Walnut Hill Farm, owned by Tim Gilmer and his wife, Sam, is located in between Oregon City and Canby, just east of the Willamette River. The Gilmers have been growing vegetables on their 27-acre farm for delivery to Portland-area markets and restaurants since 1983. In 1990 WHF adopted organic growing methods. The farm has been certified organic by Oregon Tilth since 1995. Each year WHF markets upwards of 20 different varieties of tomatoes and between 10 and 12 varieties of lettuce. Other crops grown are fresh basil, Giant Italian parsley, 5 different types of beans, broccoli, eggplant, Asian cucumbers, radicchio, and multiple varieties of peppers, melons, and squashes. In 2009 Walnut Hill Farm was featured in an episode of PBS’ award-winning food program, “Chefs A’Field,” along with celebrated chef Philippe Boulot of Portland’s Heathman Restaurant. “We’ve been bringing fresh veggies to Food Front for the last 20 or so years, and we’re especially appreciative of the coop’s consistent support of local farmers,” says Farmer Tim.
We have the best local cheese selection!
Cascadia Creamery
"Cascadia Creamery revives a long tradition of artisan cheese making in the Trout Lake Valley that began over 125 years ago. Here rich volcanic soils and temperate weather provide lush grazing meadows for our cows and an ideal location to craft our organic, aged, raw artisan cheeses." Read more here
Fraga Farms
"Fraga Farm is an organic farmstead goat dairy in northern Oregon. We produce a full range of certified organic goat cheese." Read more here
Ancient Heritage
"Delivered from our pasture to your plate, our mission is to craft exquisite artisan cheese, made farm fresh and responsibly. Our recipes are based in old-world European tradition utilizing methods that respect their ancient heritage." Read more here
Portland Creamery
"We believe in producing simple, excellent, handcrafted goat cheese for the Portland community and beyond." Read more here
Food Front Update 12/13
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FOOD FRONT UPDATE: 10/27
Hello Food Front Community, First, we want to thank you for all of your support, ideas, and energy as the process unfolds to develop the future of Food Front. And now, we have some exciting news to share with you:
Board of Directors:
Voting closed on 10/25 (12pm) with an extremely high turnout. Thank you to the more than 380 folks who submitted their votes for Directors to the Food Front Board!
The Board of Directors includes: Mike Grivas, President; Roman Shvarts, Vice President; Tom Bussell, Secretary/Treasurer; Collin Ferguson; Defne Oztek; Sanela Ruznic; and Silas Beebe
If you’d like to contact the Board with questions or ideas, please email Board@FoodFront.coop
Financing Update:
We are pleased to announce that we have closed on a loan! Terms include $1M, 7.75% interest, 4.25% fees, 15 year amortization.
We have paid back the loan from Beneficial State Bank and will begin the process of paying past due invoices to Food Front vendors and partners.
With the balance remaining on this new loan, we have roughly 6 months of cash runway before foreclosure looms again. However, realistically, including time for negotiations, member voting, etc., we have more like 30-45 days to finalize a plan. This is where we need your input. Please join us at the November meeting to learn more.
November Board Meeting:
When: 6pm, 11/28
Where: Zoom, online only
What: Anticipated to have presentations from the Board, a potential real estate development partner, a potential grocery store buyer, a realtor, a grocery industry consultant, and possibly more.
Learn more about the challenges and opportunities of the different potential options facing the future of Food Front.
Member Engagement:
You’ve spoken, we’ve listened! You said you’d like to learn more about what opportunities the Board has considered regarding opening the store, redeveloping, etc.
We have set up a Frequently Asked Questions (https://foodfront.coop/about/FAQs/) page with questions regarding ideas we’ve heard from members and answers about the viability of each option.
We’ll be sharing more information at the November Board Meeting and you will be receiving updates via email and social media. In the meantime, if you have questions or additional ideas you’d like to share, please send them to Board@FoodFront.Coop - thank you!
And finally, the GoFundMe is still up! Your generosity has helped tremendously to keep the lights on, the utilities paid, pests under control, trash hauled and more. We would not be where we are without the incredible support of the Food Front community! Thank you for your contributions and continued support. https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-food-front
Thank you for your support, Food Front Board of Directors
VOTE FOR THE FOOD FRONT BOARD
Hello Food Front Community,
Thank you for joining us at the Food Front Annual Meeting last night. It was great to see you. We have a few updates and requests for you:
It’s time to VOTE for Board members - Voting is open!
Voting for Board members is open from Wednesday, October 18 (12pm) through Wednesday, October 25 (12pm)
Instructions on how to vote, candidate pictures and bios are on this website
If you have any questions or issues voting, we will be hosting “office hours”
"Office Hours” will be held at Food Front on Saturday 10/21, enter the parking lot on 23rd Place. 11am-3pm.
As a reminder, a vote may only be cast by an equity owner member, not household members
We need at least 200 people to vote, so please do!!
Annual Meeting:
Loan update - the Board is within 1-2 weeks to closing on a loan. The loan offers the best terms of any we have vetted. It is $1M, 7.75% interest, 4.25% fees, 15 year amortization.
We look forward to paying off the loan from Beneficial and especially making our vendors whole. We will let you know when the loan comes through officially, but thank you all in the meantime for your patience and support.
Voting update - as noted above, voting for Board members begins on 10/18 (12pm) and runs through 10/25 (12pm). There will be “office hours” at the store for anyone that needs assistance, 10/21 from 11am-3pm.
Many thanks to Collin, Silas, Defne, and Sanela for volunteering to run for the first time and help out! And thanks to Mike, Roman, and Tom for running as well and continuing to pass on information gathered so far to the new board members. We can’t do this work without you all - thank you!
Lastly, the GoFundMe is still up! Your generosity has helped tremendously to keep the lights on, the utilities paid, pests under control, trash hauled and more. We would not be where we are without the incredible support of the Food Front community! Thank you for your contributions and continued support. https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-food-front
Thank you for your support, Food Front Board of Directors