oregon Farmers’ markets has increased dramatically, ranging in the Portland area from 95% in Lents to 1,000% in Oregon City. One of the challenges for Oregon’s market farms is to stretch the sales season, and one approach is to grow more storage crops or to produce value-added products. These approaches require food storage – pest-free silos, cold storage – and small-batch processing plants for canning, juicing, baking and freeze-drying products.
The average age of farmers in Linn, Lane and Benton counties is 55 years – mirroring the pattern in the rest of the state. Intergenerational farm transitions and farm sales are significant issues facing farm families and agricultural policy makers alike. Land use laws and county-level regulations currently shape and constrain our food systems, and may need to change to adapt to new crops, more localized storage and processing and local markets. Educated and organized eaters will facilitate the transition.
We cannot achieve our vision of an ecologically and economically resilient food system on our own. Some aspects of our vision will be targeted primarily by other organizations. There are several strong groups working on land use planning and agricultural issues that we can inform regarding food system relocalization goals. Many excellent organizations are hard at work to increase food availability to low-income people on a non-emergency and emergency basis. Our role is to foster an informed and educated network of farmers, processors, institutional buyers, restaurateurs and individuals to accelerate the process of local reinvestment in our three-county food system. We will accomplish our mission through targeted programs to:
- educate and organize individual, community and institutional food buyers and promote grower-direct purchasing relationships;
- foster creative new investment in local food processing and distribution capacity, as well as land access for new and non-traditional farmers;
- continue to promote food literacy through periodic food summits and regular lectures, discussions, website and listserve;
- foster programs that increase access to fresh, local food by low-income people, and
- connect farmer-innovators with one another and with other sources of expertise, and support their on-farm research.
We are most similar to the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition (WFFC), our partner in Lane County to the south. Each group covers an equivalent geographic area, ranging from the Western Cascades to the Pacific coast. The growing conditions and communities are different in each area, but we have common interests in relocalizing our food system. We expect Willamette Food and Farms to be a major partner in our community organizing work around markets for locally grown beans and grains. They are also likely to be a partner in the development of food processing and storage capacity, as more of that infrastructure still exists in Lane County than in our three-county region. Like Portland-based Ecotrust, we are engaged in educating consumers about the advantages of local food. However, our focus is on our more rural three county area.
TRFW is organized into 3 program areas: Food Literacy, Growers’ Networks and Community Linkages.
Food Literacy aims to advance common understanding about the social and economic implications of local food and farming issues. The priority is to maintain dependable communications tools and systems. The second objective is to continue stimulating community involvement.
Objective #1: Maintain dependable communications tools and systems
- upgrade the website and to translate the mission and vision into multiple languages
- explore the best use of the listserv and possibly launch an electronic newsletter
- Hold 4-6 events per year, including Food Literacy presentations and cook-offs.
- developing an updated trifold display and tabling brochures in English and Spanish
- develop a local food directory/database that includes functionality for food banks, schools, processors and distributors
Objective #2: Stimulate Community Involvement
- Hold 4 to 6 food-related activities a year. The Fall 2009 Food Series at the Corvallis Public Library will focus on Barriers to Accessing and Sharing Local Foods. Future topics might include community gardens, farm to cafeteria or growers’ issues.
- We will respond to 2-3 requests from communities beyond Corvallis for community food discussions that encourage local actions. This might correspond with the community food assessments that we plan in Alsea and Brownsville.
Growers’ Networks promotes skills, tools and information which support an infrastructure for expanding food production. The priority is to promote the growing of beans, grains and edible seed crops for the local market. We also want to document the agricultural history in the Ten Rivers region and will continue to work with OSU students to collect this information. The dearth of value-added food processing and storage is a barrier to increasing local farm sales to local markets and we will remain active in seeking solutions to this problem. We recognize that generational farm transition is a challenge and we are open to working with Friends of Family Farmers to facilitate the development of young farmers.
Objective #1: Promote the growing of beans, grains and edible seed crops for the local market
- Continue farmer to farmer mentoring, field tours and product demand assessments
- Explore the development, adaptation of small scale equipment to ease manual labor on smaller plots.
Objective #2: Document local agricultural history
- Have local students collect oral histories with growers
- Conduct archival research
- Develop large scale project and publication plan
Objective #3: Increase local capacity for value-added food processing, storage and distribution
- Support emerging efforts to create community kitchens for use by micro-entrepreneurs in Alsea, Brownsville and Sweet Home
- Partner with Willamette Housing Authority, Corvallis Benton Chamber Coalition, Linn Benton Community College, OSU Extension, and Oregon Natural Step to hold food entrepreneurship intensive workshop
Community Linkages organizes collaborative community systems for food security and food safety at all economic levels. We will continue to connect people and organizations across the foodweb to work together on action plans to create healthy communities. We are particularly interested in increasing and supporting food-related skills in rural areas and among low-income residents and will develop a plan to increase the amount of local grown and processed foods in our emergency food system.
Objective #1: Continue to connect people and organizations across the foodweb to work together to improve the resilience of the local food system.
- Put on a regional food summit in collaboration with our partner organizations.
- Continue to facilitate neighborhood meetings, giving examples of cooperative models that can increase the amount of locally grown and distributed food.
Objective #2: Work in rural communities to support emerging food systems leaders
- Conduct community food assessments in Alsea and Brownsville in partnership with Oregon Food Bank
- Find funding for staff/Americorps volunteer
- Investigate the revitalization of the Oregon Grange
- Support farm to school and community garden efforts
Objective #3: Increase the amount of locally grown and processed food in the emergency food system
- Support the fruit and nut tree registry to ensure better use of excess produce
- Continue fiscal sponsorship of the OSU food pantry
- Pilot project with OSU’s Organic Growers’ Club and Horticulture Department to grow additional food for the emergency food system
- Empower low-income volunteers by teaching food growing, processing and distribution skills
Organizational Capacity Building
Our first priority is to build infrastructure, resources and capacity for TRFW to achieve its vision in accordance with its mission. First, we will amend our bylaws to accept members and staff. We want to increase volunteer sense of ownership and explore having regional chapters of TRFW. We will work to build a funding plan that includes individual donors, private foundations and public sources. We aim to build a list of potential large and small donors and to bring in one capacity grant and 5 programmatic grants over the next 2 years. A strong funding stream will allow us to hire an executive director and community organizer who will facilitate improved internal and external communications. We will begin by applying for a VISTA member and equipping an office.
