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Local food producers are quick to realize having a strong local currency helps further their mission

gorge grown logo Gorge Grown Food Network (GGFN) has a mission so closely related to the GLCC’s that it’s only natural they would waste little time in becoming a member. Aiming to promote the connection between economy, ecology and the community, GGFN has also wasted no time making a mark in the Gorge region.

In less than a year of existence, the organization can boast about consistently attracting 400-500 people to its weekly farmers’ markets in Hood River, creating a visible, successful outlet for local food producers to sell their wares.

GGFN is a network of farmers and consumers who share in the recognition that strengthening local communities can begin with the very food we put on our tables. Several of the group’s members are CSA (community-supported agriculture) farms. CSAs directly partner farmers and consumers to foster social and economical responsibility in food production. The risks and rewards are spread between farmers and members with the intent of creating a sense of “appropriate land stewardship amongst the entire community.”

In community-supported agriculture, a member buys a “share” in a farm, paying a certain amount at the beginning of a growing season with the promise of fresh produce when harvest comes. This gives the farmers literal seed money to plant the year’s crops. CSA members share in the risk of a poor crop, but know more about where their food comes from and are often encouraged to participate in the food production. When the crops are harvested, members receive a box every week containing their share of the bounty.

Volunteer Ann Kramer, GGFN’s usual public presenter (and GLCC member), is passionate about the relationships between economy and community. A counselor by trade, she pioneered a successful system helping people prioritize their lives using puzzle pieces as an aid to visualizing a holistic existence. The method itself promotes relationship-building, and in a recent interview Kramer seems to practice what she preaches. Her fervor is infectious.

Kramer isn’t the only one to see the natural connection between community-supported agriculture and local currency. GGFN and GLCC are both projects of the Columbia Gorge Earth Center. Ann isn’t even the only one with dual memberships: Bruce Bolme, Munk Bergin, Delona and Martin Campos-Davis, Humble Roots Farm & Nursery, Callie Jordan, Michael Pilarski, Linda Short and Jaimes Valdez all share in that honor. There’s no telling how many others are among the shoppers at the farmers’ markets in Hood River, The Dalles, Cascade Locks and Goldendale. The GGFN aims in coming seasons to be represented at a market somewhere in the Gorge every day of the week..

Kristin Walrod of Hood River’s Dancing Moon Farm enjoys being part of the Gorge Grown Food Network. She comments, “Farm memberships are a wonderful way for consumers to buy fresh, flavorful food, straight from the field, and for farmers to receive a livable wage for their work. It’s a dynamic combination of the consumer being directly connected to their food source and for the farmer to be responsive and in community with their customers. We are growing together!”

In Dancing Moon’s first year of community farming they are providing 22 families with share boxes each week. The contents of the boxes vary throughout the season according to what is ready for harvest. According to their web site, early in the season (late June, early July), a box will probably be smaller. It might include: one cucumber, two summer squash, one sweet pepper, two heads of lettuce, one head of bok choi, one bunch of green onions, one bunch cilantro and one pint of strawberries.

At midseason (August), you could find broccoli, cauliflower, sweet corn, cucumbers, green beans, summer squash, sweet peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and basil. Late in the season, your box might contain leeks, potatoes, eggplant, pie pumpkin, summer squash, sweet pepper, winter squash, salad mix, kale, onions and parsley.

In addition to the farm-fresh produce, one can also find seeds and plants, eggs, fish, poultry and meat through the GGFN. Kramer comments that Mountain Shadow Natural Beef has been one of the most successful participants thus far, though the consensus is that the Hood River farmers’ market has been entirely worth the vendors’ while.

Characterizing both the steps in her puzzle system and being a consumer as “exercises in choice making,” Kramer believes that each person’s behavior affects the community of life. In our fast-paced rat race world, we want things to be easily accomplished, but what is easiest is often less healthful to our bodies, communities and environment. Ever the optimist, Ann sees things changing, noting that people generally have good intentions but are simply uninformed. Knowing what better choices are available is often all the incentive needed for improvement.

Kramer emphasizes the relationship building fostered by CSAs, but loves the other benefits she receives as well. Ann’s enthusiasm for both CSAs and local currency are hard to match. She’s convinced the $400 she pays for a share in the CSA wouldn’t come close to covering the cost in a store of the boxes she receives for 14 weeks during harvest season, and it supports the local economy. The variety of produce also challenges her to learn new recipes and expand her taste experience.

Calling it a “treasure chest,” Kramer quickly lists some of the things she received in a recent share box and most notable are the varieties of tomato, easily half a dozen. How often do you see that in a grocery store? Are they ever as juicy and flavorful as one grown locally? Eating seasonal food grown locally also reinforces one’s connection to the land, an important quality of life aspect. Kramer recognizes that people move to the Gorge for quality of life, and the “fabulous land” makes it easy to connect to our food and how it is grown. New people, including families, she notes, are bringing a new energy to the area and building these relationships.

Not only does GGFN support local food production, one of their main goals is to educate the public in organic farming, healthy eating and local economy, beginning with our children. Realizing that teaching good habits at a young age improves the chances of the lessons persisting in the long term, GGFN makes a conscious effort to present learning experiences that engage children in food production. Each week the Hood River farmers’ market provides activities designed for children. Several times this season, Pachamama sponsored a Kids’ Area program entitled Fun with Food. In one session, attending children learned about markets and food in storytime. A more creative but wind-challenged July session explored texture and made art using vegetables as stamps. The Hood River market also includes the middle school students known as “Becker’s Kids.”

Michael Becker instructs Hood River Middle School children about the math and science of agricultural development. For about two years his classes have worked on a native plant arboretum, using plants acquired as a grant from the Hood River Soil and Water Conservation District. They built trails and the trees and shrubs planted are establishing themselves well.

This year, plans are underway to develop a larger garden space to produce food for local farmers’ markets. Hosting the Hood River farmers’ market is a logical complement to Becker’s school program. He notes that “the connection between what we were doing at school and the goals of Gorge Grown link together so well that it seemed a natural fit to have the market at school.”

In addition to their plans to sell produce next season, Becker’s classes are able to offer demonstrations to the public that coordinate with their lessons. It gives the children an outlet to showcase their knowledge and hard work. This summer, students designed and built a cob oven. Cob, Becker explains, is a traditional building method utilizing sand, clay and straw. It supplemented their ancient culture studies AND baked delicious chocolate chip cookies!

Why is local food production important? It supports small family farms who are your own neighbors, helping to stabilize a community economically. Small farms are also more likely to practice environmental stewardship, using little or no artificial chemical additives, crop rotation and integrated pest management to produce healthier and often organic food.

Dancing Moon Farm is not certified as such (the cost of certification is often prohibitive to small farmers), but they use biodynamic organic methods to grow their produce and flowers. Munk Bergin’s crops are heirloom varieties, grown from breeds nearly lost to monoculture farming. This seems to be typical of local community farms.

Food grown locally also travels a much shorter distance from the farm to your plate. Kramer says that people are often shocked to learn that the average meal travels about 1500 miles to arrive in your kitchen. box: Did you know? With the price of gas now consistently over $3 a gallon, it will not be long before the increased cost of transportation finds its way to store shelves. Food also begins to lose nutrients from the moment of harvest, so the less time it spends in transport the healthier it is to eat.

Ann Kramer was involved with CSAs for ten years in Tampa, Fla, before moving to the Gorge last year. After the Columbia Gorge Earth Center’s (CGEC) presentation in August 2005 of Sierra Club’s, The True Cost of Food, she asked in the discussion afterwards if there were any CSAs in the area. Few knew anything about them, but there seemed to be some interest, so about ten people met at a later date to talk further.

By October, the group grew to around 20 people, and when 2006 rolled around, they realized the interest in CSA farms had spread through the entire Gorge region. People were attending from The Dalles to Stevenson, Parkdale to Underwood. They decided on a name and mission statement, and with early encouragement from the CGEC, Gorge Grown Food Network became the second group under its non-profit umbrella.

As the Gorge Grown Food Network’s first season draws to a close, everyone involved seems really enthused about the group’s future prospects. A demand for locally-produced food is being well established, and GGFN’s commitment to economic and community building should help continue to improve the quality of life throughout the Gorge. Their market manager accepts a portion of her pay in RiverHOURS, as well as several farmers/vendors, helping distribute local currency more widely. The GLCC is excited to include them as part of the economic infrastructure being built with RiverHOURS.

Gorge Grown joins GLCC