Page 53 - Southern Oregon Magazine Summer 2021

ROGUE FOOD UNITES

Meeting food needs in six counties

by lynn leissler

n September 8,
2020, the Almeda
fire started and
Orapidly overtook
major parts of Talent and
Phoenix, as well as sections
of other communities. Over
4,000 people became suddenly
homeless, and 42,000 people
were displaced—but they still
needed to eat.

A small group of individuals in the food and beverage sector acknowledged the urgency. “We
just showed up,” says Amber Ferguson, who would become a principle in Rogue Food Unites,
an organization not yet founded. She didn’t refer to coincidence, but to the “of-course-we-
showed-up” attitude of caring people who were determined and equipped to do something
about it. They wanted to feed people and keep money flowing through the local economy.
Initially, many took food to the Expo for victims and volunteers, all the while acknowledging
that communities reach out when disaster hits, then return to their own lives after the initial
urgency passes. For the victims, however, the need is long term.

These food industry folks sought donations from the community and through personal con-
tacts, used local food businesses as the means to feed the fire displaced. Before long, Rogue
Food Unites (RFU) was born. “Beautiful things happen when there’s been a disaster. This was a
silver lining,” says Jamie North, also an RFU principle and owner of Mix Bakeshop in Ashland.

Many fire victims were already struggling as part of our underserved population. Others faced
food and employment distress due to COVID-19. The agencies designed to help often require
mountains of paperwork. When these things are added up, fatigue and feeling overwhelmed
often overtake.

Yet the question remains—“What’s for dinner?”

Last December, some people felt that our upside-down 2020 world would be magically turned
aright when we flipped the calendar to 2021. While much has improved, we are far from full
recovery. We still wrestle with the effects of the pandemic, and a great many fire victims still
reside in hotels. Available housing is at a premium. As rebuilding starts, construction costs
have skyrocketed. Restaurant owners and staff struggle with the ebb and flow of closures and
decreased seating capacity, a situation dealt them by a disease that refuses to follow orders or
recognize boundaries.

As they sought to get food to fire-affected people, RFU set up a three-pronged approach. First,
they gather information about need, then provide orders and schedules to restaurants who
deliver hot meals to locations where people are sheltering, such as a hotel lobby, also to distri-
bution sites, and fire relief centers (although the latter are starting to close). Another facet is
the RFU provision box program. Beautiful boxes filled with healthy food—non-GMO, organic,
local produce and meats—were delivered to people who have transitioned to semi-permanent
housing. (Additionally, these boxes are distributed at some COVID vaccination sites, while at
others food trucks have been brought onsite.) Finally, there is a voucher program for local res-
taurants or grocery stores to assist certain individuals or families, including those with dietary

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