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Wednesday, July 8, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 37 Institutions such as hospitals can help local mid-size farms By eric Mortenson Capital Press PORTLAND (AP) — At Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) recently, the lunch offerings included sandwiches made with organic chicken breast — locally sourced — on focac- cia bread, baked locally and delivered daily. Plus salad made from local greens. Not a pre-packaged, mass-produced item in sight. This is hospital food? Providing minimally pro- cessed, nutritious food at a hospital, where the clientele includes patients, doctors and nurses, medical students and visitors, seems like a solid idea. And OHSU, the teach- ing hospital that employs 13,700 people and has one of Oregon’s biggest economic footprints, was an early adopter of the practice. The greater impact, how- ever, could be to what a recent study referred to as “Ag of the Middle.” That is, the farmers, ranchers and processors who are too big to make a living selling solely at farmers’ mar- kets and CSAs, but too small to compete at the commodity level. The study by Ecotrust, a Portland non-profit, identified institutions as a prime market opportunity for middle-sized producers. Ecotrust estimated Oregon’s hospitals, schools, prisons, assisted-living facili- ties and other institutions serve 40 million meals a year. Institutional food service departments have immense buying power and purchase large quantities, the report pointed out. Even a relatively small tweak toward buying more Oregon grown and pro- cessed products would have a “significant ripple effect across the domestic food sys- tem,” the Ecotrust report said. It paid off for a pair of Northeast Oregon cattle ranches. Carman Ranch in Wallowa, in partnership with McClaren Ranch, sells about 1,000 pounds of beef and bones a week to OHSU. The ranches take about five cows a week to a processor in Brownsville, 90 miles south of Portland, and sell the hos- pital 500 pounds of ground beef, 200 pounds of rounds, 100 pounds of steaks and 200 pounds of bones for soup and broth. Cory Carman, a fourth generation cattle rancher, said the relationship has been “phenomenal.” OHSU accounts for 20 to 25 percent of the ranch’s annual sales and is by far the ranch’s big- gest account, she said. The business would be “much smaller” without OHSU’s consistent demand for quality and quantity. She said producers pursu- ing such relationships must understand they require patience, collaboration and flexibility on both ends. “The biggest lesson is hav- ing that anchor customer,” Carman said. Carman said OHSU approached her out of the blue when it was looking for grass- fed beef to serve the thou- sands who are at “Pill Hill,” as the campus overlooking Portland is known, every day. Fernando Divina, OHSU’s executive chef, said the com- plex counts about 10,000 food transactions a day at nine out- lets within the facility, includ- ing cafe and snack kiosk sales and 1,200 meals delivered to patients’ rooms. OHSU’s annual budget for food and beverages is about $5 mil- lion, and the hospital made a conscious decision to walk its health talk by seeking out local producers, preferably organic. “We want to buy every- thing regionally, if possible,” Divina said. “That’s our goal.” It isn’t a simple process. Scott Cochrane, OHSU’s food purchasing agent, said large institutions such as schools often have tight bud- gets. It’s often cheaper for them to buy the volume they need from large distributors. To purchase in bulk locally at a competitive price point, institutions may have to ask multiple growers to aggregate their production. “I know they all want to, but there’s a point where they can’t cut their own throat,” Cochrane said. “There’s a lot of willing participants on the outside of the circle who can’t get in.” Eecole Copen, OHSU’s sustainable foods program coordinator, acknowledged it takes more work to buy food from smaller producers. “You have to commit to being OK with dealing with multiple vendors,” she said. “The whole system is based on willingness.” She and others refer to this type of purchasing as a larger version of Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA. It’s ISA in this case: Institutional Supported Agriculture. Copen said the payoff is a strengthened regional food system. “We need more farmers,” she said. “That’s about food security, growing the local economy, jobs, income. OHSU’s first foray into the local food scene was estab- lishing a farmers’ market on campus. It’s now in its ninth year and serves as an incuba- tor for growers who eventu- ally reach the point where they can sell wholesale to OHSU’s food services department. The idea isn’t just a Portland foodie thing. Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston, about 180 miles east of Portland, buys veg- etables from Finley’s Fresh Produce, berries from another local grower, and pork and chicken from suppliers across the border in Washington. All of the beef purchased by the hospital is raised within 50 miles. Nancy Gummer, Good Shepherd’s nutrition services and diabetes education direc- tor, said she began buying locally about 10 years ago. Gummer said she wanted to quit buying meat from ani- mals treated with antibiotics or raised in confined feeding operations. It took 10 years to find chicken she felt comfort- able feeding hospital patients, staff, and visitors. In addition to buying local, Gummer avoids purchasing products that contain artifi- cial colors, flavors or other additives. Her food budget is about $500,000 annually. “We feel what you eat has the biggest impact on your health,” she said. “Food that’s really healthy for humans is going to be grown in healthier soil, and handled and pro- cessed in a way that has less impact on the environment.” Increased institutional buying of locally grown and processed food can reshape the food system, said Amanda Oborne, vice president of food and farms for Ecotrust and the lead author of the “Ag of the Middle” report. Producer and buyer have to make some adjustments, however, Oborne said. Institutions have to be flexible enough to partner with farmers and “take what they’ve got when they’ve got it” and pay promptly, she said. They also should increase their frozen storage space so they can buy in bulk when things are in season and use them over time. Farmers “have to be able to think like a bigger opera- tion,” she said. They need proper insurance coverage and must comply with food- safety regulations. We keep you up-to-date every day! Become a fan to receive notifications of breaking news, events and more! Facebook.com/NuggetNews
