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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 6, 2015
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institutions may have to ask
multiple growers to aggregate
their production.
PORTLAND — At Ore-
“I know they all want to,
gon Health & Science Uni- but there’s a point where they
versity recently, the lunch of- can’t cut their own throat,”
ferings included sandwiches Cochrane said. “There’s a lot
made with organic chicken of willing participants on the
breast — locally sourced — outside of the circle who can’t
on focaccia bread, baked lo- get in.”
cally and delivered daily. Plus
Eecole Copen, OHSU’s
salad made from local greens. sustainable foods program
Not a prepackaged, mass-pro- coordinator, acknowledged it
duced item in sight.
takes more work to buy food
This is hospital food?
from smaller producers.
Providing minimally pro-
“You have to commit to
cessed, nutritious food at a being OK with dealing with
hospital, where the clientele multiple vendors,” she said.
includes patients, doctors and “The whole system is based
nurses, medical students and on willingness.”
visitors, seems like a solid
She and others refer to this
idea. And OHSU, the teaching type of purchasing as a larg-
hospital that employs 13,700 er version of CSA. It’s ISA in
people and has one of Ore- this case: Institutional Sup-
gon’s biggest economic foot- ported Agriculture.
prints, was an early adopter of
Copen said the payoff is
the practice.
a strengthened regional food
The greater impact, how- system.
ever, could be to what a recent
“We need more farmers,”
study referred to as “Ag of the she said. “That’s about food
Middle.” That is, the farmers, security, growing the local
ranchers and processors who economy, jobs, income.”
are too big to make a living
2+68¶V¿UVWIRUD\LQWRWKH
selling solely at farmers’ mar- local food scene was estab-
kets and CSAs (Community lishing a farmers’ market on
Supported Agriculture), but campus. It’s now in its ninth
too small to compete at the year and serves as an incuba-
commodity level.
tor for growers who eventual-
The study by Ecotrust, a ly reach the point where they
3RUWODQG QRQSUR¿W LGHQWL¿HG can sell wholesale to OHSU’s
institutions as a prime market food services department.
opportunity for middle-sized
The idea isn’t just a Port-
producers.
land foodie thing. Good Shep-
Ecotrust estimated Ore- herd Medical Center in Herm-
gon’s hospitals, schools, pris- iston, about 180 miles east
ons, assisted living facilities of Portland, buys vegetables
and other institutions serve 40 from Finley’s Fresh Produce,
million meals a year.
berries from another local
Institutional food service grower, and pork and chicken
departments have immense from suppliers across the bor-
buying power and purchase der in Washington. All of the
large quantities, the report beef purchased by the hospital
pointed out. Even a relatively is raised within 50 miles.
small tweak toward buying
Nancy Gummer, Good
more Oregon grown and pro- Shepherd’s nutrition services
cessed products would have and diabetes education direc-
D ³VLJQL¿FDQW ULSSOH HIIHFW tor, said she began buying lo-
across the domestic food sys- cally about 10 years ago.
tem,” the Ecotrust report said.
Gummer said she wanted
to quit buying meat from an-
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imals treated with antibiotics
It paid off for a pair of RU UDLVHG LQ FRQ¿QHG IHHGLQJ
Northeast Oregon cattle ranch- operations. It took 10 years to
es. Carman Ranch in Wallowa, ¿QGFKLFNHQVKHIHOWFRPIRUW-
in partnership with McClaren able feeding hospital patients,
Ranch, sells about 1,000 pounds staff and visitors.
of beef and bones a week to
In addition to buying local,
OHSU. The ranches take about Gummer avoids purchasing
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in Brownsville, 90 miles south FLDO FRORUV ÀDYRUV RU RWKHU
of Portland, and sell the hospital additives. Her food budget is
500 pounds of ground beef, 200 about $500,000 annually.
pounds of rounds, 100 pounds
“We feel what you eat has
of steaks and 200 pounds of the biggest impact on your
bones for soup and broth.
health,” she said. “Food that’s
Cory Carman, a fourth-gen- really healthy for humans is
eration cattle rancher, said the going to be grown in health-
relationship has been “phenom- ier soil, and handled and pro-
enal.” OHSU accounts for 20 to cessed in a way that has less
25 percent of the ranch’s annual impact on the environment.”
sales and is by far the ranch’s
biggest account, she said. The
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business would be “much small-
Increased
institutional
er” without OHSU’s consistent buying of locally grown and
demand for quality and quantity. processed food can reshape
She said producers pursu- the food system, said Aman-
ing such relationships must un- da Oborne, vice president of
derstand they require patience, food and farms for Ecotrust
FROODERUDWLRQ DQG ÀH[LELOLW\ RQ and the lead author of the “Ag
both ends.
of the Middle” report.
“The biggest lesson is having
Producer and buyer have
that anchor customer,” Carman to make some adjustments,
said.
however, Oborne said.
Carman said OHSU ap-
Institutions have to be
proached her out of the blue ÀH[LEOH HQRXJK WR SDUWQHU
when it was looking for grass- with farmers and “take what
fed beef to serve the thousands they’ve got when they’ve got
who are at “Pill Hill,” as the it” and pay promptly, she said.
campus overlooking Portland is
They also should increase
known, every day.
their frozen storage space so
they can buy in bulk when
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things are in season and use
Fernando Divina, OHSU’s them over time.
H[HFXWLYHFKHIVDLGWKHFRP-
Farmers “have to be able to
SOH[FRXQWVDERXWIRRG think like a bigger operation,”
transactions a day at nine out- she said. They need proper
lets within the facility, includ- insurance coverage and must
ing cafe and snack kiosk sales comply with food safety reg-
and 1,200 meals delivered to ulations.
patients’ rooms. OHSU’s an-
“Those are barriers for in-
nual budget for food and bev- stitutional buyers,” Oborne
erages is about $5 million, and said. “That liability related
the hospital made a conscious stuff has to be in order.”
decision to walk its health talk
Institutions can’t afford
by seeking out local produc- to have employees standing
ers, preferably organic.
around chopping, slicing and
“We want to buy every- dicing vegetables, she added,
thing regionally, if possible,” and producers should look for
Divina said. “That’s our goal.” creative ways to provide some
It isn’t a simple process.
of that minimal processing.
Scott Cochrane, OHSU’s
7R¿OOELJLQVWLWXWLRQDORU-
food purchasing agent, said ders, farmers can coordinate
large institutions such as crop planning and combine
schools often have tight bud- production with neighbors,
gets. It’s often cheaper for she said.
them to buy the volume they
“This is a partnership and
need from large distributors. we problem solve together,”
To purchase in bulk locally she said. “That’s the mindset
at a competitive price point, to bring to it.”
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
(GZDUGV Managing two artistic sides
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building her portfolio and
talking with local galleries that
through several concepts be-
GHDOLQ¿QHDUWDQGLOOXVWUDWLRQ
fore Edwards and the sandcas-
she said.
tle committee decided on the
The work that goes into her
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pieces is, for her, “very person-
A scrapped concept that Ed-
al,” she said. “It’s kind of like
wards liked depicted the mer-
channeling your emotions. It’s
maid holding the sandcastle
your outlet.”
like a snow globe.
The work of policing her
“It makes a lot more sense
community is also personal,
to go with the one that they
particularly when tackling cas-
chose,” she said. “The sand-
es of family violence, which
castle needs to be a lot more
she called the “hard stuff”:
prominent than the mermaid.”
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domestic violence.
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Courtesy of Devon Edwards
Family violences cases —
The Sandcastle poster isn’t This year’s Sandcastle
which will become her area of
WKH¿UVWWLPH(GZDUGVKDVVHHQ Contest poster created
H[SHUWLVH ZKHQ VKH WUDQVIHUV
her work publicly displayed in by Devon Edwards was
to King County — embody
originally rendered on
Cannon Beach.
the reason she got into law
In 2013, she designed the illustration board in ink,
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slick decals, showing Hay- gel pens, gouache paints,
“wanting to help people,” she
stack Rock’s gray silhouette, artist markers and wa-
said.
on the police department’s ve- tercolors. She worked in
Asked if confronting these
hicles. In a couple of months, collaboration with the
issues regularly ever gets eas-
WKH RI¿FHUV ZLOO EH VSRUWLQJ Chamber of Commerce’s
ier, emotionally speaking, Ed-
new badges whose centerpiece Sandcastle Contest Com-
wards said, “No.”
will no longer feature the Or- mittee, but the mermaid
“You get better at han-
egon state seal but Haystack idea was all hers.
dling it, at being able to
Rock against a setting sun —
process it a lot better, but it
another Edward’s creation.
happen?’” she said, chuckling.
doesn’t always get easier,
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People are often surprised, “I had dual career aspirations:
especially when kids are in-
Art is still a hobby for volved,” she said. “If it gets
Edwards said, to learn that the I’ve always wanted to be a
DQDO\WLFDO DSWLWXGH RI DQ RI¿- SROLFHRI¿FHUDQG,¶YHDOZD\V Edwards, who cites the art too easy, if you just brush it
nouveau movement from the off, then you need some help
cer and the aesthetic sensitivity wanted to be an artist.”
RIDQDUWLVWFRXOGH[LVWZLWKLQ
Throughout high school, late-19th and early 20th-cen- yourself. If it doesn’t affect
the same person.
Edwards gave serious thought turies and retro pin-up art as you in this job, then there’s a
“They kind of look at me to how she could pursue both KHUJUHDWHVWDUWLVWLFLQÀXHQFHV problem.”
odd and go, ‘How did that vocations. “Everyone said, However, she plans to start
— Erick Bengel
‘Well, just be a sketch artist.’
I’m like, ‘That’s so cliché!
That’s not what I want to do,’”
she said.
Edwards earned a degree
in interdisciplinary arts from
Seattle University in 2010,
was hired by the police depart-
ment in 2011 and graduated
from the Oregon Department
of Public Safety Standards and
Training in 2012. She was the
RI¿FHUZKRRQRQHRIKHUVH-
curity checks in January 2014,
spotted Earnest Lee Dean, the
robber of the Stephanie Inn,
driving away from the crime
scene.
After July, Edwards will
join King County Sheriff’s
2I¿FH DQ DJHQF\ EDVHG LQ
Seattle near her hometown of
Gig Harbor.
Meanwhile, she is two
classes away from completing
her master of arts degree, with
a focus in illustration, through
the online Savannah College
of Art and Design. “I’m so
close to being done, I can taste
it,” she said.
:\GHQ Medicare the biggest challenge
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airport projects.
Wyden considers the bill
a successor to his Build
America Bonds, which
helped state and local gov-
ernments finance infrastruc-
ture projects during the re-
covery from the recession.
7RXULVPDQGUHFUHDWLRQ
Wyden and Travel Ore-
gon leaders visited the state’s
seven wonders — the Oregon
Coast, Smith Rock, Crater
Lake, Mount Hood, the Paint-
ed Hills, the Wallowas and the
Columbia Gorge — to stress
the importance of tourism and
recreation to the state’s econ-
omy.
The senator said travel and
tourism generates $10 billion
a year in revenue and provides
100,000 jobs.
Wyden, who serves on the
Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, said
he would make his case for a
greater emphasis on recreation
by reminding lawmakers that
many of the public complaints
during federal government
shutdowns were over the loss
of access to parks.
“Maybe we don’t care that
much about this, that, some-
thing else,” he said of public
opinion, “but stop messing
with our parks and our special
places that we really enjoy so
much.”
0HGLFDUHUHIRUP
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden speaks during a group discussion
at Fort George Brewery and Public House’s Lovell Show-
room Sunday. The discussion was part of Wyden’s tour of
Oregon’s seven wonders to promote the economic impact
of tourism and recreation.
Wyden also said he
would continue to push
for a bill, sponsored with
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson,
R-Ga., to help improve
chronic disease treatment
under Medicare, the federal
health care program for the
elderly.
More than two-thirds of
Medicare beneficiaries had
two or more chronic con-
ditions, such as high blood
pressure, high cholesterol,
heart disease, arthritis and
diabetes, according to 2010
data from the federal Cen-
ters for Medicare and Med-
icaid Services.
“Medicare today is not
the Medicare of 1965,” the
senator said. “It’s about
cancer. It’s about diabetes,
strokes, heart disease.”
Wyden described chronic
disease care in Medicare as
fragmented and poorly co-
ordinated.
“From the standpoint of
the federal budget, there is
no bigger challenge — none
— than Medicare,” he said.
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Wyden doubts Republi-
the political difficulty in cans in Congress will agree
financing infrastructure im- WR UDLVH WKH JDV WD[ ZKLFK
provements.
helps finance the federal
Transportation advocates Highway Trust Fund.
have called on the federal
The senator has pro-
and state governments to posed a bill with U.S. Sen.
increase bridge, road and John Hoeven, R-N.D., that
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highway spending. A recent ZRXOGH[WHQGELOOLRQLQ
In an interview with The report by a transportation WD[H[HPSW ERQG DXWKRULW\
Daily Astorian, the Oregon advocacy group found that and $45 billion in infrastruc-
Democrat, who is up for 17 of Clatsop County’s 147 WXUHWD[FUHGLWVWRVWDWHVRYHU
re-election to a fourth full bridges were structurally de- a decade for public-private
WHUP QH[W \HDU GHVFULEHG ficient, the second-highest partnership agreements on
the trade package signed by countywide share in Oregon. road, bridge, port, rail and
President Barack Obama last
week as “the most progressive
trade policy in history.”
T H E D AILY AST O RIAN ’S 2015
Wyden, the ranking Dem-
ocrat on the Senate Finance
Committee, was instrumen-
tal in getting the trade bills
approved. One bill gives the
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motion authority and helps
ensure trade deals like the
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have stronger protections for
Ch a rtin g th e n ew com ers a n d busin ess pion eers
labor and the environment.
A second bill provides trade
of th e North Coa st for m ore th a n 25 yea rs
adjustment assistance, such as
job training, for workers dis-
• A specia l pla qu e design a tin g
placed by globalization.
you r yea rs in bu sin ess
But many progressives
•
A
dver
t
isin g form a t tha t tells
and labor unions attacked the
you
r bu sin ess’ history
trade package, as did some
liberal Democrats in Con-
• Bu sin esses a re highlighted
from oldest to n ew est
gress, such as U.S. Sen. Jeff
Merkley, D-Ore.
• Copies a va ila ble for a n en tire yea r
Wyden said people who
• In serted in to the Da ily A storia n
have been critical of trade
agreements in the past had
• Fea tu re stories a bou t selected
bu sin esses from the cover of
made valid points about se-
W ho’s W ho 2015
crecy and accountability,
which is why he and others
• O n lin e for a n en tire yea r a t
have insisted on more trans-
da ilya storia n .com
parency and enforcement.
sea sidesign a l.com
ca n n on bea chga zette.com
The senator said 1 in 5 Or-
crbizjou rn a l.com
egon jobs depend on interna-
chin ook observer.com
tional trade and that trade-re-
lated jobs often pay better.
“My objective is to grow
D ea d lin e: Ju ly 8
things in Oregon, make things
P u b lica tio n D a te: Ju ly 31
in Oregon, add value to them
in Oregon and then ship them
Fu ll color a va ila ble for a ll a ds
somewhere,” he said.
THE NO RTH COAST’S BUSINESS GUIDE
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The collapse of a state
transportation package at
the Oregon Legislature in
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