Portland's 3rd Annual Fill Your Pantry A Smashing Success! FoFF's 3rd annual Portland Fill Your Pantry took place Sunday, December 3rd at The Redd, a new venue generously donated by Ecotrust. More than 400 enthusiastic attendees showed up for this one-day bulk buying event, supporting the 25 local farms and ranches that participated. Portland's Fill Your Pantry generated nearly $60,000 in economic activity for these smaller producers in a single day, demonstrating the positive impact of supporting our local food system. The event was a hit for both consumers and farmers. According to Elizabeth Miller from Minto Island Growers, "Fill Your Pantry was an incredibly positive event for our farm. The pre-sale opportunity made for easier preparation and planning and came at a key point in a tough cash flow time of the year. On the day of, spirits were so high among shoppers and other producers. A huge thanks to the FoFF staff for organizing such a successful day for the food community - this is becoming one of our favorite sales opportunities of the season." One participant, Nancy Bond, had this to say: “A giant THANK YOU for putting on another successful, fun, beautiful event!! The venue was terrific. You all were super organized (including helping folks park and providing wagons), the vendors had beautiful displays, everyone seemed well organized and prepared, and every customer walked around grinning.” While FoFF organized Portland's Fill Your Pantry, partner groups like Ten Rivers Food Web, Willamette Food and Farm Coalition, Central Oregon Locavore and Gorge Grown Food Network organized similar Fill Your Pantry events in Corvallis, Eugene, Redmond and Hood River this year. Fill Your Pantry is increasingly becoming a great end-of-year tradition across the state!
In conjunction with the Portland Fill Your Pantry, Friends of Family Farmers also partnered with the Culinary Breeding Network and OSU's Squash Project to host Oregon's first Sagra, or local food festival, to celebrate the abundance and diversity of winter squash grown in our state. Local chefs gave out samples of tasty dishes made with squash prepared in a wide variety of ways. There was a squash butchery demonstration, kids activities, and OSU researchers were there to discuss the many varieties of winter squash grown by farmers in Oregon. For more background, information, recipes and videos, check out www.eatwintersquash.com Thanks to everyone that helped make these events happen! If you didn't make it to Portland's Fill Your Pantry, check out our photo album from the event or our @FoFFintheField Instagram page. We hope to see you next year. |
