On a bustling, cloudy Saturday afternoon at the Lane County Farmers Market, vendors are selling their various jams, hummuses, potatoes and spices for community members’ delight. It is a cheerful place for people of all ages to come across fruits and vegetables of various sizes and colors. The farmers market is a unique environment where people can meet their food growers and buy fresh produce.
Local farmer Shelley Bowerman, the owner of Moondog Farm, stands inside her booth, helping customers with questions regarding her jams, salsas and seasonings. Bowerman is also the founder and owner of Lane County Bounty, a brainchild of hers born out of the pandemic in April 2020, she said. Lane County Bounty is a business committed to selling regional produce, meats or coffee bean products directly to community members. When the pandemic was at its height, Lane County Bounty filled the void for people who wanted to support farmers without leaving their homes.
“I think that we all have a responsibility to understand the impact of our consumption,” Bowerman said. “To be a responsible consumer is an ethical choice that we should make. I think it benefits us to know our farmers because the place is really important for the human experience. Being in the rhythm of the weather and the seasonal availability of food is really grounding on a soul level, and it can make us very happy.”
Bowerman’s passion for food began while studying at the University of Oregon in the mid-2000s where she was active with the Urban Farm and worked in food service. She found the process of cooking rewarding and special when using ingredients grown with her bare hands. She also founded the UO’s Project Tomato, a freshman orientation program that grows tomatoes for Carson Hall’s pizza sauce, while working at the Office of Sustainability. Bowerman enjoys the communal aspect of food and how growing organic products builds trust with those who interact alongside the food chain.
“I think choosing a local organic diet has repercussions that we might not notice at first,” Bowerman said. “When we slow down and understand its benefits to the local economy or to soil, we’re preserving farmers to be here for 20 years.”
Lane County Bounty strives as an online business that focuses on delivering food to various food pick-up sites and homes around the city. According to the company’s website, people can either get food delivered to their residence with a $10 convenience fee or walk to a list of pick-up locations across Eugene and Springfield. Lane County Bounty will email them the exact address when the purchase is made. UO students living in dorms can even walk to their nearest pick up location near Maude Kerns Art Center on Villard and 15th St, she said, to collect their delivered goods.
“You place an order before our deadline on Wednesday night or Sunday night,” Bowerman said. “Depending on the location, the tote bag will be delivered around 4:15 p.m. When you get there, you empty out your tote filled with your order and you leave the tote there. So it’s the bring your own bag situation. That’s it.”
Bowerman believes her business allows farmers “to reach people in ways that are new,” she said. Her business creates a new market where farmers can have direct access to consumers and support each other in their sales. Bowerman said she has 20-30 vendors who use her online marketplace, including some farm owners at the Saturday market. Lane County Bounty buys the products from the farms and provides the full amount of profits back to them once sold.
“I wanted to give access to people who weren’t able to get out because of the pandemic,” Bowerman said. “It was a really great way to collaborate with some farmers who were losing restaurant accounts at the onset of the pandemic. And it’s like creating a new funnel for local food.”
Bowerman said the biggest misconception of her career is people think she does everything in her company. She views this idea as a martyr, a person who sacrifices themselves for others to succeed. Bowerman wants farmers to enjoy a work-life balance where they don’t have to take on too many responsibilities to provide for themselves.
“I want to change these negative ideas so that farmers can have a better schedule,” Bowerman said. “I think we can do that by collaborating on marketing, transportation and just finding out the places where we can overlap more and working together on those points.”
Lane County Bounty has a wide array of items grown by farm owners based in the Willamette Valley. It makes it easy for community members to research local farms and provides alternative products to everyday grocery store needs.
