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JULY/AUGUST 2006 |
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Melanie Cheng . . . of OM Organics |
Farmers grow produce organically and then sell it to nearby restaurants. And then chefs regale diners with delectable dishes prepared with local ingredients, right?
Well, not exactly, as Melanie Cheng discovered in 2001. After earning her undergraduate degree in business from UCLA, Cheng was enjoying a successful career in software marketing and writing in Silicon Valley. |
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The food and nature lover spent her free time dining out and occasionally frequenting the local farmers’ markets... That is, until one day it dawned on her that much of the local farms’ bounty wasn’t making it to the restaurant menus.
Here we had the highest concentration of sustainable farmers, in addition to one of the largest dining-out demographics in the country, and yet the two markets were not connecting. It was then that she began talking with farmers about their distribution channels, or lack thereof. Just five years ago, the majority of farms in the city markets were not selling to many distributors, let alone direct to wholesale buyers. Farmers’ time is notoriously tight, and their resources limited, so change was difficult. Conversations with restaurateurs and chefs yielded similar information: while they wanted to use organically and sustainably grown ingredients, they found it time-consuming and generally not cost-effective to source from local organic farmers. Thus, they still relied on conventional distributors, whose product came primarily from distant or industrial farms. Cheng soon recognized the need to help complete the missing link in the supply chain.
In 2002, she reduced her corporate job to part-time and founded the non-profit Om Organics (now part of the San Francisco Foundation), invoking the Sanskrit word that refers to the unity of disparate parts to achieve larger, more universal goals. Her organization allows small farms to collectively offer a wider range of product, ultimately working to connect growers, preparers, and consumers – educating and facilitating “farm to table” dining.
Initially a one-woman operation, Cheng laid the foundation for easing communications and delivery systems between farms and restaurants. Her goal: create practical solutions and increase the efficiency of a local distribution network, and expand to include dairy, meat, and poultry farmers in the equation. Moreover, she is determined to operate this non-profit in a sustainable, for-profit model.
Today, Om Organics is developing a local food distribution tool, where inventory, pricing, and delivery information will be available at the touch of a computer key. Furthermore, Om Organics’ website and various outreach initiatives serve to educate the community about the health, economic, and environmental benefits of local, sustainable food production. Not to mention the infinite food- and farming-related events that help the community reconnect with where their food comes from, and have fun while doing it!
Her proudest achievement? “I have the trust of people I respect deeply: the farmers and the chefs…and I get to work with my true passions: the earth and its delicious, edible product,” says Cheng.
Check out the Om Organics site or view recent Tasty Bites newsletters.
