Elderberry Wisdom Farm and Oregon Tilth are partnering to share a workshop and listening session with Native and other farmers of color at the OSU Small Farm Conference on Saturday, February 17. Their Session Two workshop is titled Organic Transition (TOPP): Opportunities and Challenges, and will be held from 11:35 am to 12:30 at LaSells Stewart Center on the Oregon State University Campus. More info is available at: Oregon State University Small Farms Conference.
Elderberry Wisdom Farm is transitioning its farm and Native Plant Nursery to organic. In addition, our Tribal Liaison, Amy Treasure, and her husband own a family ranch in Clark County, Washington that they are also transitioning to organic. She will share her experience on the process of transitioning to organic, and share feedback on the benefits and barriers transitioning to organic.
Special guests, Michele Week with Good Rain Farm, and Roberta Eagle-Horse Ortiz have been invited to share their experiences for this Transitioning to Organic listening session so they can share about their farms, and what they plan to do on their farmland. Other Native American and farmers of color will be welcome to join us. Topics could include how to access funding, resources, obstacles and issues for transitioning producers, market opportunities, and ecological health.
Elizabeth Dean, our Education Program Manager at Oregon Tilth, is helping us organize this listening session for Native American and other farmers of color at the conference session. Two Soil scientists from Oregon Tilth, Levi Fredrikson and Franklin Smith, will also be on hand to provide additional information on transitioning to organic, and are interested in learning more from the experience of farmers of color.
EWF Director Rose High Bear is also presenting at a Session One workshop titled Small Farms and Community Food Systems at the Oregon Legislature. Workshop presenters include Rachael Ward, Executive Director, Farmers Market Fund; Greg Holmes, Working Lands Director, 1,000 Friends of Oregon; Alice Morrison, Co-Director of Policy and Development, Friends of Family Farmers; and Amy Wong, Board Chair, Oregon Organic Coalition.
Oregon’s Legislature is in “short session” this year, but there is still plenty of legislation in the works that really matters to farmers and community food systems. In this session, you’ll hear from a panel of farm and food system advocacy organizations about 2023 Oregon legislative outcomes and 2024 top priority bills and funding programs they are tracking.