2007 was an especially big year for local & sustainable foods growers. Market and farm tours are showing up more on travel itineraries as tourists show increased interest in learning about where their foods are coming from and how their meals are being prepared. 2007 may have been the year of the celebrity chef, but 2008 will be the year of the producer.
And what fine producers and growers we have in southern Oregon! I recently spoke to Spencer Davenport of Hillcrest Orchard about the upswing in Whitewater Warehouse's clients' interests in quality, local foods and beverages. Spencer lead me to a cooperative website called the Oregon Wine & Farm Tour. The site is worth a "look see" because it highlights some well-established food companies like Harry & David and then some smaller producers like Dagoba Organic Chocolate. While Harry & David has been a leader in capturing the nation's lust for fine, locally grown produce for some time, Dagoba is just now being recognized nationally for the superior products the company has developed, produced, and brought to the marketplace.
The group's motto is "Savor the Day." No doubt your mouth will be watering too once you have checked out the varied and unique southern Oregon producers! Loved the site so much that I am posting it under our "links."
FACTOIDS: Some southern Oregon wineries date back to the late 1800s making it the oldest wine region in the state. Southern Oregon's pears and fruit have been world-renowned since the early 1900s...and the shipping of these natural jewels was the start of what we know today as "gourmet gift baskets".
