In December, 2020, SCALE completed an eight month long assessment and planning process with local food system leaders in a five-county region of southwestern Oregon. This very ecologically diverse region included the coastal counties of Coos and Curry as well as the neighboring inland counties of Douglas, Josephine and Jackson. A substantial portion of the region was impacted, either directly or indirectly, by extreme wildfires during the late summer.
The final report, “Assessing the Viability of a Food Hub and Alternatives for Southwest Oregon”, included a Production Assessment, a Market and Buyers Assessment, a Summary of Findings, Assets and Gaps, and a detailed set of Short and Medium Term Recommendations. The two primary clients for this project, NeighborWorks Umpqua and Blue Zones Project Umpqua, assembled a local team to help SCALE develop contacts and leads, to share prior studies and reports, to help plan a site visit and to work through problems and challenges throughout the eight-month period. The study included surveys and interviews with over 100 farmers, food system businesses and advocates, and many others.
While we managed one site visit during a low point of the pandemic, most of the work had to be conducted via phone, email and zoom. After it was determined that a standard food hub was not feasible for the region, the final phase of the project shifted focus to develop recommendations and plans for viable alternatives that would significantly contribute to the region’s food system, expand markets and opportunities for farmers, and build on a number of emerging innovations in the region’s food system, including farm to school procurement hubs, rapidly expanding e-stores and platforms, and a region-wide initiative to integrate and build upon existing infrastructure and delivery routes. A Regional Implementation Team is leading this next phase of the project.