On February 10, 2026, three Lane County farmers gathered at the Eugene Public Library to talk honestly about what it means to grow food close to home. While they all expressed joy at being able to grow food, the picture they painted was more complicated than a farmers market brochure might suggest.

Brennan of Rainbow Acres Community Farm in Saginaw, Chris from Ruby and Amber’s Organic Farm in Dorena, and Randy, an urban gardener and community garden organizer, shared their knowledge. Brennan walked the audience through what they have to spend to keep things going or get started, such as to implement a chicken coop, fencing, feed costs, combined with the fact that you won’t sell an egg for the first six months. Chris, who farmed for more than 25 years, added that regulatory burden eats time that farmers would rather spend farming.

But the conversation kept returning to something everyone felt was important: community. Chris described selling for two decades at the Farmers Market by getting to watch customers grow up, get married, and have kids. “The social fabric there was amazing,” she said. Brennan said local food systems need community support during ordinary, every day times, not just when there’s some sort of a crisis.

The panelists also nudged the audience to think more carefully about what “local food” actually means. This might not just food grown nearby, but can have a more broad meaning to refer to food that is native to this land, with a history here. Randy pointed toward the importance of people knowing how to forage and understanding native edible plants.

One of the most important actions a person can take who wants more food security and to support more local food is to start a garden. Start small with square-foot gardening. Create compost so you can add that to your garden. Find a mentor. Grow what you love, and learn to save seeds. Chris called seed saving “our future.”

And why do they keep at it, despite the economics, the regulations, the uncertainty? Chris put it this way: Fresh-picked food from your own garden is better quality than what even the richest or most powerful people in the world can get.