Page 13
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Ore. farmers, ranchers strive to offer
healthy foods to those most in need
Oregon’s farmers and
ranchers are looking at
ways to enhance their abil-
ity to provide good, whole-
some food to those in
need.
From the processing of
cattle that otherwise would
not be used to the harvest
of undersized potatoes, the
agriculture industry is ex-
ploring strategies that ulti-
mately may direct more
food into the Oregon Food
Bank.
“Oregon’s agriculture
and food processing sec-
tors are currently among
the most significant con-
tributors to the food bank
and are anxious to aug-
ment the amount of food
that makes its way to Ore-
gon’s hungry,” said Katy
Coba, director of the Ore-
gon Department of Agri-
culture.
Working with repre-
sentatives of the Oregon
Food Bank, Oregon’s agri-
cultural commodity com-
missions and the gover-
nor’s office, ODA has de-
veloped some specific ini-
tiatives that could be
online by the end of the
year.
Two specific initia-
tives have emerged as in-
triguing possibilities that
could greatly held stock
food bank shelves.
The first creates a mo-
bile slaughter capacity for
Oregon livestock. The cat-
tle industry in the state is
interested in donating to
the food bank, but process-
ing cattle into meat has
been a challenge. Instead
of bringing the cattle to a
slaughter facility, perhaps
it would work better to
bring the slaughter facility
to the cattle.
“Under this concept,
livestock producers in Ore-
gon would be able to proc-
ess their livestock into
meat products in remote
locations and do so under
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
inspection and regula-
tions,” said Dalton Hobbs,
administrator of ODA’s
Agricultural Development
and Marketing Division.
USDA has licensed its
first mobile slaughter facil-
ity as a pilot project of
sorts in Washington state,
which took advantage of a
federal grant to land the
mobile unit. For Oregon,
where permanent slaughter
facilities are few and far
between, the concept of
developing a slaughter
plant on wheels is very
enticing.
“We would be looking
at a multiple use facility,”
says Hobbs. “Part of the
time, a mobile slaughter
facility could be used to
process livestock for the
commercial side of the
equation. At other times it
could be utilized for do-
nated livestock products.”
Processing in remote
locations — where much
of Oregon’s livestock is
located anyway—has an
appeal to potential donors.
Downer cattle or other
non-ambulatory livestock
are examples of a potential
food product that might
otherwise go to waste. A
mobile slaughter facility
can change that.
“Some of the animals
that could conceivably be
processed by this mobile
facilty are often going to a
rendering plant or, even
worse, a landfill,” says
Hobbs. “These are animals
that otherwise could pro-
vide safe and wholesome
food that is USDA-
inspected.”
It might take well into
2004 to turn the initiative
into reality, but ODA is
working with the Oregon
beef industry and the gov-
ernor’s office to identify
the estimated $250,000
needed to bring a mobile
slaughter facility online.
The second initiative
being pursued involves the
harvest of undersized pota-
toes.
Implementing different
harvest and sorting tech-
niques — perhaps as sim-
ple as putting the digging
machines on a different
setting—could make some
of these potatoes available
for packing into food
boxes. ODA is continuing
its work with the Oregon
Potato Commission to im-
plement a pilot program as
early as this fall to harvest
the smaller spuds.
ODA and the com-
modity commissions are
taking advantage of their
good working relationships
with both producers and
processors in Oregon to
help link the Oregon Food
Bank staff with those who
can provide new and addi-
tional donations.
In 2003, an estimated
720,000 Oregonians ate
meals from emergency
food boxes at least once,
much of which originated
from Oregon agriculture.
No HUD funds to go to JOCO for 2003
U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.) and Gordon
Smith (R-Ore.) announced
that Oregon will receive
$10.8 million in grants
from the U.S. Dept. of
Housing and Urban Devel-
opment (HUD). The grants
are being awarded through
HUD’s Fiscal Year 2003
Capital Fund Program,
which awards grants to
public housing agencies
for housing modernization
and improvements.
$232,321 was allo-
cated to the Housing Au-
thority of Jackson County.
$125,703 was allocated to
Klamath Housing Author-
ity. The Coos-Curry Hous-
ing Authority will receive
$107,083 and Douglas
County will receive
$271,208.
No funds will be allo-
cated to Josephine County.
Trivia Time
by Walter Branch
1. How many con-
secutive years was Ed
Sullivan on television?
2. What Elvis Presley
hit did Willie Nelson record
with Leon Russell in
1979?
3. Who did fragile Dr.
Don Blake become by
pounding his walking stick
on the ground?
4. What Welsh poet
authored "Deaths and En-
trances"?
5. What completed the
ad line: "Promise her any-
thing..."?
6. What composer's
record did Winchester
smash in the last episode
of "M*A*S*H"?
7. What president
raised the minimum wage
25-cents to $1.25?
Trivia Time Answers:
1. 23; 2. "Heartbreak
Hotel"; 3. Thor; 4. Dylan
Thomas; 5. "...but give her
Arpege"; 6. Mozart's; 7.
John F. Kennedy.
(c) 2003 DBR Media, Inc.
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