HAMILTON — The Bitterroot Valley is full of farms, ranches, gardens and more, a whole network of local food. Then, there are their patrons, customers and communities across the county. Since 2015, The O’Hara Commons & Sustainability Center has worked to support the valley’s vibrant food scene and all those people behind it.
(WATCH: Nonprofit works to bring locally grown food to Montana families)
“Food is an equalizer. It's something that we all have a need for and the local food, so many of us have a passion for,” said Samantha O’Byrne, O’Hara Commons co-founder and executive director. “Local food is so healthy, like it is harvested and you are getting it. It is not traveling.”
O’Hara Commons is a non-profit based in Hamilton. They host farmers’ markets, food access programs, educational events and more, aimed at helping customers get local food and helping local food producers reach more customers. Their mission, O’Byrne said, is to increase equitable access to “radically local” food.
“By the definition of radically local, we mean things grown and produced within 250 miles of Ravalli County or in the state of Montana,” she said. “In our work, we represent over 80 local food growers and producers, which is really exciting.”
O’Hara Commons hosts farmers’ markets year-round. In the summer, they have Wednesday afternoon markets on their property in Hamilton. In the winter, they have an online market, which they do not charge vendors to use.
Mackenzie Brosious, the director of programs and outreach at O’Hara Commons, said the online market is especially important. With dozens of vendors and all sorts of products, it is basically a virtual grocery store of food all grown locally, even in the winter.
“Bitterroot's known as the banana belt, so we can grow and feed people local food all year round,” she said.“Super small local growers that only have a few items can list. So, if they're not ready to go to a farmer's market or to approach a local restaurant, then this is a great place to start.”
For the small team behind O’Hara and their crew of volunteers, it is all about making sure the benefits of local food stay local. In their first five years alone, O’Hara Commons has helped keep $2.33 million circulating in the Bitterroot economy, according to O’Byrne.
“The shared challenges that we're seeing is the perception of cost and it is the perception of convenience,” she said. “The cost of your food is not a price tag. The cost of your food, you have to consider the money that's staying in your local economy.”
This year, O’Hara kicked off a new initiative, the Tour de Farm, a bike trip to highlight local farms.
“We had about 160 riders that came from all over the state, a few out of the state. They rode about 40 miles, visited five farms and then ended with a feast back here at O'Hara,” Brosious said.
While this, like most of their work, is focused on the “radically local,” their work can extend beyond the valley.
“We've always thought about the work that we do as being completely replicable and we are utterly open to sharing everything that we do and our approaches and our resources with anybody who's interested,” O’Byrne said. “We’re also being stewards of all of the resources that are so unique in the state of Montana and preserving local agricultural lands and traditions.”
Especially as costs rise in general, including food prices at many grocery stores, the team behind O’Hara said that supporting your local food system helps to support your community as a whole.
“The impact that you have in doing that, it's invaluable,” O’Byrne said. “You might find that the food doesn't have the price tag that you think that it has and your support goes a long way.”
