14
S moke S ignals
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
'I’m thrilled with what I see'
FOOD continued
from front page
Community Team that has been
meeting for the last couple of years
in an effort to educate people about
how to access fresh, healthy foods
grown locally.
At a well-attended Communi-
ty Conversation meeting held in
Grand Ronde on Jan. 28, it became
clear that there was confusion over
food resources and benefits, and
that an event like mfkhmfk Mania
might be the perfect way to clear
some of that up.
FACT member Lexi Stickel of
Marion-Polk Food Share said the
Mania event is a direct response to
information gathered at the conver-
sation held in January.
Marion-Polk Food Share collects
and distributes nutritional foods
to food pantries, meal sites, foster
homes, low-income day care cen-
ters, shelters and senior housing
sites. As many as 44,000 people
receive emergency food monthly
through the Food Share Partner
Network. Marion-Polk Food Share
is part of the Oregon Food Bank
Network.
“We’re trying to increase access
and knowledge about food resourc-
es in the community and so that
is what this event is focusing on,”
said Stickel, who is the Community
Food Systems coordinator for Mar-
ion-Polk Food Share. “In terms of
what we hope to accomplish, the
first one is just to build community
around food in Grand Ronde, so
we’re bringing people together for
a community meal and a fun day.”
“We have been gathering infor-
mation and we have done a survey,”
said Ambrose. “People didn’t realize
what was out there and how they
could access that information so we
decided we would put on this event.
We decided we would pool all the
food resources in our area that we
could to educate people.”
Mercier said the issue of educat-
ing people about food resources and
options is an ongoing one.
“We figured if we increased the
magnitude of the event and got
more representatives from the
other food-related services that
that would help raise awareness
of food issues and how they are
important to the community,” said
Mercier. “We live in a golden age
of food and food options right now,
and I think people are aware of it
but I would like to see more people
aware of it. Options are out there
and strangely enough people don’t
know about them.”
Mercier might be right about
people needing to learn more about
food resources and options, but it
has become increasingly clear that
many people know about the Tribe’s
iskam mfkhmfk haws Food Bank
on Grand Ronde Road.
According to Ambrose, the Food
Bank has served 7,627 households
since the beginning of 2016 and
25,618 individuals including adults
and children. Ambrose said the
Food Bank is serving an average
of 98 households a week and that
those numbers represent an in-
crease in households and individu-
als served during 2015.
Mercier said he had no idea the
numbers of those served at the
iskam mfkhmfk haws was so high.
“It’s like a measuring stick of
success,” Mercier said. “I would say
that we are pretty successful then if
we are reaching that many people.”
Ambrose said there is no resource
catalog for local produce so they
hope to have participation from
several local farmers at the event.
“We are hoping to have some of
our local farmers come and set up
a farmer’s market at our event and
educate people on where they usu-
ally are and when they are avail-
able so people can find them,” said
Ambrose. “We will have a master
gardener there to answer questions
and the Timber and Fish and Wild-
life committees will be there to talk
about how to sign up for hunting
tags and safety classes.”
Stickel said information will
be shared with people attending
the event who are interested in
accessing fresh produce from local
farmers.
“We’re going to provide a sheet of
paper that talks about the different
farms in the area and where you
can buy food at the different farm
stands,” said Stickel. “Hopefully,
people can leave the event with
some idea of where they can access
fresh fruits and vegetables in their
community.”
Stickel said the ongoing rela-
tionship between Marion-Polk
Food Share and the Grand Ronde
Tribe is an important one and that
the community input they receive
through the FACT group does de-
termine what they do with their
events.
“I’m thrilled with what I see,”
said Stickel. “Every time we have
an event in Grand Ronde we have
more people coming and engaging
in these food conversations and it
really helps us decide as a FACT
where we want to go next. It has
really been driving what we plan.”
Ambrose and Mercier each said
they hope the community comes
out to the event so people can learn
about their food options.
“We want to gather the commu-
nity up to celebrate what we have
here and learn how we can make it
better,” said Ambrose. 
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