Event
USDA and Ecotrust Food Hub Meeting
Background:
What's a food hub*? USDA currently defines a food hub as "a centrally located facility with a business management system that facilitates the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution and/or marketing of locally or regionally produced food products."
March 3rd Agenda (subject to change)
7:30 Registration
8:00 Welcome
Deborah Kane, Ecotrust, and conference organizers and partners
8:15 Food hubs defined, moderator: Vicki Walker, USDA-OR
Lucas Knowles, USDA: How do food hubs fit in USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Framework
James Barham, USDA: Work done to date to identify, catalogue and document best practices of food hubs across the country
9:15 The Northwest context What already exists? moderator: Deborah Kane, Ecotrust
Regional map of processing, aggregation, storage and distribution infrastructure described and interpreted by industry representatives
9:45 The path to market with three products, moderator: Michelle Ratcliffe, ODA
Three NW food entrepreneurs share their stories of recent challenges and successes in navigating processing, distribution, logistics and marketing options
Cory Carman (invited): Carman Ranch
Keith Kullberg, Better Bean Company
Laura Anderson, Local Ocean Seafood
10:45 BREAK
11:00 Two case studies in produce, moderator: Sue Davis, WSDA
Two produce operations share lessons learned in marketing 'source identified' produce
David Lively, Organically Grown Company's Lady Bug program
Watershine Woods, Okanogan Producers Marketing Association
12:00 Lunch
12:45 Keynote presentation by USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan
1:30 The emergency food system, moderator: Ron Paul, Ron Paul Consulting
David Bobanick, Rotary First Harvest, WA
(invited) Oregon Food Bank
2:15 Make or Buy? Both, and?, moderator: Darcy Hitchcock, AXIS Performance Advisors
Small group discussion question: Do we need to better leverage existing infrastructure and capacity or do we need disruptive innovation and experimental new business models?
3:00 Report outs/commitments, moderator: Darcy Hitchcock, AXIS Performance Advisors
Best ideas for new models and/or new ways of engaging existing infrastructure
4:00 Adjourn
* True, Ecotrust operates an online directory and marketplace called FoodHub. This meeting is not about Ecotrust's FoodHub, but rather the topic of physical locations for regional aggregation, storage, processing and distribution more generally.
Meeting Organizers and Partners
This meeting is being co-sponsored by Ecotrust and USDA Rural Development, a supporter of Ecotrust's FoodHub through its Rural Business Opportunity Grant program. Additional support and planning has been provided by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Ron Paul Consulting, Whole Foods Market and the USDA Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Regional Food Hub Subcommittee.
Additional support has been provided by New Seasons Market, Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, Truitt Brothers, Inc., Burgerville, Food Services of America, and SYSCO.
If you are unable to attend, please note that meeting proceedings will be made available. To indicate your interest in receiving meeting proceedings, please email Leora Stein at lstein@ecotrust.org. If you need recommendations regarding lodging or other travel assistance, please also contact Leora Stein at lstein@ecotrust.org.
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LocationEcotrust's Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center
721 NW 9th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
United States
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