Partnerships form to keep specialty ag growing 

Jessie Faulkner

The Times-Standard

January 27, 2008

In the late 1800s, Humboldt County 's agriculture was flourishing, particularly when it came to potatoes, which developed quite a reputation elsewhere. Loleta-area farmers were raising spuds as recently as a decade ago for the likes of Laura Scudder and Granny Goose -- both prominent potato chip manufacturers.

A similar although slightly different movement is underway today as the Humboldt chapter of the California Alliance of Family Farms, the Humboldt County Farm Bureau and the University of California Extension work to bring the promise of the North Coast 's specialty agricultural niche to a state of long-term sustainability.

Farmers' markets are well established and successful from Garberville to McKinleyville. But -- sparked in part by the county's business development strategy -- there's been an increased focus on creating other marketing opportunities for farmers.

The county's 1999 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, known as Prosperity! The North Coast Strategy, identified specialty agriculture as a growth market for the area.

One of the first steps for crop farmers is increasing the consumer-base for locally grown food, a shared mission of the Humboldt County chapter of the California Alliance for Family Farmers, or CAFF -- established in December 2006 -- the farm bureau and the UC Extension office.

The key is sustainability -- a reliable market for farmers and a reliable source of locally-grown produce for larger-volume or institutional customers.

Melanie Patrick, who contracts with the Humboldt County chapter of CAFF, has been hot on that trail for nearly a year. She signed on in March 2007 and has spent the ensuing months focusing her attention on recruitment: Recruiting farmers to sell their produce to larger institutional customers, and recruiting institutional customers. A grant from the Headwaters Fund supports her work.

Her objective can take some convincing on both sides. The customers want to be able to buy the fresh local produce at prices a little lower than the farmer's market, and have the assurance that the farmers could provide sufficient product to meet their needs. The growers need to know that the volume purchased will be sufficient to offset lower prices than those sought at farmers' markets.

Patrick -- the middlewoman in this negotiation -- has firm commitments from St. Joseph Hospital and Humboldt State University to buy locally grown produce. Now, it's a matter of lining up the farmers.

Humboldt State University's dining services -- which serves an estimated 2,000 residence hall students each day -- purchases all of its lettuce, tomatoes and a good percentage of cucumbers from local farmers as well as other produce for the salad bars, Patrick said.

She's also working with farmers to grow food year-round. A number of winter crops can thrive in the moderate climate.

One of the attractive elements for those on the selling side of the equation is the regularity. Unlike the farmers' markets -- where one day may bring particularly high sales and bad weather on another can clear out the outdoor venue -- institutional customers may pay slightly less than the seasonal retail customers, but they make regularly scheduled purchases, Patrick said.

”Right now,” she said, “I'm doing a lot of recruitment.”

Another burgeoning potential market may be developing in Arcata and McKinleyville's public schools. Todd Heustis, director of food services for the McKinleyville and Arcata school districts, has been moving toward the use of local produce.

The first step has been in setting up salad bars at some of the schools. Currently, salad bars are offered three days a week at McKinleyville Middle School , Morris School and Sunny Brae Middle School . He's in the process of establishing one at Jacoby Creek School .

”It is my goal to bring in local produce,” Heustis said.

At the present, he's verifying just how much produce will be needed to support the districts' salad bars.

Thus far, the cafeteria-style selection of salad ingredients has had varying response from the students. It's more successful with the middle school students, Heustis said.

The introduction of salad bars has actually saved the school district money, because the students are taking only what they want and the move to local produce eliminates costly packaging.

But this is far from the first effort to bring the products of local farms into area schools. The Farm to School program, now under the auspices of the local CAFF chapter, had an earlier connection with Food for People and was established around eight years ago.

”Through farm tours and school gardens, children are reconnected to their food systems, learning where food comes from and how it is grown,” the chapter's brochure stated.

What became the local chapter of CAFF at the end of 2006, started out as Friends of the Humboldt County Farmers Market and began the annual farm tours. With the incorporation of the local CAFF chapter, a stable home was created for local agriculture programs -- including building a local food system, supporting local farmers and bringing fresh food to people.

Equally important is the chapter's effort to preserve agriculture land.

Patrick said she is working with the Arcata School District to lease some of its open land to a farmer. She said she's hoping to help negotiate other such lease arrangements between landowners and area farmers.

”A big part of the focus is raising awareness of local agriculture,” said Erin Derden-Little, president of the CAFF board of directors.

Derden-Little, a full-time employee of Redwood Roots -- a Bayside-based farm where residents contract to purchase vegetables during the season -- said the local chapter's objective is to keep the vision in place and continue strategic planning to benefit local farmers.

Over at the University of California Extension office, plant science advisor Deborah Giraud has been helping with a variety of marketing programs over the past decade. The most recent one is what she describes as a Web-based bulletin board.

Redwoodag.com serves as a way for local farmers to connect with buyers. To access the site, participants have to sign on either as a buyer or seller.

One of the largest challenges for North Coast crop farmers, Giraud said, is the marketing piece. Success in that area requires a lot of times, connections and relationships, she said. While CAFF is working to provide that service free-of-charge to farmers, there will come a point where buyers and sellers will have to pay commissioners for the “middleman” marketing position.

Meanwhile, the California Food and Justice Coalition has chosen Humboldt County as a representative rural county to sample agriculture-related issues.

Shannon Tracey, the food and justice coordinator for the local chapter of CAFF, said the coalition has been holding a series of local meetings round the state to gather input and feedback on ways to improve the distribution of local food.

An invitation-only meeting on Feb. 1 at Humboldt Area Foundation is for local organizations involved in food issues to compare notes on what is working and how to build stronger coalitions for preserving the area's health and open agricultural lands, Patrick said.

Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0517 or jfaulkner@times-standard.com.

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