Emily Whittier

Email: RAREAmeriCorps@oregonstate.edu
Organization: Wasco County Extension, OSU
Community: Columbia River Gorge

Meet Emily Whittier (she/her/hers):

Emily grew up in New England, where she considers a small town in New Hampshire to be her home. Emily got her start in food watching her grandfather make caldo verde and fava beans, and became involved in agriculture when she joined a 4H rabbit club at 5 years old. The love for food and agriculture never left, and she has participated in several different areas of the food system, including production, food service, and distribution. She got her undergraduate degree at Smith College, where she studied gender, food, and policy. While there, she worked at a food pantry and thought a lot about the emergency food system, which led her to pursue a Master’s in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy. While in graduate school, she worked with the Center for Food and Agriculture Systems at Vermont Law to research food policy in the corrections sector, and she conducted a rural food security assessment after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of her top food system interests include food and land justice, food and incarceration, and food and migration.

Serving in RARE was Emily’s first time living in Oregon, but she previously spent time working in the food system in Richland and Palouse, Washington. She was thrilled to be living in The Dalles and to be back on the sunny side of the Cascades. In her free time, Emily likes being outside, hanging out with friendly sheep, making experimental fruit wines that not even her mother would love, and spending time with her friends and family.

Community and Organization:

The Dalles, OR is a small city nestled in northern Oregon, right along the Columbia River. Only 75 miles from Portland yet east of the Cascade Mountain Range, The Dalles enjoys access to many Pacific Northwest attractions, all while basking in 300 days of sunshine a year. This optimal location has been used by humans for about 11,000 years. Today, agriculture is an important part of Wasco County. The county is home to 595 of Oregon’s farms, and Wasco County ranks 2nd in the state for land in farms, coming in at 1,388,988 acres. The Wasco County Extension Office is part of the statewide Oregon State University Extension Service that brings outreach and education to the Oregon community. Cooperative Extension serves as a bridge between cutting-edge University research and its on-the-ground applications, focusing on several program areas including forestry and natural resources, youth development, agriculture, home garden and horticulture, and family and community health.

Project:

The overarching goal of Emily’s role as Community Food Systems Coordinator was to enhance and support the community’s access to affordable, nutritious foods in an equitable and inclusive way. In the 2020-2021 service year, the community outreach focus and techniques of this position shifted approaches in response to the pandemic. Projects included assisting with a Community Food Assessment, creating a physical activity passport and other exercise tools, and promoting health and nutrition education through social media and other virtual avenues. Emily also implemented a plan for a community garden and conducted food security research. Her role engaged with many local food systems groups and initiatives including the Columbia Gorge Food Security Coalition, the Columbia Gorge Food Bank, the Community Healthy Improvement Plan and Health Assessment, Gorge Grown Food Network, South Wasco Alliance, and Food Hero.