Building Food Communities – Local Food and Buying Groups/Clubs

Tyler Jones on Afton Field Farm

I visited Tyler Jones of Afton Field Farm near Corvallis (website……..blog). We talked about food buying clubs/groups and it brought me back to some previous ideas I had around starting one such club back in Manitoba with members of the Harvest Moon Local Food Initiative. Check out this video of Tyler talking about his clubs/groups.

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Farmers and ranchers who direct market need to be jills and jacks of all trades. Grower, shipper, seller, distributor, marketer, fixer, troubleshooter, processor, etc. Undoubtedly, many of the folks I talk to are up to the task and balance these tasks with impressive skill and patience. Still…..there is never enough time in a day. (more…)

New Video: Reclaiming Agriculture for Family Farms in Oregon

Check out the newest F2F video short created with and for the Friends of Family Farmers in Oregon.
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I’ve been in Oregon for almost nine months now and have learned a great deal about direct farm marketing and local food in this part of the continent. Along the way, I have found myself in the company of some good folks here at an organization called the friends of family farmers.
Specifically, I have connected with Michael Moss and Megan Fehrman who are responsible for facilitating the Agriculture Reclamation Act (ARA). The purpose of the ARA is to organize and mobilize family farmers in Oregon to have a greater say in the future of agricultural policy in the state of Oregon. Powerful agribusinesses (more…)

The Story of Food – Reflecting on Food Politics

YouTube Preview Image USC Canada has released a new video short describing “the story of food”. The video largely outlines the decline of biodiversity in mainstream/industrial agro-food production systems. It touches on the downside of genetically modified crops, the plight of the family farm, climate change and hunger/obesity. The short video ends by encouraging consumers to ‘buy local, organic and fair trade’ wherever they can, to support small scale organics and to think about where  your food comes from and how it is produced. This succinct video outlines some important issues with an attractive delivery (more…)