Ed. — From the Sunday, Jan. 30, print edition.
BY JANE BLOODWORTH ROWE AND JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE
VIRGINIA BEACH — Members of Buy Fresh Buy Local Hampton Roads, which promoted locally produced food through special events, publications and online platforms, have disbanded the nonprofit organization, at least in part because they felt that their mission was accomplished.
Members began the process of closing the nonprofit organization in late 2020, according to founding member Lynn Schultz, and it recently was completed. There is more awareness of locally sourced foods now, she said, and it had also become difficult to attract younger volunteers into the organization.
People associated with the local chapter, which was one of a number of such locally focused groups affiliated with a national organization, described the organization as “dormant,” with some hoping it might someday return.
The group closed out its books by donating $10,000 in remaining funds to the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, according to Karen Forget, who served as treasurer of Buy Fresh Buy Local Hampton Roads.
“We kind of determined the mission had been fulfilled,” said Gina Foresta, who served on the board and worked to educate students about local food. “So many local farmers and especially young restaurateurs were able to get the word out. … We’re hoping someone down the road will pick it back up.”
The organization formed because a group of local citizens realized many Hampton Roads residents were unaware of locally sourced foods, according to Mary Reid Barrow. Barrow, along with Schultz and Virginia Beach resident Jo Ann Hofheimer, worked to form the organization.
The nonprofit formed in 2009, according to filings with the state corporation commission. Over the years, a number of its board members have hailed from Virginia Beach, records show.
Hofheimer and Barrow were inspired, in part, by the farmer’s markets in Charlottesville, where local food is heavily promoted. “We wanted to bring a little of that culture to Hampton Roads,” Hofheimer said.
The group was initially all volunteer, and for a few years it was probably best known for publishing its seasonal food guide, which listed the local pick-your-own or direct marketing produce farms. They were, at first, appealing directly to consumers, but they also began reaching out to restaurants to encourage them to serve local foods, including locally caught seafoods and locally raised meats, Hofheimer said.
One Suffolk beef farmer had been marketing his meat in Washington, D.C., Hofheimer said, because he had no local market. After members of Buy Fresh Buy Local Hampton Roads talked to a civic league group in Suffolk, a local restaurant owner who attended the meeting started sourcing locally.
The nonprofit also featured local foods at fundraisers, and they hired a part-time executive director who attempted to convert its food guide to a digital application. It was, however, difficult to keep this up to date because the availability of local produce can change quickly, and there was a growing feeling among board members that their mission was already accomplished.
“The market caught up with the message,” said Hofheimer, who added that more people were buying locally and more farmers markets were opening. “I think that the board members felt like their mission was accomplished. They had done what they could.”
Dylan Wakefield, who served as board president and owns Pendulum Fine Meats in Norfolk, said he felt initial goals for the organization had been realized and there were tools ranging from social media to farmers markets to help producers reach consumers. Additionally, the pandemic loomed when the group went dormant, and it was uncertain which direction it might go.
“I also think that the issues facing producers, like in Pungo, etc., deal with bigger areas than awareness,” he wrote in an email. “Flooding issues, residential development issues are issues that we would love to tackle, but we were not, in that time with a pandemic starting, in a place to do that, and it strayed from our original goals.”
© 2022 Pungo Publishing Co., LLC