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May 29, 2015 ‘AG OF THE MIDDLE’ CapitalPress.com 5 Portland food project assists producers who are too big for direct-marketing but too small for commodity distributors By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Mark Anderson, owner of Champoeg Farms about 35 miles south of Portland, deliv- ers eggs at 22 to 30 high-end grocery stores and bakeries in the city each week. In Port- land traffic, that’s no picnic. He savors the idea of a cen- tralized, affordable delivery hub that would take on that job. “That would be a game changer,” Anderson said. “Drive up, drop everything off, turn around for home.” An exhaustive new study of Oregon’s “Ag of the Mid- dle” says market infrastruc- ture gaps hinder Anderson and legions of other mid-sized meat, greens and grain pro- ducers. Instead of spending time expanding their businesses, medium-size producers are obligated to pick, sort, size and pack orders, attach labels and drive from store to store Photos by Eric Mortenson/Capital Press in urban areas making deliv- eries. Many neighborhood Mark Anderson of Champoeg Farms gathers eggs in this 2014 photo. He delivers weekly to up to 30 grocery stores and bakeries in Portland, more than 30 miles away. Like stores and cafes are besieged many mid-size Oregon producers, Anderson takes on multiple roles to get his product to market. by clusters of small deliv- ery vehicles, some of them amounting to no more than a sector from cow-calf raising to finished processing, and cooler in a car trunk. “Small producers are increase its value. playing a giant game of Te- The study said Oregon tris” as they cobble together produces only 2 percent of networks of storage, pro- the pork it consumes, and cessing and distribution op- could raise many more hogs. tions, said Amanda Oborne, Although Oregon lacks the who co-wrote the “Ag of the corn and soybeans fed Mid- Middle” study for Ecotrust, a west hogs, a “Northwest Portland nonprofit. Blend” of pig feed could be The resulting inefficien- developed using such things cies drive up the price of as crops grown in rotation fresh, sustainably produced, with wheat, and spent grain healthy food, especially for from breweries. what the study describes as Ecotrust’s ideas win sup- low-income and other “vul- port from progressive power- Mark Anderson of Champoeg Farms lugs eggs to the back of a nerable” people. Portland is houses such as New Seasons Grand Central Bakery outlet in Southest Portland in this 2014 Delivery rider Elijah St.Clair loads a B-Line electrically-assist- ed cargo trike before heading out on his route from Portland’s one of America’s foremost Market, Grand Central Bak- photo, one of up to 30 deliveries he makes a week. A report says industrial east side. The company delivers produce to a network of “foodie” cities, but many ery, Whole Foods, Oregon many Oregon producers can’t expand production because they’re restaruants, juice bars and other businesses. people can’t afford to eat the Tilth and Oregon Food Bank. busy sorting, packing and delivering. high-quality food flowing “They do their homework, into the city. Anderson’s eggs, and I respect that,” said Chris from pasture-raised hens, cost Tjersland, private brands de- nearly $6 a dozen. velopment manager for New Alder, Maple, Cottonwood Food must be “differentiat- Seasons. Saw Logs, Standing Timber ed” to help justify additional Ecotrust itself is coordi- cost, the study said. Differ- nating development of a $23 entiation can be achieved million food hub, called The www.cascadehardwood.com by product attributes such Redd Campus, on Portland’s as certification as organic or inner eastside industrial area, non-GMO, geography, busi- where many small brewers, ness structure, family story bakers and produce vendors and production and distributors methods. wheel and deal. “Being local The two- is not enough,” block Redd Oborne said. Campus is Ecotrust on Southeast wants to de- Salmon Street velop a robust and takes its regional food name from economy. Ob- the egg nests orne, the or- salmon scoop g a n i z a t i o n ’s Amanda Oborne of Ecotrust out in stream- vice president stands in The Redd, a former beds. It will of food and ironworks building that will have 80,000 farms, said the become a regional food hub square feet of effort is about in Portland. Oborne says space available “the food sys- Oregon’s medium-sized food for what the tem, not food producers are hampered Ecotrust study by processing, storage and scene.” calls “last mile The study, distribution gaps. logistics” of paid for by the journey Meyer Memorial Trust, calls from farm to table. That in- for major infrastructure in- cludes the aggregation, ware- vestment to “catalyze” the housing, processing and dis- work of medium-sized pro- tribution of meat, grains and ducers whose operations fall greens. between commodity growers The project, part of which who sell by the ton and tiny will open late this year, is growers who sell only to financed by Ecotrust, char- CSAs and at farmers’ markets. itable foundations, private The study cites several investors, tax credits and specific investment opportu- grants. nities: In a touch of what Oborne Oregon prisons, hospitals affectionately acknowledg- and schools serve about 40 es is testament to the quirks million meals a year, but lag of “Portlandia,” one of The well behind restaurants and Redd’s core tenants will be retailers in buying local food. B-Line, a company that de- Oborne said such facilities livers produce and other serve vulnerable populations, goods with a fleet of electri- but can’t afford the cost of cally assisted cargo trikes. dealing with multiple “it- The cargo trikes are lim- ty-bitty” producers. ited in range and speed, but “The carrots have to come they carry up to 700 pounds in peeled, the onions have to of goods and are nimble be diced,” she said. “They enough to weave through can’t afford the labor to do narrow streets and park close that on site, and they need a to businesses. Riders typical- bazillion pounds.” ly make deliveries to restau- Facilities to aggregate and rants — coffee, kale, potatoes minimally process food for and strawberries on a recent institutions would fill a gap, day — and pick up from she said. other businesses on the way Almost all the cattle raised back. In bike-friendly Port- in Oregon are shipped off for land, B-Line gets a thumbs processing out of state, the up. Ecotrust study said. A US- “I can’t remember the last DA-certified slaughter fa- time I got flipped off,” said cility in Southeast Oregon’s delivery rider Bill Hewitt, a Harney Basin and Northeast former truck driver. Oregon’s Wallowa County “It certainly works in Port- would convert a significant land,” said Franklin Jones, 22-7/#4N portion of the state’s beef B-Line’s founder and CEO. ROP-18-5-1/#24 BUYING 6” and UP