The Rogue Valley is famous for its fertile farmland and abundant natural resources. So why is so much of what residents eat shipped in from far away? In this Big Ideas conversation, Alison Hensley Sexauer, Executive Director of the Rogue Valley Food Systems Network, and Maud Powell, Professor of Practice with the OSU Extension Service Small Farms Program, will give some insights into what it takes to shift our diet and habits to grow and eat locally.

Alison Sexauer is the Executive Director of the Rogue Valley Food System Network (RVFSN), a backbone nonprofit coordinating food systems work across Jackson and Josephine counties in Southern Oregon. With over twenty years of experience in food systems work, she leads a network of 50+ partner organizations working across food access, local food economy, soil and water health, and food waste reduction. Alison is deeply committed to building the connections and cross-sector relationships that help rural Rogue Valley communities create a local food system that serves all. She currently serves as Board President of A Greater Applegate and as a board member of Project Beaver.

Maud Powell is a Professor of Practice for OSU’s Small Farms program at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center in Central Point, Ore. She and her husband have owned and operated Wolf Gulch Farm, a small diversified vegetable and seed farm in the Applegate Valley for 27 years. She is the current president of the Rogue Valley Food Systems Network and serves on the boards of Our Family Farms and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands.

The monthly Big Ideas discussion series features prominent local experts speaking on relevant and timely issues affecting our community. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Library, Ashland Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and Jackson County Library Services.