Organic and Local? Yes, It's Possible!
The “Organic v. Local” story in the summer issue of Edible Portland has generated a lot of discussion. Some people, rightly so I might add, are asking, “Wait a minute, why can’t it be local AND organic!?” Of course we can have local AND organic. In fact, you need look no farther than Lizzy Caston’s story about Ladybug Brand Organics for proof. I love this story because it demonstrates that we’re getting closer to "mainstreaming" local organic – not just organic produced en masse in places far from home.
–Deborah Kane
Organic and Local? Yes, It's Possible!
Written by Lizzy Caston
THIS IS A STORY about a cute little ladybug and what happens when a dedicated group of regional growers band together with a well respected organic produce distributor to create an innovative and successful business model for local, family-owned farms. The results have changed lives, preserved farms, and provided Portlanders with fantastic locally grown organic produce.
Getting quality organic food to consumers and having a quick and easy way for shoppers to identify what they are buying has always been a challenge in the “buy local, eat sustainable” equation. Confronted with long commutes from rural farms, prohibitive shipping and labor costs, and the effort it takes to educate the public on specialty crops and organics, many of our region’s smaller specialty farms have faced serious business challenges. Some have thrown in the towel altogether.
Ladybug Brand Organics is an instantly recognizable brand symbolized by a sticker on vegetables and fruits in local stores. It’s that cute little black and red ladybug with the red hat carrying a basket of produce. Easy to spot and remember, it represents over 38 family-owned certified organic farms in the Pacific Northwest. The Ladybug Brand was developed as a way for small farmers to cooperate rather than compete for the often elusive organic consumer market. It allows them get their produce to retailers easily, and it offers them a support system to better promote their products.
Organically Grown
Created in the early 1990s, the trademark Ladybug Brand is an offshoot of the Oregon based Organically Grown Company (OGC), the largest wholesaler of organic produce in the Pacific Northwest. While OGC sells organic products from Oregon and elsewhere (pineapples from Hawaii, for example), Ladybug is a cooperative model developed specifically for organic family-owned farms operating from southern Oregon to Vancouver, British Columbia. This model allows rural farms with small markets to reach larger population centers. It’s a business model that works.
OGC Marketing Director David Lively explains, “This allows local produce to be better distributed locally along with other organic produce, and as Ladybug is also offered to wholesalers throughout the U.S., it allows small Northwest farms a better chance for an increased market share.” These are crops our region is known to grow well, such as berries, onions so sweet you can eat them like apples, heirloom potatoes, cranberries, root vegetables, and greens.
Click below to view OGC's Food Miles Map and find out how many miles on average a Ladybug Farms blueberry traveled to reach your plate, or an organic South American Mango.
Ladybug Farmers
Jim (“JC”) Chambers, who runs Fir Oak Farm with partner Patti Rieman in rural southwestern Oregon, was an early Ladybug member. Considered to be one of the pioneer organic farmers in Oregon, JC claims that only a few of “the originals” have managed to make it work. Fir Oak is successful because Chambers and Rieman have found a formula that has allowed them to thrive.
On less than 10 acres of certified organic land, Fir Oak grows a variety of top quality produce, but is known for its outstanding blueberries and mouthwatering heirloom cherry tomatoes, such as Sweet 100s and Sun Golds. “Ladybug has definitely helped our farm,” JC states, “we realized that we have no market here in Douglas county, and Ladybug has allowed us to continually expand northward, thus allowing us new and specialty niche markets to keep us going.”
But there is more to it than just the business component. Many Ladybug growers cite ethics and the feeling of community, support, and trust that comes along with membership. “It’s convivial; it’s about helping people stay healthy; it’s about culture,” says Chambers.
Jamie Kitzrow of Spring Hill Farm in Albany, Oregon sells about half of his product through Ladybug and half directly at farmers’ markets. Kitzrow says that selling at the market gives him instant feedback from consumers. He brings this information back to other farmers in the Ladybug group, strengthening the business for everyone involved. Spring Hill specializes in popular greens, like spinach and collards, and lesser known greens, including watercress and rare chards.
Kitzrow loves that Ladybug represents top quality, and he thrives on the camaraderie of the cooperative. “Ladybug encourages me to challenge myself and refine my techniques. I am constantly learning.”
Cooperative not Competitive
The Ladybug business model is flexible for different farms with different needs, making it unique in the world of organic growers and wholesalers.
Farmers make decisions together on what crops are in demand and will be profitable, determine emerging specialty niche markets, learn from each other, and decide how to stagger their crops so that each is cooperating and not competing. For instance, tomatoes in southern Oregon ripen earlier than those in the Willamette Valley. By coordinating crop times and specialty niche types (such as different heirloom varieties), each farm is successful.
It’s this combination of a cooperative business practices plus the sheer number of farms involved that makes Ladybug different from almost all other cooperative organic wholesalers in the nation. And with sales that have grown to be as high as $4 million annually, accounting for over 25% of OGC’s total sales, Ladybug is no small crop of potatoes.
Each year new farmers are added to the cooperative to keep up with growing consumer demand for quality organic produce grown locally. As David Lively says, “Brand success comes partly from fact that OGC has strong marketing reach making it available to many outlets selling organic; partly from its position as a regional brand; and partly because people have come to associate Ladybug with such high quality food.” That’s something very special indeed.
Lizzy Caston is a writer, urban planner, and business consultant. She shares her small northeast Portland home with her dog Mabel and three lovely hens: Flossie, Fiona, and Fidget.
