InFARMation (and Beer) #2 a big hit!
Megan and Sarah talking about the next generation of family farmers at inFARMation (and Beer) #2
On Tuesday, February 10th over 40 people attended our second inFARMation event held at
Roots Organic Brewing Company in Portland. The topic of growing the next generation of family farmers was a huge hit with the folks that attended. We had young farmers, seasoned farmers, new farmers and aspiring farmers all in audience. In addition, there were a number of eaters who are determined to make food choices that support the people working the land and doing so in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible.
Special guests included our very own Megan Fehrman and Sarah Brown, a new farmer from Milwaukie, Oregon. Sarah and her husband, Conner run a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm, where they raise a variety of veggies and meats for their community.
Sarah and many of the farmers shared stories and spoke of the challenges they faced when trying to break into the world of family-scale agriculture. Those challenges included limited access to land, unwilling lenders, cost-prohibitive regulations amongst others.
Megan spoke of Oregon’s aging farming population and the need for new and aspiring farmers to have access to land and resources. She also debuted FoFF’s new iFarm Oregon program, a land and resource connection service, which is meant to connect socially responsible farmers to the resources they need.
Special thanks to Cooking Up a Story for taping the event and providing video which will later be on our website. Stay tuned for information about the next InFARMation event.
The topic of Generation Pitchfork will be explored further Monday morning at 10:00 am on KBOO Radio’s Food Show with Marliese Franklin. Tune in to hear more from Friends of Family Farmers and others on this important topic.
