Economically, we are what we eat

We currently import at least 90 percent our food from outside the Portland region, about $4.7 billion a year with related inputs included. We could increase our regional wealth by between $470 million and $940 million annually if we shifted between 10 and 20 percent of our purchases from imported to local foods.

Through his compelling article, Economically, we are what we eat, Bob Wise addresses those facts and examines the challenges of providing local foods in Oregon.  He asks, if we are sitting in the midst of one of the world’s most food-abundant places, why is it so difficult to buy food grown here?  The answer is that we import most of the food we eat.  Bob considers ways to reverse this significant “leakage” dynamic. He proposes strategic solutions to findings from several recent research projects conducted by COC and regional partners that attempt to answer these questions:  how we can support expanded agriculture to accommodate import substitution, what it would take to increase demand and supply of local food, how to help farmers keep a greater share of the food dollar and stay in business, and how we can increase our human and social capital to support the food economy.

The blog is the second in a series of six articles on import substitution on the Sustainable Business Oregon website.

Bob Wise Launches Series of Articles in Sustainable Business Oregon

On January 31, Bob Wise posted the first of six articles on import substitution at www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/columns. The first article summarizes the crisis in job creation facing Oregon and the nation.  Currently most economic development strategies are focused on exports of products – the traded sector.  This strategy attempts to capture money from elsewhere and bring it to Oregon.  Bob details a totally separate but compatible economic development strategy of import substitution.  At its simplest, import substitution replaces spending on imported goods and services for those made locally.  This approach keeps money here and circulating rather than sending it away.  Over the next few weeks Bob will address how this strategy can be applied to the food we eat, energy we consume, houses we build, public works we construct, and the exemplary companies focused on these markets and others.

St. Johns Open House: Neighbors gather to talk trucks, neighborhoods and livability

Elaine Cogan and Ellen Wyoming of Cogan Owens Cogan worked with planners from the Portland Bureau of Transportation and consultants from T.Y. Lin and Kittelson & Associates to design and manage a lively open house at the St. Johns community center on November 17.  The open house focused on how to improve safety and livability along North Fessenden/St. Louis streets in North Portland while meeting the needs of residents and the trucking industry.  The evening highlight was a series of five table-sized aerial photographs covering the Fessenden/St. Louis corridor on which attendees wrote their opinions and suggestions about issues or conflicts with post-it notes.  The results will be considered in the range of alternatives presented to the citizen members of the stakeholder committee in mid December.  On November 23 an article about issues of neighborhood livability and the open house was posted in The Oregonian. A second public event will be held in the coming months. A link to the summary report can be found here.

COC Writes Successful $2.2 Clean Tech Grant for Region

COC is thrilled to have coordinated the $2.2 million grant app for clean tech the region received today. We are one of 20 regions nationally to have received this award. Greater Portland Inc and Pam Treece were terrific convenors.  See the detailed release at http://1.usa.gov/nx5mzi. Go region!