Upsetting the Apple Cart

Frikeh III - Fixing the Problem

By Anthony Boutard, Ayers Creek Farm.

Food, Inc., King Corn, Omnivore's Dilemma, and a host of other films and books have identified the substantial flaws in our food supply.  These problems seem remote and insurmountable, and the best we can do as individuals is to shift our buying habits.  When the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) uses its rules to say frikeh and other traditional farm products cannot be sold in a farmers' market, it brings a local dimension to the problem.  Fortunately, we have the ability to initiate constructive changes at the local level.

Farmers' Markets have been operating in Oregon for almost 30 years.  The oldest still operates in Grants Pass.  The Portland Farmers' Market started in 1993 and was originally located in the Albers Mills parking area. These markets allowed nonconventional, small scale farmers to survive.  For the first decade or so, the markets were ignored by the ODA.  In the mid 1990s, the bureaucracy started to get itchy as markets started to sprout up in urban areas.  To address the situation, a couple of market managers sat down with ODA staff and crafted a set of guidelines for vendors.  Earlier this year, the agency started an aggressive campaign to increase regulation of farmers' markets. The agency has decided to draft rules later in the autumn and possibly require licenses for farmers' market vendors.

Was there an incident that gave rise their concerns?  No. For three decades, Oregon's farmers' markets have operated safely, and without any reported food borne illness incidents.  In fact, this exemplary safety record is reflected nationwide.  It is clear that factors other than straight forward food safety concerns are behind the move to further regulate farmers' markets.  After all, the food safety challenges are arising from the complexities of the food industry that is already regulated by ODA and other agencies, not the simple open air farmers' market.   Data and science tell us ODA is moving in exactly the wrong direction.

The Oregon Legislature has never grappled with the question of whether and how to regulate farmers' markets.  There is no policy or set of laws that relate to farmers' markets.  The basic statutes governing food safety were drafted long before farmers' markets and other direct sales venues became institutions.  Leaving ODA to regulate direct sales without an open and public discussion will be disastrous.  We believe it is time for the legislature to take a look at how other states regulate farmers' markets and food production from small scale farms, and come up with a coherent approach for Oregon. We provided several examples of states with more progressive approaches than Oregon.

Farewell to Frikeh, Part II

Looking at how other states differentiate between industrial food production and that done by farmers who sell directly to the public, Anthony Boutard of Ayers Creek Farms sees a more equitable way forward for Oregon. You can find Anthony and Carol at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market every Sunday from 10 am till 2 pm.

In the first installment of "Farewell Frikeh," we noted that the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) defines "food processing" as the "…cooking, baking, heating, drying, mixing, grinding, churning, separating, extracting, cutting, freezing, or otherwise manufacturing a food or changing the physical characteristics of a food, and the packaging, canning or otherwise enclosing such a food in a container." While this long recitation certainly includes all activities that happen in food processing factories, the definition also covers many traditional farm activities that fall well short of what we consider processing foods. Under a strict interpretation of ODA's rules, all of the activities identified above must take place within a licensed facility.

Because frikeh (top photo) involves heating and drying, ODA calls it a "processed food." Like many other traditional foods, including raisins, sundried tomatoes, dried peppers and herbs, frikeh is prepared outside in the field, and not in a factory. Under ODA's scheme, if a "processed food" is not produced in a licensed facility, the agency prohibits the sale of the food. If California took such a view of food processing, we would have neither raisins, nor domestic sun dried tomatoes and peppers. Most raisins, for example, are dried on kraft paper trays set out on the vineyard floor. Some of the newer varieties are dried as clusters attached to the trellis, but still outdoors.

After learning of Oregon's approach to regulating food, we decided to see how other states regulate small operations such as ours. What is immediately striking about Oregon is the lack of any stated policy regarding farmers markets or community supported agriculture (CSA) in either the statutes or rules. Although farmers' markets and CSA's have strong support among Oregonians, that support has not translated into written policies concerning direct sales. As a result, ODA's default position is to consider farmers' markets the same as retail stores. And when farmers stray from the narrow category of fresh fruits and vegetables, they are treated as food processors. It is as if everyone, from a bicyclist to a heavy truck driver, must get the same Commercial Drivers License (CDL). No distinction is made between farm based enterprises and multinational corporations. In fact, ODA has been adamant that no distinction should be made.