Some great food related events are coming up, and there is much potential for progress in 2023 to build on what was done in 2022. As we strive to raise awareness about the gift of food and why food waste matters, we hope more will join us on this journey. Please read on.
Oregon Fermentation Fest is putting on Brine, Brew & Barrel Festival January 13th through Jan 15th at Ashland Hills Hotel and Suites. Check their schedule of events and workshops. Tickets are $20.00 to attend.
Speaker Series January 26 through February 16, Below is the link on the Rogue Valley Food System Network Website to register for the event. https://rvfoodsystem.org/speaker-series
Save the Date for Rogue Valley Community Food Summit
Check on the SOFS website or the RVFSN website for details to register for the event. Below is the Rogue Valley Foos System Network website for current information https://rvfoodsystem.org/rv-community-food-summit
Food Waste Prevention Week April 10 – 16, 2023
This is now a national event. Oregon’s Dept. of Environmental Quality is very involved in planning and promoting this week’s activities. SOFS will be promoting local awareness. Check out https://www.foodwastepreventionweek.com/
Community Composting Efforts
Throughout 2022, collaborations formed with Ashland Rotary Club, Rogue Produce, Ashland Climate Collaborative (see link below), Ashland Schools Foundation and Bellview Grange in order to raise awareness and expand the practice of composting. An additional level of support was added when the regular users of the Food Scrap Drop Off Service from the Growers Market through November all chipped in to enable the service to continue through the winter months with location support by Bellview Grange. This reduces waste going to the Landfill, which reduces ghg emissions, and reduces fertilizer costs for local farmers and increase soil health and soil moisture retention. The YouTube Link below is about five minutes and shows one of our local farms benefitting from food scraps collection activity. https://ashlandclimate.org/composting-action-team/https://youtu.be/SZzFqpFQUAQ
Education
In addition to building on Food Forest knowledge at Bellview Elementary, a mid summer class on Sustainability was taught through Parks and Rec and an Olli class was taught on Food. Hopefully, education efforts will continue in 2023. For example, Neighborhood Groups are being formed with the support of Ashland Climate Collaborative. The groups will be covering sustainability in general and one of the issues to be covered will be food, and SOFS is collaborating on content.
We will be advocating for a Farm Bill that incentivizes Regenerative Agriculture We will be working on Food Waste Prevention Week We will be seeking education opportunities We will be refreshing website content We will be supporting the expansion of composting activity We will be welcoming community members like YOU to join this focus
