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Building a stronger food system By Steve Boyarsky Jul 31, 2022 12:30 AM A A Philip Yates connected his community through food — helping to procure, distribute, prepare and enjoy it together Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune Philip Yates tends plants at his home garden in Talent. Editor’s note: Community Builder is a periodic Q& A series providing perspectives from local people who have been involved in significant change in Southern Oregon. Today's conversation is with Philip Yates, board member of Rogue Valley Farm to School. Q: You worked at ACCESS to secure food for families in the Rogue Valley for many years. How did you end up getting involved in providing food and food insecurity issues? Philip: I had a couple of careers before I entered social services. I was an electronics technician in England and then in Australia. While traveling in New Zealand, I met a beautiful American woman. Nancy was from Ashland; we hit it off. We were together for a while when she had to leave suddenly to go back to Oregon because her father was really sick. I had fallen in love and had to decide about the future. I called and asked Nancy to marry me over the phone. She said, ‘Yes, I'll marry you, but you have to come here. I’ve already been to Australia. I want you to come here.’ It took me a while to get the right visa. I came in 1980. Q: So you came to a new county for a new life? Philip: Both of us were looking for a new career, and we were taken by Waldorf Education. We felt this is what we should do. We returned to England for our training. I became a Waldorf teacher and taught for seven years. It was the most difficult job I've ever, ever done. I have a great deal of respect for people who teach, but it wasn’t me. Once again, I was left to figure out what I should do. There was a book called, ‘What Color Is My Parachute?’ I started to go through that and figure out what I should do. It seemed to be pointing me in the direction of social services. One of the exercises was to talk with somebody in social services that you knew. Ben Benjamin was the ACCESS nutrition program director. I called Ben who replied, ‘Well, why don't you come down and have a look at the warehouse? I’m making a transition within the agency, and my job is becoming available.’ It happened quickly, but I had a background in administering programs. I went for an interview, and Patty Claeys, the executive director, hired me. Q: What was your first impression of hunger in the Rogue Valley? Philip: I found myself in the job three days before Thanksgiving in 1991. I knew a little bit because I saw what Ben had been doing. I couldn’t understand at that point why there was hunger in the United States. I’d traveled to other places, like Asia. I saw poverty firsthand with people begging the streets, and there was nothing like that here. Q: How did your perception change? Philip: I got a gradual understanding, through some painful times, of what we were dealing with. Eventually, I figured out we were dealing with malnutrition and not specifically hunger. In the 1990s, after I began with ACCESS, the economy started to get better. There was less unemployment and all of a sudden in 1996, many of the government programs were cut. There was an assumption that people had jobs and could make ends meet. But the reality was, for most low-income people — even if they had a job — they weren't making enough money to pay all their bills. If you’re paying over 30% of your income in housing, there's very little left for nutritious food. And many people were paying 50% of their income for housing. So the load was then pushed onto nonprofits because the government food programs had been cut. Q: So nonprofits took over from government food programs? Philip: 2001 was the peak year for food assistance. Americans in poverty grew by 8 million people, support for school meals was reduced and Food Stamps were cut by $23 million. Food banks had to find additional resources. More and more, the burden fell on nonprofits. Food programs in the Rogue Valley were asking local foundations for support to purchase food. We all knew we had to figure out what the root causes are. That was the real transition. We began the journey of trying to figure out where we would get more food — and food that was more nutritious. Q: Where did the search for more nutritious food lead you? Philip: We know the most important time for nutrition is from birth to 3. If federal WIC (Women Infants and Children) food programs were cut, we had to provide nutritious food for young families. ACCESS built a kitchen called the Olsrud Family Nutrition Center in 2000. That gave us the opportunity to expand senior meals across Jackson County, in partnership with Rogue Valley Council of Governments, and create new program opportunities. Through Leightman Maxey and other foundations, the food community began to look at building a stronger food system. Not only people delivering food, but local farmers producing food and transporting it to hubs. We needed a new generation of farmers. The average age of farmers had reached 60. Younger people weren’t coming into the business. In 2012, all the partnering agencies decided to put together a Jackson County food assessment. It took a year to bring groups together, to interview farmers and everybody connected with the food system. Kathy Bryon of the Gordon Elwood Foundation helped guide us in setting up the Rogue Valley Food System Network. The food system network is growing. Are we there yet? No. But a lot of progress has been made. For ACCESS, for me, it was about how do we bring more nutrition into our programs? How do we partner with health providers? People were struggling with diabetes and gluten intolerance. We established Food Share Gardens. People from Gold Hill, Rogue River, Medford and at the VA Dom grew food to distribute through ACCESS to the food pantries. Those gardens were producing, at their height, about 50,000 pounds of organic vegetables a year. In partnership with the Oregon Food Bank, we launched a new food recovery program called Fresh Alliance. This brought large grocery stores like Fred Meyer, Walmart and Safeway on board as major frozen and perishable food donors. The program grew and grew and grew. With some federal money, we were able to buy a refrigerated truck to use as a food pantry to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables. We were changing the paradigm of offering nutritious food to the community. Q: What accomplishments at ACCESS are you most proud of? Philip: I’m most proud of working together with the Rogue Valley Food System Network. We were working toward a better community with better nutrition for everybody, not only for low-income people. Sherm and Wanda Olsrud have been incredible donors to ACCESS. I got to know them personally and felt really, really proud to know their example of giving. The Olsruds never wanted anything in return. They always gave because there was a need. Any opportunity to speak with them were precious times for me. Q: You retired from ACCESS but recently joined the board of Rogue Valley Farm to School. What does Rogue Valley Farm to School do that makes a difference? Philip: We have several programs centered around building gardens in schools and nutrition education. Elementary schools have lessons centered around their gardens: composting, growing plants, nutrition and math lessons. The responses from teachers and administrative has been inspiring — not only changing the lives of the kids but changing the lives of the teachers and administrators. We’re only reaching 25% of schools in the area; we could reach more. Q: What about the sampling programs for nutritious foods for kids? Philip: We have ‘Harvest of the Month’ tasting tables. It’s usually a fruit or vegetable for kids to try. They get to vote on it. We have our procurement program to get more fresh fruit and vegetables into school lunches. We work with local farmers and are the regional hub for Oregon Farm to School. During the pandemic and the fire, we were able to access and distribute over a $1 million worth of fresh food for local families. Q: You’ve lived various places around the world. Why is this your home? Philip: I lived in Manchester, England, then moved to Australia and lived in Sydney, another large city. I was kind of suffering from city-living blues, where you ride the bus and nobody acknowledges anybody else. When I first came to Southern Oregon, walking down the streets people would say, “Hello.” I immediately felt connected to the community. Working in food programs was the job I was looking for all along because it was about community. I was always a team player, no matter what the sport. I want to improve things, but I can’t change them individually. Time after time at ACCESS, we would ask for help, and people would step forward. It was really the community part that I loved. It’s about working together. Q: What would you like to see that would make life better here? Philip: I want to see kids who are thriving — beginning life with adequate nutrition. It’s a personal choice down the road, but for young kids, we have to figure out ways to help them early. Q: What does someone from England think about life here? Philip: I have friends that come from other countries and visit; they leave with a great impression of this area. To be able to go rafting, go to redwoods and — a special gem — to have Oregon Shakespeare festival here is so unusual. To have a smaller community that also has culture is so special. Q: What has been reinforced that you now know for sure? Philip: I have learned the importance of nutrition and how it affects people’s lives. I’ve learned that good food makes a difference — not only preparing and enjoying it, but the experience of eating it together. I come from England, and I’m the only one of my family that’s traveled beyond 50 miles of Manchester. It’s taken me that distance to get perspective. Nutrition has spoken to me personally and became a passion to help the community. Steve Boyarsky is a retired educator and longtime resident of the Rogue Valley. He continues to be involved in educational and youth programs. Bio: Rogue Valley Farm to School Rogue Valley Farm to School educates children about our food system through hands-on farm and garden programs and by increasing local foods in school meals. We inspire an appreciation of local agriculture that improves the economy and environment of our community and the health of its members. RVF2S works in collaboration with schools to build a culture of health. Students participate in lessons about growing food, farming, nutrition, preparation of food and the environment. Programs include farm field trips, school garden activities, cafeteria programs and teacher professional development. Monthly tastings expose students to foods such as vegetables, soups or salads that students may not be aware of. Farm to School also assists school nutrition programs to procure local, fresh, wholesome foods. Dietitians and a professional chef work with schools and over 20 local farms to provide healthy meals. For more information or to get involved with Rogue Valley Farm to School, see rvfarm2school.org.