Upcoming Events
Montana Mobile Poultry Unit Processing Training, June 9th
Better Process Control School (BPCS), July 12-13
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), July 15-16

Recent Events
Raising Heritage Bred Poultry, April 24th

Staff
Jan Tusick
Karl Sutton

 

"Localizing our food and energy supplies adds value that stays on our farms and in our rural and urban communities. It also creates new possibilities for development and stewardship of our natural and human resources and reduces our dependence on increasingly centralized and uncertain global sources for food and fuel."
- Ron de Yong, Director, Montana Department of Agriculture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raising Heritage Bred Poultry: For sustainable farming, marketing, exhibition & preservation

Location: University of Montana, Missoula, Mt.

Date: April 24th, 8:30am – 2:30pm

Eighteen people joined Jim Adkins from the International Center for Poultry for a seminar on developing a sustainable poultry system in Montana. The attendees learned what heritage poultry breeds are on the verge of extinction. Attendees also learned how to sustainably reproduce and raise heritage poultry for eggs and meat purposes. The newly licensed Mobile Poultry Processing Unit was on hand for people to tour. The MPU is available to Montana Poultry Grower’s Cooperative members who are interested in selling poultry meat to stores and restaurants. At the conclusion of the seminar the Poultry Cooperative met to share ideas about the next steps in the development of a poultry industry in Montana. Ideas included a heritage breed project that would include cooperatively raising heritage birds for the market place and developing a marketing and educational campaign to inform consumers about the need for a sustainable poultry industry in Montana.

More Information: Contact Karl Sutton, 406-676-5901 ksutton@ronan.net or visit the newly launched Montana Poultry Growers Cooperative website: www.chicken.coop.

Montana Mobile Poultry Unit Processing Training

Location:Lake County Community Development Center 407 Main St SW, Ronan, Montana 59864

Date: June 9, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm

Are you a small scale farmer wishing to diversify your operation? Are you interested in raising and processing chickens for local markets? Do you have questions about regulations and procedures in regards to processing of poultry? Then this FREE workshop is for you!

This workshop will present information and hands-on learning on the use of the Mobile Processing Unit This unit, now licensed in the state of Montana as a mobile slaughter facility, is designed for small scale farmers to process their poultry on farm and to sell to local markets. Topics covered will include food safety, regulatory requirements of processing poultry and correct processing procedures. Each participant will receive the Mobile Processing Unit Training Manual.
Refreshments will be provided

More Information: Contact Karl Sutton, cooperative development coordinator at Lake County Community Development, 406-676-5901 ksutton@ronan.net

Sponsored by:

Better Process Control School (BPCS)

Location: Lake County Community Development Center Conference Room, 407 Main St SW Ronan, Montana 59864

Date: July 12-13, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Instructor: Dr. Richard Dougherty, WSU Extension Food Science Specialist

Fee: $100

About the instructor: Dr. Richard Dougherty is an Extension Food Science Specialist at Washington State University in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Dr. Dougherty joined Washington State University in 1990 after spending more than 15 years in the food processing and packaging industries. He conducts workshops and conferences on food safety, regulatory issues, low acid and acidified foods processing, HACCP, SQF, product development, and food business development. His experience has included management of quality assurance, product development, regulatory affairs, research, and technical services for food processing and related operations. He has worked with a wide range of canned, frozen, dehydrated, and freeze-dried products, including fruits and vegetables, juices, soups, snacks, meat & poultry, and seafood.

For More Information: Contact Karl Sutton, 406-676-5901 ksutton@ronan

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)

Location: Lake County Community Development Center Conference Room, 407 Main St SW, Ronan, Montana 59864

Date: July 15-16, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Instructor: Dr. Richard Dougherty, WSU Extension Food Science Specialist

Fee: $100

HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution, and consumption of finished product. HACCP is not a zero risk system, but is designed to minimize the risk of food safety
HACCP is being successfully applied to all segments of the food industry from growing, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, distributing, and merchandising to preparing food for consumption. Prerequisite programs such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s) are an essential foundation for the development and implementation of successful HACCP plans. There are five preliminary steps and seven principles of HACCP that are universally accepted by government agencies, trade associations, and the food industry around the world. This training offers practical Basic HACCP that satisfies each of the education requirements of mandatory HACCP regulations. Further, this Basic HACCP training is applicable to any food-related system.

About the instructor: Dr. Richard Dougherty is an Extension Food Science Specialist at Washington State University in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Dr. Dougherty joined Washington State University in 1990 after spending more than 15 years in the food processing and packaging industries. He conducts workshops and conferences on food safety, regulatory issues, low acid and acidified foods processing, HACCP, SQF, product development, and food business development. His experience has included management of quality assurance, product development, regulatory affairs, research, and technical services for food processing and related operations. He has worked with a wide range of canned, frozen, dehydrated, and freeze-dried products, including fruits and vegetables, juices, soups, snacks, meat & poultry, and seafood.

For More Information: Contact Karl Sutton, 406-676-5901 ksutton@ronan

Raising Heritage Bred Poultry: For sustainable farming, marketing, exhibition & preservation

Location: University of Montana, James Todd Building
Room 204
Missoula, Mt.

Date: April 24th, 8:30am – 2:30pm

Have you ever tasted a farm-fresh egg or a freshly harvested chicken? Would you like to learn what heritage breeds are on the verge of extinction and how you can be a part of their preservation? Learn how to sustainably reproduce and raise heritage poultry for eggs and meat purposes? Learn how to access the Montana Poultry Cooperative’s mobile poultry processing unit in order to sell poultry products in stores and restaurants? Then this workshop is for you!
Join Jim Adkins from the International Center for Poultry for a seminar on developing a sustainable poultry system in Montana. At the conclusion of the workshop the Montana Poultry Growers Cooperative will hold a growers meeting from 3:00pm – 4:30pm for existing and potential producers.

For More Information: Contact Karl Sutton, 406-676-5901 ksutton@ronan

Concept to Consumer

Location: Ronan, MT

Date: March 20th, 9:00am – 3:00pm

Twelve food entrepreneurs attended the Concept to Consumer training held in Missoula at the Missoula Public Library on March 20, 2010. Jan Tusick of Mission Mountain’s Food and Ag Center and Chance Eaton instructor of Agri-Business Management at Dawson Community College provided beginning and emerging food entrepreneurs information and resources on food safety regulation and food industry information in relation to establishing a successful food business in Montana. In addition to the small business and market development information, Chance Eaton emphasized that business vision and purpose is a cornerstone to successful businesses, and that the unconscious mind weighs heavily on an individual’s decision making process. The course was developed with support from the Montana Bio Product Innovation Center Program and The Food Technology Center- University of Idaho.

 

For scheduling a farm to school tour of your own: Contact Karl Sutton406-676-0676 ksutton@ronan.net

Roland, a 20 year Montanan, brings an engineering and small business ownership skill set to MMFEC.

Five years in Earth Sciences, four years freight distribution/warehousing, five years Water Conservation & Municipal Infrastructure Consulting IT and over a decade in Contract Bidding in medium scale mining and logging provides a diverse background. Certifications in ServeSafe Food Handling, Washington State Certified Acidified Processing , MT HAACP Planning and Implementation, Lake & Flathead County Sanitarian licensee, former member Illinois Realtors Association and USAF Air Weather Service Certified brings a broad scope of problem solving skills. He can help assess your needs, design procedures and plans, then implement to completion. Stop in any time to chat with Roland, or he can be reached via phone at 406-676-0676, email at rg@ronan.net.

A Montana resident for 7 years and a MMFEC employee for 6 years. Yvette brings 20 years of production experience, most of which has been in meat processing.

Her extensive knowledge and experience here in the facility coupled with her certifications in ServeSafe Food Handling, Acidified Processing and HAACP Planning make her an excellent resource for our clients.

You can contact her at 406-676-0676, yvetterodriguez@ronan.net or just stop in, she’ll be glad to assist you.

Jan Tusick has a strong background in agriculture, finance and capitalization, networking and marketing. She is presently the Program Manager of the Mission Mountain Market Cooperative Development Center and the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center. Jan has effectively facilitated cooperative groups and value added agricultural ventures in their business development and assisted with business and market planning, capitalization, and feasibility analysis.

Jan has been active in Montana's local and regional food system development for 20 years. Her dedication to food system development has cultivated strong partnerships with non-profit organizations, state agencies, MSU and Tribal extension, MSU-Bozeman, and the University of Montana--Missoula. She is a steering committee member of Grow Montana, a statewide policy coalition. She was recently appointed to the 2010 policy committee for National Farmers Union. She is an agricultural member of Alternative Energy Resource Organization (AERO), Montana Farmers Union and is also a member of Montana Economic Development Association.

Her agricultural background of 30 years gives her a solid foundation of understanding the Ag economy and the challenges it faces. Jan holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Agricultural Science, from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA. She presently lives on an eighty acre sheep farm with her husband, Will, and their main production is natural lamb, which they direct market. As a committed agriculturist in Montana, Jan understands the challenges facing the small farmer today and is proactive in working hard to bring opportunities to Montana farmers and ranchers.

You can contact Jan by calling 406-676-5901, or by email: jt@ronan.net

Karl Sutton has a strong background in education, networking, community based participatory research and food system development. Karl earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree from the University of Montana and a Master's of Arts degree in Environmental Studies with an emphasis on food system development through Prescott College. He is a certified middle school and high school teacher. Karl is presently the food and agriculture and cooperative development project coordinator.

Karl was the principal investigator for a community food assessment (CFA) project in Fremont County, Wyoming, which was funded by a USDA CSREES project planning grant. The CFA utilized community based participatory research strategies to engage community members from different facets of the food system to identify food system problems and solutions. As the principal investigator he worked with diverse groups of people to bring them together to develop a clear understanding of how the food system works and to facilitate the creation of culturally and environmentally appropriate community solutions that address the entire food system.

In addition to his research and community organizing work, Karl served as a working member of the Community Food Security Coalition redesign of the Center for Whole Measures assessment and community organizing tool. The tool, Whole Measures for Community Food Systems Values Based Planning and Evaluation, is designed to engage organizations and communities in dialogue and story while evaluating their food system work.

Karl lives with his wife, Darci, and their new born daughter in Moiese. He and his wife partner with another couple on an 80 acre certified organic farm. They produce organically certified seed and direct market vegetables through a community supported agriculture (CSA) subscription and to area restaurants.

You can contact Karl by calling: 406-676-5901, or email ksutton@ronan.net

Montana's Local Food System Network

Montana’s Food System History

Pre-1950s
During the first half of the 20th century Montana farmers and ranchers produced approximately 70% of the food consumed by Montana citizens. During the 1930s to the early 1950s Montana was a net exporter of value added processed foods such as fruits and vegetables, cheese, butter, meat and other commodities. During this period, Montana’s food production, processing, and distribution were localized to communities and were significant contributors to the economic and social well-being of Montana citizens. Montana possessed a food producing and processing infrastructure that fed its citizens primarily and supplied processed foods secondarily to neighboring states. Food processing alone employed nearly 3,000 people in the 1950s and provided the financial means for Montana citizens to acquire food derived from Montana sources. In addition, Montana’s locally based food supply chain ensured farmers and ranchers a fair share of the value chain for their products.

Post 1950s
In the latter half of the 20th century, Montana’s food system experienced dramatic shifts from a production and processing oriented food system to a commodity based food system. Federal and state policies, technological advances in each segment of the value chain and consumer preference all had varying degrees of influence on the changes to Montana’s food system. The results, though, have been dramatic and costly. Farmers and ranchers have experienced increases in production costs while earning less share of the value of their products. In 1910 farmers and ranchers earned on average $.60 for every dollar for their products and by 2007 their share value plummeted to an average of $.07 for every dollar. According to the 1985 U.S. Census, employment in Montana’s food processing sector was non-existent. The loss of stable well-paying jobs at each link of the value chain has resulted in over 30% of Montana citizens facing food insecurity, where they do not have adequate access to safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food.

Our Centers’ Roles in Local Food System Development

The year 1998 marked a significant first step in Montana’s local food systems development with the Alternative Energy Resource Organization’s (AERO) Montana Food Systems Initiative. The Montana Food Systems Initiative organized community groups around the state to intimately look at and share stories of their local food system. From these community based beginnings our Centers have formed and emerged as strategic partners in Montana Food System development.

In 1999 the Mission Mountain Cooperative Development Center was established through the USDA Rural Cooperative Development Program for the purpose of promoting cooperatives in western Montana as a viable alternative for rural development issues with an emphasis on “value added” enterprises.

In 2002, the Mission Mountain Food Processing Center was built to provide clients with detailed support covering all aspects of food processing from ideation to final product.

In 2004, the Food and Agricultural Innovation Center was one of five regionally based centers funded through the Montana Department of Agriculture. In 2009, the Montana Department of Agriculture once again selected the Mission Mountain Food and Agriculture Center as a strategic center with the purpose of providing technical assistance to developing Montana agricultural producer value added enterprises in western Montana, collaborating with the statewide effort to increase Montana’s capacity to produce food, and enhancing local food system development within our local communities.

Source: Grow Montana, Montana Farmers Union and Community Gate Farm to Table video project. Montana Food System Notes