RSS feed for the OCA Oregon forum http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:49:18 -0800 5 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2926 http://www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/?p=688

Public Notice: ODA to Renew state CAFO permits for 85 CAFOs

From the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Natural Resources Division:

The ODA is proposing to renew the Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit 301-2009 coverage for 89 CAFOs located in Area VI (Baker, Harney, Malheur, Union, Wallowa Counties). The CAFO NPDES General Permit #01-2009 regulates the manure, litter, and process waste water generated by CAFOs to ensure that CAFO activities do not harm water quality. To see a list of the the facilities proposed permit actions online, visit: http://oregon.gov/ODA/NRD/area6.shtml

If you have been experiencing pollution problems with a facility in your community, this is your opportunity to weigh in as to whether the permit should be renewed and under what terms. For more information, contact the FoFF office at 503. 759 - 3276.
]]> Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:56:36 -0700 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2926 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2833 http://www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/?p=670

July 14th in Portland: The story of the Canby chickens + Documentary

Join Friends of Family Farmers on July 14th for our next InFARMation (and Beer!) at Roots Organic Brewing’s Event Space in Portland. We’ll be showing part of the documentary “Shall We Gather at the River” and hear first hand from a rural resident of Canby, OR, about his family’s fight against encroaching factory farms. More details about our InFARMations (and Beers!) can be found here.]]> Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:31:43 -0700 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2833 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2752
Danielle outside the FoFF Office

We at Friends of Family Farmers strongly believe that everyone has the right to clean and healthy food that is grown in a socially responsible way. That’s why FoFF has decided to lead by example and grow fresh, local food outside of our office for the Molalla Food Bank. We are hoping that other businesses will follow our example and help to provide for our friends and neighbors, particularly since so many folks have recently fallen on hard times.
Last year a local food bank at the Molalla Service Center served 646 people in October and 834 people in November. The job layoffs and pay cuts that are taking place all over the nation are causing an increasing amount of people to be unable to provide food for themselves and their families.

The Oregon Food Bank has some quick facts on their website that you should know. Nearly 1.2-million Oregonians try to survive with household incomes below 200% of Federal Poverty Lines ($42,400 for a family of four). 69% of households worry, at least sometimes, about how they will get their next meal. 27% of households with children report cutting or reducing the size of a child’s meals. Of those, 30% do this almost every month. 36% of the people in Oregon who receive food from the Food Bank are children.

Feel free to stop by our office in Molalla and check out our little garden outside. We have tomato plants, sweet corn, romaine lettuce, green peppers, and zucchini plants that we will be harvesting in a few months. This is just our little way of saying that we care about our community, the environment and the health of the people living here.

]]> Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:17:43 -0700 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2752 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2745 Volunteer Opportunity In Corvallis OREGON


Every Tuesday all season (and Sundays through June 14), 4-7pm. Gather at the Starker Arts Garden for Education (SAGE, formerly the Youth Garden Project) to help plant, weed, harvest, and other fun tasks. Tools provided. The garden is located at SW 45th and Country Club Drive. All are welcome - prepare to get dirty! SAGE is a volunteer-driven education garden that provides 90% of the fresh produce available at the South Corvallis Food Bank.]]> Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:11:40 -0700 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2745 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2689
League of Women Farmers shares agricultural knowledge
Network gathers each month for farm tours or discussion

By Kira Rubenthaler - Ashland Daily Tidings - March 07, 2009

When an invasive weed was spreading across Susan and Ken Muller’s farm in Talent, they couldn’t identify the plant or figure out how to eradicate it.

So Susan Muller took some photos to a meeting of the League of Women Farmers, and another farmer recognized the weed and give them advice on how to tame it.

That’s what the League is about — providing an outlet for women farmers in Jackson and Josephine counties to share information and get to know each other.

“It’s basically a loose network of women farmers who get together on a monthly basis,” said group coordinator Melissa Matthewson, who works for the Oregon State University Extension Small Farms program in Central Point.

Matthewson was inspired to start the group after hearing about women’s agricultural networks in the eastern United States. She held the first meeting in October 2007, and “it’s just taken off from there,” she said.

She now has an e-mail list of about 75 women who receive meeting notifications, although not all of them attend every gathering. Matthewson also plans to set up a listserv for the group, so farmers can more easily ask questions and share advice.

The group varies between touring farms in the region and getting together for discussions and movies — and the meetings usually include a potluck with plenty of farm-fresh food.

In December the group learned about niche marketing of farm products. In January they held a seed exchange, and in February they watched the documentary “King Corn.”

During the March meeting on Tuesday, they’ll tour a farm in the Applegate Valley.

For Muller, the farm tours are the most powerful, she said, since she can see the farming in action and apply what she learns to Rogue Valley Brambles, where she and her husband raise chickens for meat and eggs, grow raspberries and apples and are starting to farm turkeys.

“There’s just a lot to learn from how people do things,” said Muller, an environmental education graduate student at Southern Oregon University.

While touring Matthewson’s Barking Moon Farm in the Applegate Valley as part of a League of Women Farmers meeting, Muller picked up some tips for building chicken houses and preventing poultry predation. Through the group, she also found another farmer with whom to share bulk orders of chicken feed.

She started attending the meetings a few months after she and her husband began farming and found that “being there among other people who were working outside and growing things was invaluable,” she said.

In addition to learning different farming techniques, the group’s members also have a chance to network and socialize, Matthewson said.

“All these women are working on their farms. We’re all isolated on our farms,” she said.

Several of the members have joined together to bulk order supplies, she said.

And, with farming being male-dominated, the group gives women a chance to learn skills typically viewed as men’s tasks, such as carpentry, tractor work and irrigation, Matthewson said.

The average Oregon farmer is a 57-year-old man, Matthewson said, but some of the group’s members farm by themselves, and the members cut across the generations.

“This area is becoming an increasingly popular area for young people to come and start farms,” she said.

Megan Fehrman is one of those people.

She recently moved to Talent from the northern Willamette Valley and is hoping to start a farm with her brother.

Although she isn’t growing anything yet, Fehrman finds the group valuable both for her own knowledge and for her job.

As a grassroots coordinator with agriculture advocacy organization Friends of Family Farmers, it helps to understand the issues farmers face, she said.

“It’s always really good perspective,” Fehrman said, and the group has helped her meet people. “It’s been really nice for me, as a new member of this community, to be welcomed with open arms.”

And, although many of the group’s farmers sell the same crops at the farmers markets, everyone helps each other, Matthewson said.

“Even though there’s competition, it’s kind of like a coop-etition,” she said.

To join the League of Women Farmers or learn more about the group, call Melissa Matthewson at 776-7371.
]]> Sun, 03 May 2009 07:01:20 -0700 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2689 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2303
http://www.nwrage.com/index.php?name=Secti...=36&page=1#


-----------------------------

Event on Nov 16, 2008:

Not-So-Secret Shopper Tour

EVER WONDER WHAT'S REALLY IN THE FOOD YOU BUY?
HOW MUCH OF OUR FOOD IS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED?
Join NW RAGE as we visit the downtown Safeway store, Sunday Nov. 16th to answer
these questions. We will go mock shopping, take a tour of the store and discuss
genetically engineered foods and agriculture.
Prizes will be given to those who win our 'Find Four' competition.
Come learn how to play!
During this exciting and informative event you will:

1. learn to identify genetically engineered ingredients on the package
2. learn the 5 most common GE crops
3. learn about health and environmental concerns of GE foods
4. explore safe, organic and non-ge alternatives
Where: First Unitarian Church, Room B101
When: TWO TOURS! Meet once at 11am and once at 1pm
Note: We will meet in the church for a short talk and then walk to Safeway (SW 10th
and Jefferson st.). Each tour will last about one hour.
ALL ARE WELCOME. BRING YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
For more information please contact: jennifer@nwrage.org or anna@nwrage.org or call
our office at 503.239.6841]]> Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:06:44 -0800 http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2303