This photo from long ago show the exact field where the current County CROPS farm is located. What a wonderful project to use the old poor farm to once again feed the hungry.
Well, more specifically, farming on an historic farming site just on the edge of Portland, OR in Troutdale…
Dan Bravin of POP Farming has been hired to be the farm manager for Multnomah County’s CROPS program. This entails farming 2 acres of surplus county land to grow vegetables for distribution through the Oregon Food Bank (OFB). This groundbreaking project is the brainchild of Marissa Madrigal, Chief of Staff for Multnomah County Commissioner, Jeff Cogan. Despite the many nay sayers and skeptics, Marissa and Jeff have prevailed in making this incredible pr0ject a reality. Since early 2009 they have been working to develop the idea and were finally were able to push through a vote on the project at the beginning of June. While it was a bit of a late start for the gardening season, much progress has been made. Soon there will be a steady supply of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, summer and winter squash flowing to the Oregon Food Bank. This is significant for a couple of reasons. First, Oregon is a state with one of the highest hunger rates. Hopefully this program will help put a dent in that statistic. Second, food banks traditionally get lots of non-perishable food, but not much fresh produce that is of decent quality. They often receive produce that is near spoilage or beyond (i.e. compost). This program will pick and deliver fresh vegetables to the OFB the same day offering OFB clients the same, high quality, organically grown food you might find at supermarkets like New Seasons. Third, the project brings together many different parts of the local community to address the serious issue of hunger. County government, AmeriCorps volunteers, private businesses, individual community members, social service agencies are all part of making this project a huge success.
