Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association

Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association

Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association

Long-Term Planning: Summary

September 2008

MARKETING: OEFFA endeavors to assist growers by helping to expand markets, create supportive infrastructure, promote their products, and develop as entrepreneurs.

Goal 1:Identify areas with potential to facilitate regional food system connections between farmers and buyers to expand Ohio’s processing and distribution infrastructure.

Recommendations:

1. Build infrastructure needed for a local food system, esp. processing facilities and distribution networks

2. Explore a CO-OP model for growers, starting with publicizing existing co-op models, facilitating a VAPG (Value-Added Producer Grant or SARE Producer grant proposal.

3. Investigate the creation of a producer sheet updated monthly and distributed to restaurants and institutional buyers.

Goal 2:Expand product promotion efforts for all OEFFA growers, including web and print resources.

Recommendations:

1. Create a better/statewide "Fresh Sheet" and "Local Harvest Guide" by distributing the Good Earth Guide more widely; improve it by including information on where to find locally produced food (eg., farmers markets OEFFA members sell at, restaurants that use OEFFA member food).

2. Build the "Homegrown" promotion program to include Point of Sale materials and tie to the communications plan.

3. Hire a marketing coordinator

4. Create an online message board where producers and buyers can communicate.

Goal 3:Enhance capacity to provide farmers with business management, finance, and development assistance.

Goal 4:Develop key partnerships to explore provisioning of fresh local and organic food to underserved communities.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY & DEVELOPMENT: It is OEFFA’s intent to operate in a manner which consistently best serves the needs of its members and furthers the mission of OEFFA while safeguarding the sustainability of the organization.

Goal 1:Clearly assess membership needs and how the organization can better serve them.

Recommendations:

1. Develop and conduct a comprehensive member survey and evaluation

2. Develop and conduct chapter phone survey to inventory needs, interests (Depending on list size, survey all or smaller random #; review old surveys)

Goal 2:Diversify income sources through grants, planned giving programs, individual and major donor and endowment development.

Recommendations:

  1. Evaluate potential for and generate grant proposals from long-term planning recommendations
  2. Set up a planned giving program
  3. Develop and execute OEFFA 30th anniversary fundraising campaign by:
  4. Identifying campaign co-chairs and volunteers to carry out activities.
  5. Holding local harvest dinners around state in Aug and Sept
  6. Setting fundraising campaign goals
  7. Developing support materials/brochures for activities.

Goal 3:Increase membership by 50% in the next 5 years.

Recommendations:

  1. Work with CSAs to provide OEFFA newsletters to their members for 6 months
  2. Target certified producers to become members
  3. Increase awareness among the gen. population of who and what OEFFA is and reasons to support (become members of OEFFA) by:
  4. Organizing membership booths at farmers' markets, County Fairs, State Fair, etc. to increase awareness of OEFFA
  5. Implementing an OEFFA speakers' bureau to expand outreach
  6. Putting out frequent press releases related to organics/sustainable/local and OEFFA's role in these.

Goal 4:Enhance board capacity

Recommendations:

  1. Undertake a board self-assessment and make refinements to Board structure and operations.
  1. Determine if size of board needs to be increased (make by-law changes, if needed).
  2. Determine if terms should be longer (make by-law changes, if needed).
  3. Write job descriptions for board members.
  4. Target board searches based on assessment and identified needs.
  1. Hold board orientation for new members; synchronize beginning of terms.
  2. Undertake regular board trainings.

Goal 5:Create a comprehensive communications plan.

Recommendations:

  1. Assess and revise current brochures, create new brochures
  1. Assess current brochures (membership, "What organic means to you," "12 reasons," etc.) update/discard, as appropriate.
  2. Identify additional educational brochures that should be developed.
  3. Author brochures, get feedback, revise.
  4. Give to graphic designer, publish.
  1. Create plan for regular placement of articles about OEFFA in media.
  2. Publish annual report.
  3. Develop weekly podcast series from OEFFA conference tapes.

Goal 6:Nurture networking opportunities among our members.

Recommendation:

  1. Provide networking tools and resources in print form, including OEFFA News, membership directory, and the Good Earth Guide.
  2. Provide online forums and resources, including including list servs, blogging, action alerts, and other opportunities organized for members to plug into issues/items of interest.

Goal 7:Encourage chapter development by:

Recommendations:

  1. Addressing barriers for chapter participation and developing incentives
  2. Clarifying relationship between office and chapters.
  3. Providing administrative and promotional assistance

EDUCATION: OEFFA affirms that, above all else, it exists to meet the educational needs to sustainable and organic producers and the general public, all of whom depend on healthy food, a clean environment, and strong communities.

Goal 1:Provide timely, accurate, comprehensive education regarding organic and sustainable food production and marketing to growers.

*Recommendations:

  1. Continually update the content and improve tools available on the OEFFA website which further the education of organic and sustainable farming, including chat rooms, issue awareness/response.
  2. Develop and offer high quality educational programming, including the annual conference, free-standing workshops, and farm tours around Ohio.
  3. Develop a speakers bureau to increase educational outreach on organic and sustainable production.
  4. Develop programs which recruit new farmers and increase their success rate, including formalizing the apprenticeship program.
  5. Work with partners (e.g. CVCC New Farmers Course) to help producers understand bus. development, understand their costs, pricing, finance, etc.
  6. Continue and expand farm tours, raising the quality of tours and expanding them across more seasons. Aim for 12-14 tours/year (How can we add to these to make the economic argument?)

Goal 2:Demonstrate benefits of organic certification with regards to marketing products

Recommendations:

  1. Articulate clear economic models for certified and/or sustainable farmers by:
  1. Publishing detailed examples of how different kinds of producers make a living doing what they do.
  2. Work with partners (such as CVCC - New Farmers course) to help producers understand their costs.
  3. Recruit OEFFA farmers willing to discuss economics of their operation, help them develop as speakers, and use them in Speakers' Bureau

Goal 3:Increase efforts to educate a new consumer base about the relative personal, social, ecological, and economic benefits of supporting local and organic farmers through expanded outreach efforts to new constituencies.

Recommendations:

  1. Continually update the content and improve tools available on the OEFFA website
  2. Continue to make OEFFA members' farms available through farm tours or other opportunities specifically geared to consumers.
  3. Develop a marketing/communication/outreach program/strategy that would include:
  1. Developing consumer-oriented PPT presentation to be used when talking to the public and which can expand participation in the speakers bureau
  2. Implementing the "homegrown" promotion program:
  3. Fact sheets for consumers (can be distributed by producers at farmers markets, and other venues
  4. Distributing buttons (""ask me how I grew it"") and Point of Sale materials for ""Homegrown"" marketing program"
  5. Creating a plan for placing articles in media, add resource materials to website, which make a clear case for the health benefits of organics (re: residues, nutrit. value), also argues for local foods as econ. development and for fresh tastes

Goal 4:Support transfer of appropriate technology, with specific attention to season extension and small farm technologies.

Recommendations:

  1. Regularly include these as conference workshops.
  2. Feature these topics in intensive workshop.
  3. Help farmers reduce on-farm energy use through utilization of alt. energy and energy-conserving technologies.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT & ADVOCACY: All work which OEFFA undertakes takes place within the bounds imposed by policies. It is incumbent on OEFFA to advocate for policies supportive of sustainable farming and family farms.

Goal 1:Improve OEFFA’s capacity to advocate for (and even proactively develop) local, state, and federal policies and programs (including appropriations) supportive of sustainable family farming and amend existing regulatory barriers through lobbying and grassroots efforts.

Recommendations:

  1. Allocate staff (Exec. Dir.) time for greater involvement with national partners such as Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and/or National Organic Coalition.
  2. Engage members by:
  1. Establishing electronic action alert network and offering events to membership around policy issues.
  2. Tracking (in OEFFA database) interest in policy and provide training to interested members.
  3. Developing tools to engage volunteers and track participation.
  4. Utilize members to track articles in major Ohio newspapers and write responses as LTEs
  5. Establish a "policy coordinator" staff position, or add this function to an existing staff position.
  6. Review all OEFFA goals and programs for the purpose of identifying associated policy development and advocacy opportunities and to the extent permitted by the C-3 tax exempt status, strive to make policy development and advocacy an integral part of all OEFFA activities.
  7. Seek funding to include in each annual budget a line item to support OEFFA member/staff travel to D.C. for fly-ins and other opportunities to meet with elected representatives.

Goal 2:Wage a broad public campaign to educate the public and policy-makers regarding economic benefits of local and organic agriculture, especially the role they play in fostering sustainable economic revitalization and redevelopment of urban neighborhoods and rural communities.

CERTIFICATION PROGRAM: OEFFA is committed to providing organic certification services and working in a manner that upholds the integrity of the organic label.

Goal 1:Work with OEFFA (Education) to meet the informational and educational needs of existing and transitioning organic producers by:

Recommendations:

  1. Answer growers' (general) organic questions related to crop production.
  2. Hire an organic educator specializing in livestock issues to provide services to organic producers (or those transitioning to organic)
  3. Connect experienced growers with new growers through a voluntary mentoring program.
  4. Alert OEFFA Education staff of trends in order to inform educational programming
  5. Develop partnerships, such as with the OFFER Program, to enhance educational outreach, advocate for the research needs of organic producers, and produce educational materials.

Goal 2:Deliver professional, timely, and affordable certification services that meet the needs of clients in accordance with the rules set forth by the NOP.

Recommendations:

  1. Define the regional scope of the Certification program, review fee structure, and charge higher fees from applicants located outside OEFFA's primary region.
  2. Produce an annual certification guide, which would have a list of FAQs, resources available, and new interpretations of certification standards. (Note: to be available electronically and on paper.)
  3. Produce fact sheets, including documents that address products and ingredients that ensure NOP compliance.
  4. Explore with Greenfield Farms opportunities to train someone to work with their producers to complete applications correctly; identify Amish who may want to become IOIA-trained inspectors
  5. Add an online certification bulletin board to the OEFFA website, to be accessed by members through a password. (I am not sure what the intention is here)

Goal 3:Preserve and increase the certification program's integrity.

Recommendations:

  1. Conduct "integrity inspections," annually re-inspecting 5% of applications.
  2. Post a separate list of certified growers on the OEFFA website.
  3. Form a "standards committee" to advise Cert Staff on interpretation of organic standards.
  4. Work to educate producers, consumers, and farmers market managers about the legal use of the term "organic."

Goal 4:Maintain and increase the independent inspector pool

Recommendations

  1. Host another inspector training.
  2. Ensure a competitive pay rate and increase in income by organizing multiple daily inspections when possible.
Top View