REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEM PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM

PROJECT NARRATIVE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In a remote region of the Sierra foothills, the Yubakami farm plans to ramp up food production in a
region of high demand —a region characterized by the quality of its farming, soil and produce but also
challenged by high levels of food insecurity1, nutritional deficiency, low- and fixed-income residences,
California wild-fires and drought.
The proposed project seeks to test the feasibility of developing a regional food-hub with the following
objectives: to bring equitable profits to farmers and producers, to provide nutrient-rich produce to the
community, to plan a facility for packing, marketing and distributing produce and to encourage
sustainable farming practices (including soil-regeneration and wildfire remediation).
These objectives cannot be properly conceived or realized without strategic partnerships in both the
public and private sectors. Therefore, the purpose of the feasibility study is to work with strategic partners
in gathering distribution, agricultural, logistical and environmental data, together with developing a
financial model based on existing successful food-hubs (see below). A marketing plan is also needed to
publicize food-hub offerings and activities, and share research on soil regeneration and water
management. 
Yubakami’s strategic partners will provide key support for:
1. Supporting farmers (including socially-disadvantaged) and valued-added producers.
2. Providing nutrient-rich food and value-added produce to local individuals and organizations
3. Planning, designing and implementing a food-hub facility.
4. Sharing information and promulgating more sustainable farming practices. 

ALIGNMENT AND INTENT

Grant Application Partnership
As the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) ‘supports partnerships that connect public and private
resources to plan and develop local or regional food systems’, a partnership was formed to make this
application between Yubakami (recently formed from the Apollo Farm and owned by Steven Dambeck)
and Plan B Works (owned by Julian Branston), a partnership which combines the agricultural experience
of Yubakami with the data-analysis, research, and strategic building capability of Plan B Works. 
Both entities reside and work in Oregon House, the site of the feasibility study in this application, share
work-experience in agriculture and IT, a common impulse towards community-building, and continually
invest in projects towards improving the community infrastructure and its capacity to thrive. 

Feasibility Study Team (FST)

To run the feasibility study recommended in this application, the following resources and skills are
required:
Agriculturalist, Food-business entrepreneur Steven Dambeck (owner of Yubakami)
IT specialist, data analyst, documentation Julian Branston (owner of Plan B Works)
Marketing and outreach specialist Cheryl Hoke (Farm to School Coordinator, YES
1
From a County population of 78,668, projected to be 16.4% in March of 2021. Figures taken from Feeding America.
 Charter School)
Project manager and risk analyst Tim Quartly-Watson (owner of QW Consulting)

Support Team
In preparing for this Grant Application, Yubakami, Plan B Works and other committed members of the
community initiated a series of Vison and Mission meetings for the Yubakami food-hub. Aside from
Steven Dambeck (Yubakami) and Julian Branston (Plan B Works), members of this support team
included:

Name Occupation
Cheryl Hoke Marketing and Outreach Specialist
Duncan Earle Professor of Sustainable Management, Economics
Louise Miller Principal of YES Charter Academy
Michael Mintz Attorney at Law

About Yubakami Farm

A small community in a remote area of California’s Sierra Foothills aims to establish a rural food-hub
under the guidance of Yubakami, a local farm and small food-hub. The community in general is
underserved, close to the poverty line, and, in recent years, threatened and impacted by wildfires.
However, the area has great potential for farming, with a rare climate pocket and quality of soil that
equates to the Mediterranean and all the associated excellence of produce. Spearheading this effort is the
owner of Yubakami, Steven Dambeck, an experienced agriculturalist for over 30 years, with a deep
appreciation for local small farms and the quality of the area’s soil, which ‘provides excellent produce 12
months of the year, including citrus in the winter.’ He calls the area, ‘a magical zone, different from the
Central valley, with high heat in the day, and refreshing cool in the evening. These factors deepen the
flavor of the produce.’
Yubakami Farm— Yubakami (formerly the Apollo Farm) was initiated through community concerns
over lack of local produce when produce shopping involves a nearly 30-mile drive to grocery outlets
offering factory-farmed, low-quality produce. Eventually, Yubakami became an online grocery, offering
high quality local produce while supporting local farmers and advocating regenerative farming. As a
result, considerable community interest has been generated in developing farmers (including mini-farms,
sometimes as small as ½ acre).
Yubakami operates out of the original Apollo Farm location and has mini-depot points at: Yuba
Environmental Science (YES) Charter Academy in Oregon House, Bald Mountain Nursery in Browns
Valley and the Yukon Food Coop in Brownsville.
Advocacy for Better Farming Practices
Farming in the Foothills as a ‘great advantage, because with the mountain terrain flavors are deeper.’ Yet
there is a disadvantage as well, because with ‘the terrain, yields are lower.’ And this is a characteristic of
farming in the foothills; wonderful, flavorful produce, along with challenging conditions and logistics.
For the small local farmer, there’s a compelling temptation in the quality of the produce, which is offset
by inconsistency in volume, and hazard from the terrain.
Soil Regeneration
The mineral content of the local soil is exceptional, but the soil is also difficult to work; it lacks organic
matter, with high clay content.. With the traditional hot summers (exacerbated by drought and climbing
temperatures) the soil bakes in the summer and becomes hard to farm.
The solution is to use better and innovative farming practices, to deepen the organic material and protect
the moisture exchange. By building the level of organic matter, the soil becomes vibrant, with nutrition
values that pass into the food. Good farming practices improve the soil by adding compost, minerals,
animal waste and cover crops. Some local farmers do not plough the soil at all, so that moisture is
retained and crops grow on non-distressed soil.
Coping with Climate Change
This region resides on one of the primary climate crisis frontiers of the US, in terms of both the weather
(heat, drought, dry lightning, excessive winds) and the amount of Greenhouse Gasses (GHGs) emitted
from the mammoth fires of recent years. Good nutrient-dense food is scarce, and initiatives over the years
for providing local quality produce did not have sufficient scope or receive enough support (financial,
organizational, resources) to succeed. However, now there’s considerable community support for a
regional food-hub, including local farmers, the County government, water agencies, businesses and
advocates for better farming practices. These interest groups fully recognize the prevailing conditions: an
underserved rural area with a high food insecurity percentage, and the impact and risk of wildfires. Food
and fire security are community issues which will take community-building to address.
Wildfires and Drought
Wildfires have become a prevalent risk of the area. Mitigation strategies are complex, diverse, but well
documented. However, in developing a local food economy with a food-hub, landowners and farmers will
have more incentive to farming practices that contribute towards fire-prevention and remediation.
Although the benefits for the farmer and producer are modest, it’s at least one strand in the strategy
against an intimidating, and for some, an overwhelming problem. Other strategies are available; resilient
landscaping2, including crops that contribute to fire-mitigation (for example, Elderberry 3). These informed
mitigation practices will be a strategic area addressed by the feasibility study.

Necessity for a Rural Food-Hub

While the Yuba County foothills are nationally known for award-winning wines and olive oil, the
challenge remains to implement a sustainable system for distributing quality produce at a reasonable price
to the local population. Several factors recently show that it’s time to move forward in creating a
sustainable food system:
Community Support
Yubakami’s owner (Steven Dambeck) has long-standing connections in farming, business and local
government. A dedicated team of farmers and producers involved in Yubakami not only provide quality
produce but are striving for new quality in other foods (in particular., water buffaloes for producing
mozzarella; and moringa trees, a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree cultivated for its vegetable, herbal
medicine and water purification properties). Members of the group are also intent on initiating improved
farming practices, including permaculture, soil and livestock management. 

2
This Infographic by Resilient Silicon Valley illustrates the concept of resilient landscapes.
3
The Fire Safe Council of San Diego County has published a list of fire-resistant plants in their California Native Plant List.
One of the benefits of a Feasibility Study is the establishment of a dedicated team involved in the food-
hub who will promote food-growing initiatives and establish educational outreach and support for better
farming.
Quality of the Soil
With the quality of the soil as already discussed, Yubakami appreciates the potential for expanding the
current offering of produce to year-round, with more variety. Much of the neighborhood around
Yubakami (and households not so distant) cultivate house gardens for vegetables and flowers, and a
certain cross-section of the community spent COVID isolation time cultivating and improving their land.
One objective of the Feasibility Study’s focus groups would be to identify local households that could
become small-farmers or lease their land for farming. With this new area of small farms established, the
project agriculturalist (Steven Dambeck) would map out the kinds of produce that could be grown,
increasing the volume and variety of Yubakami’s output, in line with the proposed new area of
distribution for the food-hub (see Scaling up below).

Studies of Successful Food-Hubs

Establishing a rural food-hub is a rational response to the problems of underserved communities, and
there are working models that validate this approach. From the 2013 Economic and Community
Development Outcomes of Healthy Food Retail4 report, rural food-hubs are described as ‘critical for
smaller-scale operations that - may be limited by other resources such as refrigerated delivery trucks or
knowing where to advertise and sell to potential customers.’ The report continues, ‘By coordinating both
supply chain and buyer logistics, food-hubs not only create and retain jobs (packaging and handling,
delivery, farmers) but also generate regional economic revenue by increasing the capacity of local farms
to reach a wider customer base’.
From 2013 to 2020 the number of food-hubs in the US went from a little over 170 to over 400. In 2019,
out of a statistical sampling of 88 food-hubs5, the number of full-time employees totaled 1,464, ranging
from 1 fulltime employee to 295, which averages out to 17 full-time employees per food-hub (on average,
a food-hub creates 13 local jobs). In the same statistical sampling, the operating expense ratio (OER) for
the 88 food-hubs show that two thirds were breaking even or making a profit.

Yubakami Food-Hub Strategic Areas

Recent vision and mission meetings of the Yubakami support team (see above) focused on the following
objectives in four strategic areas of the Food-hub: FARMERS, FOOD, FACILITY, and EDUCATE.
Objective 1: Support small, new and socially-disadvantaged farmers with a distribution model that brings
fair market reward for their labor and facilities for preparing and packing food.
Objective 2: Provide nutrient-rich food and value-added produce to viable outlets: Households, Grocers,
Schools, Hospitals, Foodbanks, Farmers Markets, etc.
Objective 3: Build a regional food-hub facility for sorting, packing, marketing and distributing produce
(including a slaughterhouse and a creamery).
Objective 4: Offer best farming practices in fire prevention, remediation (fire-resistant plants,
permaculture) and water-management.

Partnering Organizations
The following public and private organizations agree to partner with the Grant application team
(Yubakami and Plan B Works) in contributing data and strategic interest in one or more strategic areas.
4
A report commissioned by the Healthy Eating Research program.
5
From the 2019 National Food Hub Survey Report run by the Michigan State University, Center for Regional Food Systems.
Partnership organization activities will mainly be through meetings with the Feasibility Study Team
(FST). See Work Plan below. The Partnership organizations involved in the feasibility study are intended
to benefit both Yubakami and the partnering organization:
Michael Micheli Farms: The mutual benefit is that the feasibility study will provide data on the ideal
ratio of distance between a butchering facility and livestock farmers, which will help establish the number
of livestock farmers per butchering facility, the acceptable cost of transportation and a timetable for
butchering.
North Yuba Water District: In this partnership, the water district and Yubakami will develop a water
infrastructure plan for the proposed agricultural area, including new farms and new farmers added to the
area of distribution. This plan will help resolve community concerns over water and lay the groundwork
for a further partnership between Yubakami and the water district in seeking new funding for
implementing the plan.
Richards Grassfed Beef: Will offer support in testing the viability of a slaughterhouse facility as part of
the food-hub.
Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center: Aims share expertise and resources in educational
programs and data exchange in, a) Building infrastructures to protect from wildfire, b) Compost
management and regenerating soil.
Sugarloaf Moringa Farm: Will contribute towards a) Researching and exploring all aspects of bringing
medicinal food products derived from Moringa trees to local market through the proposed food hub, and
b) establish a regular schedule and format for school visits and to introduce inner city youth to farm life
Tree Top Permaculture: The goal of this partnership is to share information on an ecological restoration
of wild-fire sites (the first of its kind in the US), forming the basis of Yubakami’s educational information
exchange platform for better farming practices, and to collaborate on fund-raising for in-depth
environmental soil-analysis of wildfire sites.
YES Charter Academy: Yubakami currently provides food to the YES Charter Academy school, and
school staff contribute to the vision and mission exercises of the Yubakami food-hub. The Marketing and
Outreach plan (see on page 16) will be the responsibility of a YES staff-member (Cheryl Hoke).
Yuba Sutter Economic Development Corporation (YSEDC): The mission of YSEDC is to enable
small businesses to thrive in the County and the contact with the Yubakami owner (Steven Dambeck) is
well-established over many years. 
Yuba County Department of Agriculture: The Agriculture Commissioner of Yuba County is interested
in facilitating Yubakami’s aims to support small, new and socially-disadvantaged farmers through a food-
hub, and in refining and expanding its own policies on farming practices and the environment through
Yubakami’s input.

Description of the Partnership

Scope
This project seeks funding for a feasibility/planning study in establishing a ‘rural food-hub’ or network of
local farms and food producers that will grow, raise and distribute fresh, organic, wholesome and locally-
sourced food products for members of our rural community, many of whom subsist at the poverty line,
have no public or other transportation to reach commercial markets in cities miles away, and who live
under the constant threat of wildfire disasters that have repeatedly impacted our locale, destroying more
homes and displacing more families due to rapidly spreading firestorms than anywhere else in the
country. 
Specifically, the funds will be used to:
  Conduct a market assessment of the seasonal availability of and demand for locally sourced
produce, meat and dairy products.
 Develop a business model and operational plan for the growing, processing, storage and
distribution of locally sourced food products.
 Explore the feasibility of acquiring/leasing a multi-use building to facilitate/consolidate these
operations under one ‘community roof’.
 Coordinate outreach efforts to inform, educate and solicit the participation of local farmers,
producers and consumers, as well as a diverse cross section of public and private community
partners willing to lend their financial or other support to the project.
The expected positive outcomes would include:
 Advancing an equitable food distribution system that promotes local farming and consumption of
fresh, organic, wholesome locally sourced produce, dairy and meat products for our community’s
health and vitality.
 Promoting sustainable farming practices that strive to enrich and protect the vitality of our local
soils.
 Identifying the technical assistance and resources needed by our local farmers to meet these high-
quality standards while maintaining a “living wage” revenue stream year-round.
 Creating new “living wage” jobs in our newly revitalized local food economy.
 Connecting our local food-hub to the Emergency Food System so we are poised to serve as our
community’s “First Food Responder” when firestorm disaster strikes, becoming a primary source
of local fresh food available for purchase with federal and state disaster relief dollars or donation
when feasible.  
The social networking bonds that have formed at regular community farm-to-fork events will further
serve to prepare our community-driven food-hub to feed and care for those displaced by ever recurring
wildfires.
Present Day Snapshot
Yubakami currently has 1 full time employee (the owner) coordinating with farmers and producers,
collecting and delivering orders, and maintaining mini-hubs in 3 other locations. A variable number of
volunteers help with farm-work, picking and packing orders, distribution and other farm-related activities.
Currently 11 or so farmers and 8 or so producers provide goods to Yubakami for resale. The current
distribution area includes Oregon House, Dobbins, Browns Valley, Brownsville and Loma Rica towns
and communities (a triangular area covering approximately 28 square miles 6, with a population of around
5,2007), all of which are in undeserved and high-risk wildfire areas.
Scaling up
Subject to the findings of the feasibility report, Yubakami plans to scale its distribution area north to
Butte County, East to Nevada County, South to the Sacramento region and West to Sutter County. And
again through the feasibility study, Yubakami plans to offer enough volume of year-round produce with
value-added foods as well for distribution to towns and communities within an area of approximately 470
square miles8 and a population of around 125,0009 (this area is based on the geographical location of
some of the Partnering organizations). However, scaling up Yubakami’s operations and distribution area

6
Approximate area of Yubakami’s current distribution established using Google Earth.
7
Population figures taken from the 2019 Census Bureau.
8
Approximate area of Yubakami’s proposed distribution established using Google Earth.
9
Population figures taken from the 2019 Census Bureau.
would not result in its becoming ‘un-local’, but rather in finding the median retaining quality and
distribution levels to subscribing and direct-paying households, and other entities.
Short-term benefits of the Feasibility Study
In the process of conducting the Feasibility Study, the short-term benefits will be:
1. Developing consensus from local farmers in the feasibility of a rural food-hub.
2. Garnering support for developing a rural food-hub.
3. Establishing a financial model which projects the profit value of the food-hub for the
proposed area of distribution.
1. Promotion of new and innovative farming practices.
Long-term benefits of the Feasibility Study
In publishing the Feasibility Study, the long-term benefits will be to establish:
1. Letters of agreement between farmers and producers and the food-hub.
2. Contracts with local food markets to stock and sell produce and goods from the food-hub.
3. An organizational structure for the food-hub, including general manager, staff positions, and
a board of directors with a Vision, Mission and Objectives.
4. Renumeration levels for farmers, producers and food-hub staff.
5. A working food-hub facility with an adequate water supply.

TECHNICAL MERIT
Partnership Preparation
Current Partnerships
Many of the partnerships involved are of a long-standing connection with Yubakami (as described
below), mainly through the discussion and support of small, new and socially-disadvantaged farmers
outside the factory-farming of California’s Central Valley, advocacy for regenerative farming techniques
and community-building through farm-to-fork experiences and educating school children in agriculture.
Michael Micheli Farms – The connection between the Micheli farming family and the Yubakami
support team (see above) grew from a common interest in the logistics and benefits of running a
slaughterhouse facility. The Micheli family farm is located in Live Oak, some 36 or so miles from Oregon
House, and with their new slaughterhouse facility, are eager to test the feasibility of the number of
livestock their facility can process, and at a distance that is not cost-prohibitive to the farmer. The data
driven out of the feasibility study will help establish Yubakami’s distribution area, as well as on deciding
whether to build a new facility in Oregon House.
North Yuba Water District (NYWD) – There’s a long standing mutually respectful connection between
the NYWD board of directors and Yubakami. However, this water utility organization has had difficulties
with the community through perceptions over the way that water is allocated. Through the partnership
established for the feasibility study, a well-thought out plan will be delivered for the water needed by the
food-hub’s agricultural uses10, and at the same time, it is hoped the advance of this plan will resolve many
of the perception issues the community has of NYWD, which has in the past prevented planning for water
needs. Since there are farmers in our area whose farms are outside the boundaries of NYWD, the
feasibility study will also liaise other water districts within the Yubakami service area.
YES Charter Academy – Currently, Yubakami provides food through its network to the YES Charter
Academy. The Yubakami Support Team (see above) have discussed research that indicates improved
10
A Kennedy/Jenks report (2012) indicates that Dobbins-Oregon House ‘is the most likely area to be able to increase irrigation lands’ and the
‘area has wide valleys of rolling hills with irrigable soils and mixed outcrops of shallow soils and rock hills’.
academic performance of school-children through exercise and healthy diet 11, and therefore aims to
increase the percentage of local fresh food provided to YES over a given time-period. The principal of
YES (Louise Miller) grew up in the area, and well knows its agricultural quality and associated
challenges. She has run and participated (along with Plan B Works) in the vision and mission meetings
for the Yubakami food-hub.
Yuba Sutter Economic Development Corporation (YSEDC) – This connection is well-established,
provided good insight into making this application, while making suggestions on how to increase the
distribution area of the proposed food-hub through connections and the sites of new farmers’ markets.
New Partnerships
Tree Top Permaculture – This is a new connection, mainly through Plan B Works, was driven by the
recent years of devastating wildfires, and the stressful conditions of living in an elevated fire-risk zone.
The owner (Matthew Trumm) of Tree Top Permaculture managed restoration camps in Butte County
after the wildfire that destroyed the town of Paradise in 2018. In a meeting with Matthew, it was clear that
he has a lot to offer in the areas of permaculture, runs a small food-hub in Oroville (27 or so miles from
Oregon House, therefore a potential partner in the Yubakami food-hub) and has primary, first-hand
knowledge and experience of new innovative methods in remediating wild-fire damage. Through
advancing his knowledge and experience, Yubakami aims to raise awareness of fire-remediation and
prevention through agricultural methods, and begin to influence fire agencies (e.g., Cal Fire) in adopting
new wildfire remediation methods.
Yuba County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office – This is a new connection, initiated after some
initial research by Plan B Works indicates a scarcity of data on slaughterhouse facilities to the ratio of
livestock farmers. In return, the Agricultural Commissioner has expressed interest in the Yubakami food-
hub. Through this partnership, the Feasibility Study team will report data on ratio of butchering facility to
livestock farmer (e.g., acceptable cost of mileage, processing capacity of a butchering facility) to the
Agricultural Commissioner, part of whose vision is to provide ‘equitable regulation’ for agricultural
facilities. In the event that this data proves useful, there’s the potential for a liaison with the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in order to expedite the regulatory process, and to set up a
supporting framework for butchering facilities within reasonable reach of livestock farmers.

Work Plan
List and
Objective describe each Who will do
Required Milestones
Include the planned Anticipated For assessing the work?
objective this activity completion resources progress and Include
Include the scope For completion of collaborative
activity will be date each activity
success of each
arrangements or
tied to of work and how activity
it relates to the subcontractors
project objectives
All Objectives Kick-off meetings Nov 2021 Feasibility Study 1 Consensus on FST
with Partnering Team (FST) deliverables by FST
Orgs per Strategic and Partnering Orgs
Area
All Objectives Establish and run Nov 2021 Marketing and Focus groups Cheryl Hoke
Focus Groups Outreach Specialist finished
Objective 1 Engage Partnering Dec 2021 Agriculturalist, Strategic objectives Yubakami, Plan
Orgs for Objective Data Analyst & identified B Works,
1 Feasibility Study Partnering Org
writer, Partnering
Org

11
See this article by Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA) on the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) research on healthy food and improved
academic performance.
 Objective 1 Liaison and Dec 2021 Agriculturalist, Food-hub area of Yubakami, Plan
outreach to Data Analyst & distribution B Works, Cheryl
Farmers (inc. Feasibility Study established Hoke
small, new, and writer, Marketing
socially- and Outreach
disadvantaged) Specialist
Objective 1 Interviews and Dec 2021 Agriculturalist Year-round produce Yubakami
presentations with established with
Farmers estimate of
production volumes
Objective 2 Engage Partnering Jan 2022 Agriculturalist, Strategic objectives Yubakami, Plan
Orgs for Objective Data Analyst & identified B Works,
2 Feasibility Study Partnering Org
writer, Partnering
Org
Objective 2 Data analysis, Jan 2022 Data Analyst & Financial model for Plan B Works
financial Feasibility Study Food-hub
modelling writer distribution and
production
completed
Objective 3 Engage Partnering Feb 2022 Agriculturalist, Strategic objectives Yubakami, Plan
Orgs for Objective Data Analyst & identified B Works,
3 Feasibility Study Partnering Org
writer, Partnering
Org
Objective 3 Space planning, Feb 2022 Agriculturalist, Facility planning Yubakami,
capacity planning Partnering Org finished Partnering Org
Objective 3 Data analysis, Feb 2022 Data Analyst and Financial model Plan B Works
financial Feasibility Study completed
modelling writer (including
Distribution area,
estimated volume
of produce and
facility staff)
Objective 4 Engage Partnering Mar 2022 Agriculturalist, Strategic objectives Yubakami, Plan
Orgs for Objective Data Analyst & identified B Works,
4 Feasibility Study Partnering Org
writer, Partnering
Org
All Objectives Compile results Apr 2022 Data Analyst and Publish Feasibility Plan B Works
from Focus Groups Feasibility Study Report
and Milestones writer
All Objectives Project Nov 2021 – Project Manager Project complete QW Consultants
management Apr 2022 with ‘lessons
learned’ meeting

Community Engagement
Describe the community engagement process that the partnership uses to ensure inclusivity, including non-traditional entities
such as housing authorities, transportation providers, etc. Include any partners that may have limited resources and describe
the value that such partners bring to the partnership.

Marketing Outreach Plan

Yubakami Tourist Demographics
In the feasibility study, marketing and outreach are essential to the Yubakami food-hub’s success. The
agricultural area sourced by Yubakami is located roughly 50 miles north of Sacramento, a two-hour drive
from San Francisco, a 1.5 hour drive from the Napa Valley region, and a 2.5 hour drive from the Lake
Tahoe vacation area. This means that many tourists looking for short day-trips from their vacation spot
will find Yubakami and associated food destinations (Renaissance Vineyard & Winery, Apollo Olive Oil,
Café Collage, Café Lavinia, etc.). This indicates that the proposed Yubakami food-hub could strategically
plan on becoming a target area for travelers, with all the associated benefits of upselling local produce
and value-added products. For example, the Focus Groups of the Feasibility Study’s Marketing and
Outreach plan could include a survey of whether farmers would be interested in hosting farm tours or
events related to seasonal crops (e.g., a giant pumpkin festival).
Success of Local Airbnbs
The 8 Airbnbs located in the Oregon House area report
around 600 or more bookings in a 12-month period (June
2020 to June 2021). Out of the Oregon House population of
1,324 this number of Airbnb visitors (as a booking usually
represents 2 or more visitors) represents a significant
amount of interest in the area, and satisfaction with what it
offers (based on generally high reviews from visitors),
which aside from natural beauty, trekking and trails,
includes the agricultural produce and value-added products on
offer.
Components of a Marketing and Outreach Plan
2: Population of Oregon House
While the amount of produce processed by a food-hub is a
question of logistics (i.e., the processing capacity of a food-
hub facility, including fruit, vegetables, dairy and livestock), a marketing and outreach study will form a
main component of a feasibility study in order to: 
 Identify the demographics of target customers (age, income, ethnicity, gender, interests, etc.).
 Establish a menu of year-round produce and associated value-added products.
These data-points will then determine the capacity of the food-hub facility. However, additional
components of the marketing and outreach plan include:
 Engaging effectively with the partnering organizations to establish strategic goals, share data and
resolve issues.
 Establishing a common platform for information exchange (e.g., social media) based on the four
strategic areas of:
 Farmers: How the food-hub is working towards supporting small, new and socially-
disadvantaged farmers.
 Food: How the food-hub is developing the capacity for handling produce and value-
added products, with target objectives for number of customers (including households,
schools, the regional hospital and front-line workers).
 Facility: Progress with setting up a food-hub facility, including the legal requirements
involved in livestock and dairy farming.
 Educate: Effectiveness of information-exchange involving data and experience on
wildfire remediation, wildfire prevention and water retention, as well as agricultural best-
practices.
Achieving the above requires an outreach and marketing specialist (see the Key Staff table below).
Customer Focus Groups
Conducting a focus group survey is one of the most effective and efficient ways to identify target
customers. In this case, the concept would be to run a number of focus groups that include food-hub
customers and additional public and private organizations that would support the food-hub, bringing
stakeholder interest and influence to enable its success.
Liaison with Partnering Organizations
Part of the marketing and outreach specialist work will be to establishing a venue and a time for a
constructive exchange between the Feasibility Study Team (see above) and the number of public and
private Partnering Organizations involved. In some cases, the exchange will be a simple exchange of data,
and/or to discuss and agree on a strategic target (e.g., number of livestock farmers and accessibility of
slaughterhouse facilities). In other cases, the exchange will be complex, involving a number of
organizations, where data is problematic (sparse or controversial, e.g., measuring the impact of toxic run-
off from wildfires into local water) and/or when strategic objectives seem unrealistic or too demanding.
The role of the outreach and marketing specialist will be to schedule and facilitate these meetings, and to
document the acceptance of data, agreement on strategic objectives, and action items to enable the
project’s continuance.
Establishing a Common Platform for Information Exchange
A design for a common platform for information exchange may be self-evident with the number of social-
media channels available. But the main objective for this information exchange is to:
 Encourage small and underprivileged farmers of the validity of a food-hub.
 Discuss optimum range of year-round produce, while overcoming established patterns of buying
factory-made produce (and subsequent lower pricing).
 Share ideas and experience on the capacity and workload of a profitable food-hub facility.
 Raise awareness of environmental issues, some undocumented, resulting from wildfires.
Whether the above could come from a single platform for information exchange, or several or another
variation of social-media use will be the responsibility of the Outreach and Marketing Specialist to
determine.

Challenges
There follow several examples of challenges to rural food-hubs including 1), the perception that local
food is expensive and often unavailable 2) coordinating the logistics of the supply chain, 3) accessibility
of processing facilities for livestock farmers, 4) wildfires and 5) water management:
Challenge 1: Buying Local
For the proposed food-hub to be successful, perceptions by the potential customers in the distribution area
need to be addressed: that local food is expensive and produced seasonally, meaning that many potential
customers have to become accustomed to the unavailability of produce during certain parts of the year;
one of the challenges for food-hubs to become accepted as the best local shopping source is the
‘seasonality of fruits and vegetables’12. Addressing these perceptions issues would be the objective of the
feasibility study’s Marketing Outreach Plan (see above).
Challenge 2: Supply Chain Logistics
The COVID pandemic ‘significantly impacted California and the nation’s food supply 13’ with the result
that ‘school districts, day care homes, childcare homes, at-risk afterschool care centers, and adult day care
12
From the 2019 National Food Hub Survey Report run by the Michigan State University, Center for Regional Food Systems.
13
From a bulletin released by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
homes may be suffering from food shortages.’ As a recent study by Tufts University points out, the
COVID pandemic not only ‘highlighted weaknesses and inequities in America’s food supply system’ but
also, ‘the need to fix them.’14 This comes at a time when there has already been significant research (e.g.,
conducted by the USDA) on the cost ratios between mainstream (e.g., factory-manufactured food), direct
(e.g., farmers’ markets) and what’s called ‘intermediated’ supply chains which operate generally through
a food-hub, thereby distributing food and value-added produce to a smaller distribution area, increasing
the revenue for farmers and producers while reducing the cost of transportation and the impact on the
environment. It’s been shown that a local food supply chain transfers a greater percentage of retail pricing
to the farmer and producer than would a mainstream supply chain, a percentage that ranges from about
‘equal to more than seven times’15 the price from mainstream chains. The USDA has also shown that the
intermediated supply chain is also more fuel-efficient 16. However, for the proposed food-hub, the
logistical transition of food delivery from ‘supply chain to value chain’ needs statistical and financial
modeling in order to prove its validity. This is challenging, since food-hubs are varying significantly in
their distribution area, which means that intermediated supply chains are highly diverse. So the
importance of the supply chain for the food-hub cannot emphasized enough; the supply chain plays an
important role in aggregating local food and value-add products yet the challenge remains in being able to
innovate, scaling-up operations according to demand and the availability of food. Of note is that the
USDA study cited above observed intermediated supply chains to be initiated by retailers, foodservice
operators, or entrepreneurs. None of the intermediated supply chains in case studies were producer-led.
Challenge 3: Accessibility of Livestock Processing Facilities
The cost to the farmer and rancher of slaughtering livestock is prohibitive, mainly due to the distance of
livestock farmer to the nearest facility17, while mobile slaughter units might also charge prohibitively for
their services. At any rate, the livestock farmer who’s interested in raising quality meat in an ethical way
is faced with the problem of having their livestock slaughtered at prohibitive cost (whether a mobile unit
or a fixed facility) or doing it themselves, with considerable impact on the farmer’s time.
Therefore one of the aims of this project is to establish a partnership between a consortium of local
livestock farmers with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in order to establish
data-points on the reasonable access to slaughter facilities for livestock producers. The benefits of this
strategic partnership would be to help fulfill the CDFA’s mission of supporting the economic growth of a
California county’s agriculture and to facilitate a working profit model for local livestock farmers.
Challenge 4: Wildfires
The transitional ‘foothills’ ecological region between the
San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains is
characterized by forests of pines, cedars, oaks and
madrone, as well as mixed live oak woodlands and
grasslands. Much of this pristine nature was mined and
logged in the Gold Rush days, and many communities
evolved from mining and logging camps18. This early
occupation from Gold Rush times resulted in an
aggressive federal, state and local fire suppression
strategy, despite the earlier native tradition of periodic
cultural burns19. When gold seekers invaded the region, its
forests were far healthier due to these 15–20-year periodic
controlled burns, which both removed dead and dying

14
3: Elevated Fire Risk Area for Oregon
See the Tufts report How COVID-19 Affects Farmers and the Food Supply Chain.
15
For this 2010 USDA report, see Comparing the Structure, Size, and Performance House
of Local and Mainstream Food Supply Chains.
16
Ibid.
17
Reported from an article of the Bay Area Ranchers Co-op (BAR-C).
18
As reported in this National Geographic article.
19
See this article from High Country News (December 11, 2017) on Native American use and effectiveness of controlled burns.
trees and fire-prone brush and grass, along with many pests—including the bark beetle that is currently
devastating conifers in the region.
Despite substantial accumulated data that shows the superiority of controlled burns in forest
management20, fire suppression still remains the primary response to the risk of destructive, large-scale
fires which now characterize this region. Ironically, this policy has led to far more destructive fires (with
an estimated 5 times the accumulation of fire fuel compared to native management). When this is added
to by weather destabilization, beetle plague and increased droughts, the result is a perpetual elevated fire
risk and summary real events: the 2018 Camp Fire destroyed much of the nearby town of Paradise,
burning over 150,000 acres and killing 86 of its residents21. In 2020, fire erased Berry Creek, just across
the Oroville Lake from Brownsville (15 deaths, 300,000+ acres burned, 2,455 structures lost 22). Each year
sets new records for size and fire intensity, as California enters another massive drought year.
Many who study rural residential fire risk will advocate for community-based fire breaks and related local
actions that retard the progress of fires and protect residents 23. As pressure rises for wildlands clean up,
alternative land use involving annual and perennial food crops becomes an attractive option, while also
helping motivate residents to participate in food-hub-related activities. Outreach education encourages
residents to see fire breaks as creating value, and as a community-based proactive practice addressing fire
risk and food demand at the same time. Community-building, which involves higher levels of interaction
among neighbors, becomes an important dimension in lowering fire risk and building more resilient,
healthy communities24. These conditions make the establishment of a regional food-hub increasingly
attractive, when it serves as both motivator and provider.
Challenge 2: Water Management
In this time of extended drought, water too is a critical issue where the local North Yuba Water District
(NYWD) faces problems with an aging infrastructure, limited funding and stretched resources. These
problems and attempts to address them have also raised concerns with the community, which cannot
successfully be addressed without mediation and acknowledgement of NWYD’s expertise and experience
in water management. However, there is potential for a water infrastructure plan that effectively provides
all the water needs of the Yubakami food-hub but arriving at a plan requires mediation and data exchange
in the complex engineering issues of the current infrastructure and the water requirements of a food-hub.
In discussions around these problems, the Yuba Water Agency has indicated the availability of funding
for ‘water development’, the first time it’s had this kind of funding for 50 years. If the feasibility study
successfully identifies a water infrastructure plan with the NYWD partnering organization, the next step
would be applying to the Yuba Water Agency for funding to implement the plan.

ACHIEVABILITY
Outcome Indicators
Outcome 5: To Establish or Expand a Local and Regional Food Business Enterprise.
Indicato Estimated
Description N/A
r number
Number of plans (business, economic, feasibility) developed based
5.b. 4 ☐
on a comprehensive needs assessment.

20
Ibid.
21
From CAL FIRE’s Red Book for 2018.
22
From CAL FIRE’s 2020 Fire Siege Report, also reported in The San Francisco Chronicle.
23
NPR broadcast this story (May 2021) of a California town using CalFire’s Forest Improvement Program to protect their community from
wildfires.
24
See this article from the GREEN BLOG (July, 2020) on community building to coexist with wildfires.
Outcome 6: To Increase Capacity and Efficiency of the Local or Regional Food System.
Indicato Estimated
Description N/A
r number
Of the total number of food system collaborators engaged, the
number that:
6.b.  Gained knowledge on how to access resources
 Provided technical assistance or training to partners 6 ☐

Outcome 7 (OPTIONAL).
Project Specific Outcome Indicator(s): Add more rows as needed.
Indicato Estimated
Description
r number
7.a. Food-hub area of distribution established
7.b. Year-round produce established with estimate of production volumes
Financial model completed (including Distribution area, estimated 1 Financial
7.c.
volume of produce and facility staff) model (from 0)
Facility plan for food-hub including packing, marketing and distributing 1 Facility (from
7.d.
areas, and if a feasible option, a slaughterhouse and/or creamery 0)
Water infrastructure plan for agriculture and Food-hub distribution area 1 Water Plan
7.e.
(from 0)
Focus groups finished and Marketing and Outreach plan established 1 Marketing
7.f.
Plan (from 0)
Feasibility Study Report published 1 Feasibility
7.g.
Report (from 0)

Outcome Indicator Measurement Plan

Outcome How did you derive the
and estimated numbers?
indicator # I.e., documented background
I.e., 3.i., 6.a., or baseline information, recent
6.b. research and data, etc.
5.b. Food-hub requires the
following plans for success:
Financial, Marketing, Facility
and Water
6.b. By counting the Partnering
organizations with technical
abilities
7.a. Food-hub area was estimated
through existing connections
and by aiming to connect
neighboring Counties,
specifically those a) with food-
networks, and b) recovering
from wildfire
7.b. Focus groups and interviews
with farmers and value-added
producers
How and when do you
intend to evaluate?
I.e., surveys, 3rd party
assessment
Working with Partnering
Organizations; Studying other
Food-hub models (specifically
financial planning)
Through the process of the
Feasibility study when technical
plans are delivered
Ramping up to the new
distribution area will take time,
and depend on a new food-hub
facility
Food-hubs report that it takes
time to align both producers and
demand, so this will be a work in
progress
Anticipated key factors
predicted to contribute to
and restrict outcome
Including action steps for
addressing identified restricting
factors
Partnering organizations are willing
to collaborate on developing
technical plans but the issues are
complex and their time already over-
prioritized
There is significant buy-in by
Partnering organizations but the
timeline is aggressive, and the data,
skills and experience are very
diverse
There are many affiliations and
partnerships willing to engage, but
there needs to be a significant
amount of capital invested in a new
food-hub facility
There is potential for quality,
nutrient-rich and wide variety of
year-round produce from the area
but new farmers will fade quickly if

7.c. Data analysis of current
financials and using example
Financial models from Food-
hub resources
7.d. Yubakami has experience in
planning and running this kind
of facility, and there is also
technical input from Partnering
organizations
7.e. The Partnering organization
has experience in water
infrastructure planning while
the Feasibility Team will be
able to provide data on the
amount of water needed for
agricultural needs
7.f. The team’s Marketing and
Outreach Specialist has
experience in producing
Marketing and Outreach plans
7.g. The team’s Data analyst and
Feasibility Study Report writer
has experience in writing these
kinds of reports
Renumeration for farmers,
salaries for food-hub staff and
operating costs of distribution
need to be monitored for some
time
Food-hub operations will
probably take time to establish
before becoming truly productive
and efficient
Measuring water consumption
and making sure water is being
used efficiently for its intended
purpose will take regular
monitoring over a period of time
in order to validate the water
infrastructure plan
Some benefits of the Marketing
Plan will be immediate as new
and beginning farmers will want
to participate in the food-hub as
will new customers, but the
educational component of the
plan will take time and liaison-
work to take hold
Once finished, the Feasibility
Report will be distributed among
stakeholders, Partnering
organizations and published on
the Yubakami website
they are not renumerated adequately
New farmers and employees for the
food-hub will not be hard to find but
the food-hub will need a lot of
capital and volunteer expense in the
beginning to make it work
The experience is there for running a
food-hub facility, but there will be a
considerable capital expense in
getting it up and running
Dedicated professionals will be
producing the water infrastructure
plan, but it is a complex system with
existing infrastructure problems, and
additional funding may well be
needed to put it in place
Many stakeholders in the food-hub
are enthusiastic by the potential for
growing the local economy through
agritourism, but this may come into
conflict with the food-hub’s primary
objective of supporting small, new
and socially-disadvantaged farmers
There is a commitment to running a
feasibility report as a necessary step
in validating the concept of a food-
hub, but the report’s findings may be
inconclusive or discover significant
obstacles

Dissemination of Project Results

Once the Feasibility Study is completed, it is planned to publish and distribute the final version:
1. In PDF form on the Yubakami website.
2. To Partnering organizations (who may wish to disseminate the report further).
3. To Yubakami stakeholders (who may wish to disseminate the report further).
4. Through other Agricultural outlets and publications25.
In the four strategic areas addressed by the feasibility study’s objectives, dissemination could take
further forms:
1. Farmers: Shared experiences by farmers involved in other food-hubs are both an inspiration and
an education to this current effort. Yubakami intends to share its experience as well through
dedicated forums.
2. Food: The Yubakami food-hub intends to widen the food offering to being year-round, of
particular quality (of the terroir), while also ramping up production in offerings to schools,
foodbanks, displaced people and front-line workers.
3. Facility: Data from the logistic, capacity and water planning for food-hub slaughterhouse will be
of interest to livestock farmers, owners of slaughterhouse facilities and to regulatory agencies
(both state and local).

25
For example, Farmer’s Footprint, Regenerative Food Network, and Valley Vision.
 4. Educate: The promotion of ecology restoration, specifically for wildfire damage could have a
significant influence on farmers, agriculturalists and fire agencies. There is also the potential
impact science and academia if the feasibility study recommends dedicated study of toxic run-off
from wildfires, advocating the funding to find a suitable resource.

Project Sustainability
Obtain Agreements Letters
One aim of the Focus Groups in the Feasibility Study is to obtain buy-in from local:
 Farmers and producers as suppliers for the rural food-hub
 Businesses (e.g., food markets that specifically handle local farmers and producers)
 Government, businesses and agricultural advocates.
With the data from these focus groups, Yubakami and its stakeholders will seek letters of agreement with
each of these focus group types accordingly:
 Farmers and producers to supply food to the food-hub for sorting, packing, marketing and
distribution.
 Businesses (including Yubakami) to sell food from the food-hub.
 Government, businesses, agricultural advocates and in supporting the food-hub
Alternative Funding
If this Grant application is unsuccessful, Yubakami and its stakeholders intend to raise funds for the same
feasibility study. The same approach would be used to implementing a food-hub facility after the
feasibility study is finished.
Manage Interim Food-hub
In the interim of waiting until a new food-hub facility is developed, Yubakami intends to function out of
its existing facility, while improving and building-up its current distribution points, while seeking new
distribution areas.

EXPERTISE AND PARTNERS

Key Staff (Applicant Personnel and External Partner/Collaborators)
Key staff Role
Name and Title
Steven Dambeck Agriculturalist
Julian Branston Data Analyst & Feasibility Study writer
Cheryl Hoke Marketing and Outreach Specialist
Tim Quartly-Watson Project Manager

Name Entity or partner Type Role

Julian Branston Partner Private Corporation Authorized
Organization Role
(AOR), Key Staff
Member
Steven Dambeck Entity Producer Network Key Staff Member
Michael Micheli Farms Entity Farmer Partner Organization
North Yuba Water Partner Private Corporation Partner Organization
District
Richards Grassfed Beef Entity Farmer Partner Organization
Sierra Foothill Partner Institutions of Higher Partner Organization
Research and Extension Education
Center
Sugarloaf Moringa Entity Farmer Partner Organization
Farm
Tree Top Permaculture Partner Private Corporation Partner Organization
YES Charter Academy Entity Non-profit Partner Organization
Organization
Yuba County Partner Regional Authority Partner Organization
Department of
Agriculture
Yuba Sutter Economic Partner Private Corporation Partner Organization
Development
Corporation (YSEDC)

Project Management Plan

1. Project kickoff with Feasibility Study Team (FST) including Agriculturalist, Data Analyst &
Feasibility Study writer, Project Manager, Outreach and Marketing Specialist and Partnering
Organizations.
2. Project Manager (PM) establishes timeline and milestones with PM software (in this case,
Kanbanize) and shares with FST.
3. PM allocates Tasks to FST (i.e., identify full complement of year-round crops and famers to
provide them including prospective new farmers) with timeline to achieve:
a. Liaison and outreach
b. Interviews and presentations
c. Space planning, capacity planning, financial planning, water infrastructure planning
d. Data analysis, financial modelling
e. Running Focus Groups
f. Compile results from Milestones 1 – 5
g. Project management scheduling
4. PM schedules regular weekly meetings with FST for progress updates, updating project plan
accordingly (in Kanbanize).
5. PM compiles Risk Register to account for Task slippage and delay with impact to Milestones.
6. PM schedules regular bi-monthly meetings (2 per month) with Partnering Organizations to report
on progress, using task completion percentages towards Milestones as a reporting metric.
7. PM closes out tasks when finished and updates project timeline.
8. At project close-out, PM schedules project review and ‘lessons learned’ meeting with FST.