The WOLFH (Westfir Oakridge Local Food Hub) is bringing together local small farmers and the Oakridge-Westfir community. In 2021, WOLFH was founded by a rootsy, caring team of Westfir – Oakridge community members, with the mission to collaboratively inspire and encourage a community connection to our food and to one another, centering community health by improving access to local, diverse and sustainable products. Together, we can make it happen!
As part of the Community Festivals Association, the organization operates as a community-benefitting 501(c)3 non-profit.
In May 2022, the “Westfir Oakridge Community Farmers Market” launched and has continued for over 80 weeks through the fall, winter, spring and summer. We are now entering our third year of helping neighbors and growers in our area connect to healthier foods, together.
WOLFH echoes the community’s longer-term dreams to expand on Oakridge-Westfir food resilience, including: supporting more hands-on educational programs for youth and adults (cooking, growing, ecology “with the seasons”); a brick-and-mortar community market “food project incubator” commercial kitchen with cold storage that would provide safer food distribution for the purposes of the farmer’s market as well as for the purposes of supporting disaster resilience.
Why is the Food Hub a nonprofit?
As a community-created, community-centered initiative, the Food Hub’s income (any funds raised beyond its baseline expenses) gets cycled directly back into the community towards community food resilience projects. Success is measured by the organization’s ability to: (1) provide access to locally grown food, (2) support small-scale regional farming (3) create jobs bolstering local food security/self-sufficiency (4) channel earnings back to projects (educational programs) and investments (community-held infrastructure assisting food-and-health based start-ups) that feed back into the local community circular economy.
A glimpse at the Food Hub’s self-sustaining plan to improve our area’s access to locally-grown food:
- What does sustainability look like for the “local consumer”?
- Prioritizing accessibility means, for our community, keeping costs low. We recognize that we are currently operating in a flawed food system where it is cheaper to eat ingredients that came from thousands of miles away.
- EBT access
- Creating a warm and welcoming feel to the community market with interesting participatory learning opportunities to inspire everyone to join in as “makers” or “growers” (in their personal lives or as part of the market). The market should be a fun social environment (a local culture event) that is both nourishing to the mind and body.
- What does sustainability look like for the “small local farm”?
- Prioritizing accessibility means, for our local small farms, mutually respecting the value of their hard labor and not asking them to “eat” their own elevated costs of growing food locally. Approaches to offset small farm labor burden can include: waiving (or offering, at a very low cost or sliding scale) traditional market vendor fees; offering local volunteers to represent them at a table during the initial trial period; creating opportunities for farm apprentice outreach linking Oakridge-Westfir learners with experienced farms in the region.
- Being mindful of keeping a balance between crafts booths to farm booths.
- Transportation support up to our rural area and, eventually, access to a walk-in cooler space that would drastically reduce the stress on farmers and their produce.
- What does sustainability look like, on an “organizational level”?
- Making sure all organizers feel supported and gratified in their roles as positive community changemakers by nourishing an environment where collaboration, friendship, and respect guide and inform all decisions.
- Incorporating as a nonprofit and recording volunteer hours
- Abiding by nonviolent communication
- Alternating responsibilities to reduce burn-out
- Welcoming new energies and opportunities to appropriately delegate
- Valuing each other’s life perspectives and social justice priorities
- Valuing a diversity of approaches
Please get in touch with us if you want to join our organizational board!
Westfir Oakridge Community Farmers Market 