The Business of Heritage Foods - Heritage Grain with Oatman Farms
Category: Event Calendar
Date and Time for this Past Event
- Thursday, Nov 9, 2023 9am - 10am
Location
FORGE at Roy Place
44 N Stone Ave
Details
Sponsored by University of Arizona FORGE, the Tucson City of Gastronomy (TCoG) presents a monthly presentation, every second Thursday, on the business of heritage foods. At this event you will have the opportunity to hear the story of how Yadi Wang and Oatman Farms are making a difference for people, products and planet and get to taste Oatman Farms products!
Oatman Farms™ is a fearless food company with a mission to revitalize and sustain family farms in hot and dry desert environments, including our own Oatman Flats Ranch, the Arizona farm that has been family owned for four generations. To preserve and steward the land, the owners of Oatman Flats Ranch are committed to using regenerative, organic farming practices, growing heritage crops adapted to our soil and climate, and working with chefs and bakers to craft delicious products. Eat Fearlessly™! The Oatman Farms product line includes heritage grain flour, Sourdough Bread Mix, and Pancake and Waffle Mixes.
Inspired by the farming lifestyle of his extended family, Yadi Wang was determined to become a farmer after receiving his doctoral degree in environmental science and years as a chemical and process engineer. As a first-generation farmer, he is one of the pioneers on developing large scale weed mitigation and integrated pest management methodologies using multi-species cover crops, chemical (pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, etc.) free and intensive managed sheep rotational grazing to steward the land at Oatman Flats Ranch, in the hottest and driest environment in the US Southwest. On the path of regeneration, Yadi strongly believes the practices and the integrated approaches must focus on the health of people and the planet.
With the realization of farming as an aging industry, where young and underserved producers have extreme difficulties to access land and capital, he co-founded Arizona SOL L3C – a social enterprise reimagining how young and underserved producers access land and capital while turning defunct land into productive ecosystems. Meanwhile, he co-founded and is the president of the Development of Regenerative Yields (DRY) Cooperative, where the team is working to enhance the local and regional food ecosystem and circular economy by establishing cooperative farming structures, increasing processing and distribution capacities for small to mid-size producers in the region.
