Local food leaders meet to develop regional food network
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ARLEE — For years, people in the local food industry have been working to create a sustainable food infrastructure and networking system in Western Montana.
“We looked at this beautiful region with all its rich resources, and we thought ‘How do we get these valleys together (and) how can we work together to make it more productive?’” explained Bonnie Buckingham, executive director at the Community Food Agriculture Coalition.
“There is a very real interest in local food,” Buckingham continued during the opening session of the Five Valley Agricultural Summit in Arlee.
“There have been many different meetings over the years, and as we go along and learn what our next step may be … this is a culmination of years of work.”
Organizers of the one-and-a-half day conference invited 50 leaders from Flathead, Lake, Missoula, Ravalli, Sanders and Powell Counties to Arlee to discuss and create a values-based chain or network to increase sustainability, connect communities and strengthen regional economies.
“We wanted to capture people that really have the knowledge and the expertise,” Buckingham said.
The summit applied the research of Ken Meter, a farm and food system analyst and president of the Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis, Minn., a community-based non-profit.
Meter was commissioned by the Lake County Community Development Corporation to conduct a study on Western Montana’s local farms and food economies in Flathead, Lake, Missoula, Ravalli and Sanders Counties. His research highlighted a wealth of economic opportunities and challenges that conference-goers explored. According to Meter’s study, 73 percent of Western Montana’s farms and ranches reported net losses in 2007. Western Montana farmers lose approximately $31 million each year and spend $80 million buying farm supplies from outside the region. Simultaneously, Montana consumers are spending $749 million buying food each year and purchasing $680 million on food from outside the region.
Yet, if consumers purchased only 15 percent of their food directly from the region’s farmers, this would generate $66 million of new farm income.
Karl Sutton, cooperative development coordinator at LCCDC explained that by using this baseline data, attendees of the conference could capitalize using each other’s resources and expertise to move forward.
“I hope we will all roll up our sleeves to figure out the next step,” Sutton said.
“I’ve been to a lot of these (types of meetings), but this looks like the most helpful one,” Joe Arnold of Pablo said during introductions. Joe and his wife Wendi Arnold are anticipating the opening of their new cheese business, Flathead Lake Cheese Company. The Arnolds said finding small equipment was a long process and eventually found what they needed in Wisconsin and Texas.
“This is a big part of what we do,” explained Wendi.
“We find a local milk producer. I would like to support those folks.”
She also mentioned working with other local food producers and suppliers to add different flavors to their cheese, such as garlic, for example.
“If you can support your community, you can support yourself, and be more apt to succeed,” Wendi said.
