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Spring 2010 : Look
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Oregon Humanities: Spring 2010
Douglas County Thinks Local
Oregon Humanities grant brings community together.
“Some people argue that it’s a yuppie thing, to be into local food,” says Lily Brislen, who runs Douglas County’s Think Local Umpqua program. “And this is not a yuppie community. But connecting with your community spans all ideologies.”
Supported by an Oregon Humanities grant awarded in March 2009, Think Local Umpqua is, according to its downloadable buying guide (http://www.thinklocalumpqua.com/localpages.html), “a coalition of farmers, business owners, and community supporters who encourage our community members to ‘Think Local First’ when selecting goods and services.” Local food is a big component of the program—the guide lists everyone from the gargantuan Umpqua Dairy to the teensy Arrow’s Delight Chocolates—but Think Local Umpqua embraces all independent, locally based businesses in the county.
Nearly a quarter of the program’s grant award went to licensing the rights to screen the popular documentary Food, Inc. At the film’s November 2009 showing, Brislen says, the room was so crowded the organizers had to turn people away. “We had locally grown popcorn with Umpqua Dairy butter,” Brislen says. “But what was most exciting was that all ages were there—middle schoolers, some Girl Scouts serving popcorn. And that’s rare to see.”
Beyond the local boosterism, Brislen adds, lies a possible shift in outlook among community members. “It’s easy to live in your own bubble,” she says. “But we’re seeing and hearing our messaging coming out of other people’s mouths, in the newspaper, or at community meetings. People are taking ownership of the whole think-local idea.”
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Oregon Humanities magazine examines topics of broad public interest from a variety of perspectives and approaches. Recent issues of this publication have focused on stuff, nostalgia, and civility. Through good and thoughtful writing, Oregon Humanities magazine enriches our understanding of important subjects and stimulates conversation and reflection among readers, their friends, families, colleagues, and neighbors.
Contributors
Caroline Cummins
Caroline Cummins is the managing editor of Culinate.com.
Christine Dupres
Christine Dupres is the former director of the Office of Sustainability and Community Engagement at the Native American Youth and Family Center in Portland. She is a freelance writer and an Oregon Humanities board member.
Ellen Santasiero
Ellen Santasiero is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Northwest Review, The Sun, Marlboro Review, Oregon Humanities, and in a recent anthology from the University of Oklahoma Press. She is at work on a memoir.
Karen Karbo
Karen Karbo‘s three novels, as well as her Oregon Book Award–winning memoir, The Stuff of Life, have all been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Her most recent book is The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World’s Most Elegant Woman.
Lisa Radon
Lisa Radon has written about art and design for Portland Spaces (as associate editor), Portland Monthly, Surface Design Journal, SHIFT (Japan), FLAUNT, Hyperallergic, and ultra (ultrapdx.com). She’s written a handful of catalog essays and is working on her first book.
R. Gregory Nokes
R. Gregory Nokes has worked as a reporter and editor for the Associated Press and the Oregonian. His reporting about this incident has resulted in a formal designation of the massacre site as Chinese Massacre Cove. He lives in West Linn.
Rich Wandschneider
Rich Wandschneider was the founding director of Fishtrap, a literary nonprofit in eastern Oregon, and is now building the Alvin Josephy Library of Western History and Culture at Fishtrap. He writes a regular newspaper column and has written for the Oregonian, High Desert Journal, High Country News, and others. He is on the editorial advisory board of this magazine and on the board of directors for Oregon Humanities.
Scott Nadelson
Scott Nadelson’s most recent book is The Cantor’s Daughter. He teaches creative writing at Willamette University.
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