Hello OSIFT and friends!
Here’s a quick round up the last few weeks of OSIFT, as we all look forward to spring!
We had an extremely successful Food Ingredient Expo- more tables registered than ever before, and a record number of attendees. It was great that there were so many new faces! Attendance was high at the pre-expo sessions, and we heard many people say that the session topics were relevant and useful.
OSIFT also completed our elections for 2015-16, and here are the results:
President-Elect:Sarah Widger, OFD Foods
Secretary: Erika Dahlgaard, Ever Fresh Fruit Company
Directors-at-Large: Meredith Chen, Truitt Brothers, Brandon Herkert, Betty Lou’s Inc.
Treasurer: Matthew Oakley, Kerr Concentrates
Our April Meeting is Family Friendly! Our speaker will be Michelle M. Ratcliffe, PhD.
Michelle’s mission is to make it easy to raise happy, healthy kids and help our farmers prosper. For the past 20 years she has gotten her hands dirty on farms 4-4,000 acres in size, taught in school gardens, researched ways to make it easier to get local foods on our tables, and then advocated for policies that do just that. Michelle recently transitioned from the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) as the Farm to School Program Manager to join Truitt Family Foods directing market development of the PreK-12, university and healthcare sectors. While at ODA, Michelle directed the FoodCorps program in Oregon and launched Celebrate Oregon Agriculture, a multi-platform media campaign designed to get families to grow, cook and eat together. Michelle directed and is the on-camera personality for Dinner in Oregon, a new half hour television concept. In 2014, Michelle’s work received the North American Agricultural Marketing Excellence Award, and in 2013 she was recognized with the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior`s prestigious Health Policy Promotion Award. She is a board member of the National Farm to School Network and the Agri-business Council of Oregon. Michelle lives in the Willamette Valley on a 4-acre farm with her husband and two young boys. Her favorite vegetable to grow is eggplant.
Dr. Ratcliffe will be giving a short FED talk overview how community-based programmatic and policy efforts in farm to school has led to changes in the supply chain and growing market opportunities for Oregon’s food producers at home and across the country. During the presentation Dr. Ratcliffe will also describe opportunities for food processors to authentically engage with local communities and food movements in ways that increase social capital and strengthen business brands.
Evening Schedule
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Location: McMenamins Crystal Ballroom - Lola's Room, Portland, OR
5:30 to 6:30 registration
6:30 announcements immediately followed by Pizza Buffet
7:00 presentation (15 minutes ish)
Also on the schedule- Fun freeze drying and food science demos for kids to check out, plus socializing and networking.
See you there!
Angela Daniels
OSIFT President, 2014-2015
Here’s a quick round up the last few weeks of OSIFT, as we all look forward to spring!
We had an extremely successful Food Ingredient Expo- more tables registered than ever before, and a record number of attendees. It was great that there were so many new faces! Attendance was high at the pre-expo sessions, and we heard many people say that the session topics were relevant and useful.
OSIFT also completed our elections for 2015-16, and here are the results:
President-Elect:Sarah Widger, OFD Foods
Secretary: Erika Dahlgaard, Ever Fresh Fruit Company
Directors-at-Large: Meredith Chen, Truitt Brothers, Brandon Herkert, Betty Lou’s Inc.
Treasurer: Matthew Oakley, Kerr Concentrates
Our April Meeting is Family Friendly! Our speaker will be Michelle M. Ratcliffe, PhD.
Michelle’s mission is to make it easy to raise happy, healthy kids and help our farmers prosper. For the past 20 years she has gotten her hands dirty on farms 4-4,000 acres in size, taught in school gardens, researched ways to make it easier to get local foods on our tables, and then advocated for policies that do just that. Michelle recently transitioned from the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) as the Farm to School Program Manager to join Truitt Family Foods directing market development of the PreK-12, university and healthcare sectors. While at ODA, Michelle directed the FoodCorps program in Oregon and launched Celebrate Oregon Agriculture, a multi-platform media campaign designed to get families to grow, cook and eat together. Michelle directed and is the on-camera personality for Dinner in Oregon, a new half hour television concept. In 2014, Michelle’s work received the North American Agricultural Marketing Excellence Award, and in 2013 she was recognized with the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior`s prestigious Health Policy Promotion Award. She is a board member of the National Farm to School Network and the Agri-business Council of Oregon. Michelle lives in the Willamette Valley on a 4-acre farm with her husband and two young boys. Her favorite vegetable to grow is eggplant.
Dr. Ratcliffe will be giving a short FED talk overview how community-based programmatic and policy efforts in farm to school has led to changes in the supply chain and growing market opportunities for Oregon’s food producers at home and across the country. During the presentation Dr. Ratcliffe will also describe opportunities for food processors to authentically engage with local communities and food movements in ways that increase social capital and strengthen business brands.
Evening Schedule
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Location: McMenamins Crystal Ballroom - Lola's Room, Portland, OR
5:30 to 6:30 registration
6:30 announcements immediately followed by Pizza Buffet
7:00 presentation (15 minutes ish)
Also on the schedule- Fun freeze drying and food science demos for kids to check out, plus socializing and networking.
See you there!
Angela Daniels
OSIFT President, 2014-2015
