Tag: Oregon Food Bank

MEET OUR RARE AMERICORPS MEMBER: Julia Reynolds

Posted on by Julia Havens

Julia Reynolds RARE AmeriCorps Resource Assistance for Rural EnvironmentsMeet Julia Reynolds

Julia received her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Geography from the University of Iowa. After attaining her Bachelor’s degree, Julia worked for Kusamala Institute of Agriculture and Ecology in Malawi as the Community Mapping Coordinator, where she developed and ran community mapping workshops and trained Kusamala employees as community mapping facilitators. Now with the RARE AmeriCorps Program, Julia hopes to develop her leadership skills and learn how to motivate others for change through first-hand experience. Though she isn’t certain about what she wants to do after her year with RARE, Julia would like to obtain a Master’s degree in either Geography or Community Planning and work with others in the arena of food and environment.

About Oregon Food Bank

Oregon Food Bank’s (OFB) mission is to eliminate hunger and its root causes. Formed in 1982 as Oregon Food Share, the organization merged in 1988 with Interagency Food  Bank to become Oregon Food Bank, a nonprofit, charitable organization that serves as the hub of the OFB Network, a statewide network of 20 Regional Food Banks (RFBs) – four are OFB branches – and over 900 agencies and programs serving Oregon and Clark County, WA.

Julia is placed with Oregon Food Bank where she will conduct a comprehensive inventory of regional food systems and resources in Clackamas County. She will examine
local food self-sufficiency including local retail, livable wage farming, and local farmers markets. Julia will work to form partnerships with the local farming and  agricultural community as a means to increase involvement, and to increase the ability to produce and market locally grown products.

Stories from the Field: A RARE AmeriCorps Perspective

Posted on by Julia Havens

A Freezing Day in The Life…

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An intense freeze at the beginning of December had many farmers scrambling to harvest and cover their crops before hunkering down to wait out the cold temperature and see whether their crops survived. La Finquita del Buho community support agriculture (CSA) in Hillsboro was one of those farms. As a RARE AmeriCorps member serving to complete a grassroots community food assessment for Washington County, I have been trying to help out farmers with simple tasks so as not to take away from their precious time to interview and learn about their farms.

La Finquita del Buho community support agriculture (CSA) Jessica Abad RARE Resource Assistance for Rural EnvironmentsLa Finquita del Buho owned by Lyn and Juvencio had been preparing for their last CSA basket harvest of the year when news of the impeding freeze surfaced. Knowing the freeze was coming they contacted me to let me know that I could still come talk to them, but that they were hoping to have the hands on work completed by the time I visited. As an eager RARE AmeriCorps member excited to have a day in the field to get my hands dirty, I gladly offered to come out earlier and help them to prepare for the winter weather.

My day on Lyn and Juvencio’s farm aimed to start in the early morning, but had to be pushed back to mid-morning to allow the plants to thaw before harvesting. Once the sun started shinning, the cold weather gave way to the sun and thawed enough for us to begin the harvest. By this time, two of the CSAs loyal customers had come out to assist in the day’s activities and things were well underway. The men took off to collect the brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and more, while the women took off for the warm hoop house to gather the spinach, kale, and mixed lettuce varieties for a salad mix.

freezing-2Once the bulk of the produce had been collected we took to cleaning and preparing them for storage. The winter squash, pie pumpkins, and onions, which Lyn and Juvencio had tirelessly worked to harvest the day before were cleaned and place in the insulated the barn to avoid freezing and rot through the winter and we took to the fields to wrap up the remaining harvest work for the day.

In my 11 months exploring the food system of rural Washington County, experiences such as my day on La Finquita del Buho helps to give me a better understanding of the work that goes into food production and helps me to formulate ways to help the rural parts of the county create a sustainable local food system.

 

Jessica Abad RARE Resource Assistance for Rural EnvironmentsAbout the Author: Jessica Abad received her Bachelor of Arts in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She served with Peace Corps in Senegal working as an Agroforesty Extension Agent on an array of rural community development projects. Jessica’s RARE AmeriCorps – Resource Assistance for Rural Environments placement is with the Oregon Food Bank, where she is conducting a comprehensive inventory of regional food systems and resources in Washington County, examining local food self-sufficiency including local retail, livable wage farming, and local farmers markets, and working to form partnerships with the local farming and agricultural community as a means to increase involvement, and to increase the ability to produce and market locally grown products.