Exploring the Circle
There’s no beginning or end point in our food system. No matter what, you get your food from somewhere and from someone; you discard your food scraps somehow and they end up going somewhere and transforming into something. Wouldn’t it be great if you could know all these “somehows”, “someones” and “somewheres”, and be confident that all of these places, processes and people are being nourished by (and nourishing) the food system?
There are a lot of pieces involved in a food system: the foods we grow, the soils we grow in, the farmers that farm, the animals that live on the farms, the businesses that sell and distribute the food, the people that buy the food, the people who discard the food scraps, the businesses that pick up the food scraps, the people that compost (or don’t compost the food scraps), and so on. There’s a lot involved, and every piece of the process is important.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be part of a food system in which you know all of the players? A system in which you meet the growers, visit the farms, contribute to the health of the soil and animals, and interact with businesses owned and operated by people in your community? This food system is one that is accountable to you, and that is transparent to you, because you’re a part of it and it’s all happening in your community.
This is the kind of food system that Rogue Produce, our partners, and our customers are creating in Southern Oregon. We say our operations go “full circle,” and more specifically, “from farm, to table, to farm!” This means we’re keeping things local, and we’re keeping you informed of all the magic that happens when you support a smart local food system.
A Full Circle Food System
We can start at any point on the circle, but let’s begin at your kitchen table. The “Rogue Produce” side of our operation delivers local produce to your door every Friday. We work with local farms who are either certified organic, or use regenerative methods of growing with no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or GMOs. Any fresh fruits or vegetables for sale on our Online Farmers Market that we can’t procure locally, we source through an Oregon based organic distributor, Organically Grown Company.
In addition to fruits and veggies, we stock our list with your favorite local artisan breads, meats, cheeses, and so much more! Many of the local products we source are not available in all stores or at the Farmer’s Market, but we provide a convenient place to shop them all. You can view all of our farm and small business partners at the Farmers and Producers tab on our website.
We also offer options for our customers to save money! Instead of direct home delivery, you can sign-up as a drop-site member and pick up your order every week at one of our convenient locations. As a drop-site member you pay no membership or delivery fees, and you still get access to the sales we post at our Online Farmers Market every week.
If you want the convenience of direct home delivery you can purchase one of our standard Farmer’s Market Memberships and delivery fees are removed on all orders, and you get access to our weekly sales!
The Food Scraps
Now we move to the other arm of our operation and the next point on the circle, Community Compost. After meal time is over, what do you do with your food scraps? Community Compost provides a multitude of options to get your food scraps diverted from the landfill and delivered to local farms (the next point in the circle). Our local farm partners transform tons (literally) of food scraps they receive from local residents and businesses into nourishing compost for their soils. Here’s a quote from one of our composting farm partners, Thomas Petersen, of Evers Ridge Farm in Medford:
Thomas and Hannah Petersen of Evers Ridge Farm
“Starting our farm from scratch we realized the immense need for quality compost to improve soil health and increase water retention. When we found the food compost program from Rogue Produce it turned a huge expense into an affordable partnership. We’ve been able to process over 60k pounds of food scraps in the past couple of years then mix it with manure or leaves to make over 100k lbs of compost for our farm, and we could use much more. As a local farmer in the valley, we need more of these food waste programs so we can decrease the cost of compost for farmers and to help return the waste in our systems back into soil health.”
Going full circle isn’t always easy, but it’s pretty simple – and the more we run the circle the easier it gets, and the more everyone and everything within the circle benefits. It’s taken over 12 years of operating Rogue Produce to build the relationships and set up the logistics to effectively collect and transport food scraps from homes and businesses to local farms, and we’d love your help in continuing to make it grow!
Community Compost provides direct home pick up of your food scraps on a weekly basis. And, we have cost saving options for this service too! If you don’t want to pay the fee for direct home pick up, we have drop-sites around the valley where you can drop your food scraps off at a lower rate – or even at no cost to you at all! Go ahead and explore the options and see if there is a right fit for you.
This is how our full circle food system works at Rogue Produce. We list produce from local farms and small businesses for sale on our Online Farmers Market. Customers purchase from our website and we deliver! Customers sign-up for one of our Community Compost services and set out (or drop off) their food scraps every week. We pick up the food scraps and deliver them to local farms. The scraps are cultivated into compost and fed to the soil, the farmers grow more food, and we all get to enjoy the local bounty!
At Rogue Produce, we are so grateful for every customer, farm, small business and organization that plays a part – and we’d love for you to join in the fun! Check out our website for more information, or give us a call at 541-301-3426.
If it’s not the right time for you to sign-up, stay informed by signing up for our free newsletter.
See you around!
