HAPPENING
Guide to Local Arts, Entertainment & Events
Tasty artichokes are grown at River’s Turn Farm near Coburg
freed
Silk acces
sories by
Betsy Conlin
are at Opus
5 Gallery
See page 2
Vol. VI No. 19
Serving Eugene, Springfield & Lane County Since 1982
May 21-27, 1987
1
Saving the
Small Farmer
7 tree Groups Serve Local Farm Economy
ALL PHOTOS BY ELISABETH LYMAI
John Sundquist of River's Turn Farm grows only organically. He works with both Organically Grown, Inc., and ARABLE.
by Jim Stiak
From sea to shining sea, the small farm is in
trouble. Modern agriculture is no longer a mat
ter of growing crops and getting them to market—
it’s government subsidies that keep most farmers in
business today. Silos bulge from stored grain while
banks foreclose on farms in records numbers.
Thirty-four square miles of U.S. topsoil are washed
away daily, the underground aquifers are running
dry, and there are fertilizers in the tap water.
Enter a trio of local groups to buck the trend.
Organically Grown, Inc. (OGI), is a marketing
co-op that co-ordinates the distribution of fresh
produce; ARABLE, the Association for Regional
Agriculture Building the Local Economy, provides
loans to farmers unable to obtain conventional
bank financing; and the Agricultural and Com
munity Trust (ACT) is working to acquire land for
farmers who couldn’t otherwise afford their own
place.
o
GI has become almost a million dollar
business since its humble beginnings in 1978.
Originally formed to purchase seeds and fertilizers
in bulk, the members soon saw a need for some
thing more. "There was a lot of trouble with peo
pie competing in the local marketplace,” says OGI
manager Joe Gabriel. Three farmers would have
zucchini and beat their heads against the wall try*
ing to sell it. The public would get low price
vegetables but the growers would go out of
business.'
With the help of a VISTA grant, the group or
ganized into a marketing co-op, distributing
their produce to Portland, California, and Seattle.
As the markets gew, so did the need for co-ordina
tion, which led to annual planning meetings. "Peo
pie now grow pretty much what we say we’re able
to sell," says Gabriel. They’re specializing more so
they can pinpoint their crops and do a better job.”
Today the produce from OGI’s 13 local member
farms is shipped up and down the West Coast,
to Hawaii, Montana, and Maryland. Twice a week
it makes the trip to Portland in the OGI fleet—a
refrigerated bobtail truck purchased after the
Starflower truckers went out of business last year.
Since a large Westside warehouse was rented two
years ago, the staff has expanded from two to nine
workers. Over the past year some $900,000 worth
of lettuce, carrots, celery, cabbage, and tomatoes
has passed through their green thumbs. “Every
thing you can imagine is grown,” says Gabriel, “ex
cept tropical fruits.” Recently, OGI has also begun
coordinating some 25 farms in California, which
provide produce during the months Oregon farms
are uncharted swamps.
o
ne of OGI’s current goals is to move beyond
the natural food store marketplace, into the
mainstream of commercial supermarkets. To help
lure these bastions of pesticide-laced fruits and
vegetables, the co-op has become something other
than strictly organic. “We’ve started selling a little
non-organic produce," says Gabriel.
Continued on page 12.
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‘*Ta
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River’s Turn Farm, Coburg, Oregon
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