Jeff Waite, Owner of The Harbour Pub and Pegasus, Board Chair of the Bainbridge Chamber of Commerce spoke to the group about buying direct from local producers, vs. buying from large distributors

• Waite and his wife Jocelyn operate two Bainbridge Island restaurants, Pegasus and Harbour Pub.
• His family lives, works and goes to school on the same block of Winslow.
• In 2002 at a company retreat the idea of moving toward a menu focused on free range meat and organic produce was discussed -
  • “At that time local wasn’t so much of an issue.”
  • Moving to free range/organic would increase the price of a Chicken Breast Sandwich from $8.95 to $12.95, and other items by a similar amount
  • It was decided to move forward with the shift to pastured/organic menu.
• Last year The Pub spent over $500K on food, with 50% of that coming from less than 100 miles away (he mentioned that figure included Pacific Cod, which may be outside that range but is still a sustainable project)
• Since 2007 Pegasus has spent over $180K on food, with $120K of that coming from local sources.
• Waite said that local farmers have made great progress in being able to offer a consistent year-round product, which is critical
  • He said that Brian MacWhorter of Butler Green has been supplied salad all year, with the exception of a short time in January.
• Waite explained that the biggest challenge is changing customer expectations: “They still expect that tomato in their burger, even in the middle of winter.”
• “This is a great region that could supply more to the hospitality industry if there were more farms, larger farms - the market is cognizant of what’s going on and will support the higher costs involved (in buying local/sustainable food),” Waite said.

Brian Stahl, Kitsap Conservation District 

• The Kitsap Conservation District works primarily with livestock
• One of the biggest issues facing the Island and the rest of Kitsap is manure management
  • There are 400 to 500 horses on the Island, producing about 3000 - 4000 yards of manure every year.
• What are the best ways to manage all that manure?
  • Some farms have a constant demand, regular customers.
  • Stahl said that ranches can get rid of their manure with proper management and marketing
  • It’s important NOT to market manure as “Free Compost” he said, since compost is a regulated product.
  • “Aged Manure” is the proper term for most manure piles, no matter how old they are.
• Stahl said that there are enough stables and money on the Island to make it feasible to create a large scale public composting facility on-Island. 

Chris Piercy, Recycling Coordinator for Kitsap Public Works 

• Current focus is on the “blue bin stuff” - mixed recycling collected from homeowners.
• Compostable materials from Bainbridge Disposal are trucked to Emu Topsoil in Poulsbo for composting.
• Ultimately, the ideal would be to have a local closed loop composting system - produced, processed and distributed on the Island.
• Currently most composting facilities are stockpiling product because they can’t sell enough of it.
• Piercy estimated that it would take approximately $2 million and a nice chunk of land to create such a facility.
• He mentioned that the garbage fee on the Island is $62, compared to over $100 in Seattle, giving Kitsap a much more limited budget to work with.
• Discussion: Bainbridge Island could have an “in-vessel” system that matches the nitrogen load and the carbon load. Boxes, board and paper are used to neutralize manure. These digesters can also be used to fire turbines. 

Cinnamon Harrington, Chaeta Conversion 

• Cinnamon is launching a worm composting (vermiculture) business (Chaeta Conversion), based on the Day Road Public Farmland.
• Harrington said she will soon receive final permitting to allow her business to start offering worm compost to the public.
• Her goal is to process food waste from public and private sources to create marketable compost.
• She currently has a 32’ x 4’ bin - said that she could ultimately need much more space with the amount of food waste available for processing.
• More info on her Facebook page 

Group Discussion
The group was asked to discuss the obstacles and opportunities facing farmers on Bainbridge Island and in the rest of Kitsap County related to Food Consumption and Waste Management:

Food Waste: 

• Jeanne Huber asked if it was possible to feed restaurant food leftovers to livestock.
  • Jeff Waite said that it was, as long as the food had not made it to the plate yet. Plated food would need to be sterilized (boiled, etc)
  • Shannon Harness (WSU) said that some farmers are going around collecting unused vegetables from restaurants for feed.
  • It was mentioned that new breweries are required to direct spent grains to animal feed. 

Manure disposal 

• Currently, anyone wanting to haul manure and other compostable materials (check with facility first) out for disposal can take it to:
  • North Mason Fiber in Belfair
  • Emu Topsoil in Poulsbo
  • Bainbridge Disposal Transfer Station  

Expanding use of local food in restaurants
The group discussed ideas for encouraging more local chefs to add local food to their menu. 

• Jeff Waite discussed the pressure that local sourcing puts on profit margins. “Instead of buying from 2 big distributors, you’re buying from 40 different farmers. The volumes are lower so the prices are higher. Makes it much more difficult to reach profit goals.
• It was mentioned that there were two upcoming events to introduce chefs and farmers:
  • KCAA's "Meet the Producer" March 20, Kitsap Fairgrounds, 6:30 - 9:30 pm  
  • Kitsap Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting, April 23 at the Norm Dicks Center in Bremerton 

Next steps
The group reviewed a list of priorities identified during the five Roundtable meetings. There was a discussion of how to decide which to focus on, and the group ultimately gave a show of hands to indicate interest in the various priorities. Since each item received at least one vote, all were retained.

There was a discussion of the fact that several local groups were already working on some of the priorities on the list. Sallie Maron of Sound Food explained that the intent of the Roundtables was to identify those activities, and that groups already working on issues should indicate that by attaching their names to the workgroups for items already in progress. The list coming out of the Roundtable is designed to identify what is being done by all of the various groups, and coordinate those efforts.  

• The WSU Kitsap Extension is currently working on a Buy Local campaign, a Farm to Table event, and Asset Mapping.
• KCAA has a Meet the Producer meeting scheduled March 20 
• Friends of the Farms has allocated a portion of their budget to promote farmers, and is working on a survey of farmers on Bainbridge Island. 

• Farming our own oysters - Islanders can take advantage of our geography by farming our own oysters, either on your own beach if you have one, or with the Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm supported by the Puget Sound Restoration Fund. The strong current on our Rich Passage waterfront affords us year-round oyster eating. While the oysters are delicious, it's gives us a good reason to be out on our beach and reminds us how much better the beach is when we're actually out there on it instead looking at it from the living room window.
• Tending our vegetable garden - Granted, this requires a certain commitment, and it's not big enough to keep me away from the grocery store or farmer's market, but it's so gratifying. Need I say more?
• Buying from local farms - I'm becoming a regular customer of Heyday Farm which sells locally raised eggs, chickens, pork, and heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving (the most delicious turkey I ever had). Just as good as the food, though-is getting out to one of the island's most pastoral, scenic spots, which I otherwise would have no reason for being at.  Quite a different experience than plucking a plastic-wrapped package from the refrigerator case and checking out. I also purchase locally raised lamb, pork and beef from Lopez Island Farm, which makes a special delivery to Bainbridge Island every month or two.
• Shopping at the farmer's markets - On Saturday mornings, April through November at City Hall Park Town Square, I support local farmers and supplement my small garden's harvest.  Here I chat with farmers and get first-hand gardening advice. And for us weekday ferry commuters, the Pike Place Market sponsors a satellite market at Seattle City Hall starting in June on Tuesdays from 10 to 2 at City Hall Plaza on