Darrin Ditchen
Stanfield, OR
As the first farmer to be recognized by Farmers Ending Hunger, Ditchen manages Golden Valley East, his family’s farming operation on the east side of the state. The home operation, Golden Valley Farms, is located near Silverton, OR, in the Willamette Valley.
Golden Valley East was one of the original contributors to Farmers Ending Hunger with a donation of green peas in 2006. Darrin was one of five growers who together contributed 173,000 pounds of frozen peas that were delivered to the Oregon Food Bank in November 2006.
The focus for Farmers Ending Hunger turned to wheat in 2007 and Darrin once again stepped up. His donation of 350 bushels of wheat helped Farmers Ending Hunger partner with the Oregon Wheat Foundation and several other wheat growers for a combined 17,000 bushels. With the participation of Pendleton Flour Mills and Continental Mills, the donated wheat resulted in a total contribution of 90,000 pounds of pancake mix delivered to the Oregon Food Bank in December 2007.
When asked why he participates, Ditchen has a very straightforward response. "I have been blessed in this life and I feel it is my turn to give back," he says.
How do you decide what to give? "I just take out a few bushels from each acre. At the end of the day I don’t even notice the difference, but it adds up. When we all do this we can make a significant dent in hunger in Oregon."
The goal for 2008 is to raise the bar to 500,000 pounds of pancake mix. Darrin and Golden Valley East will once again be a participant.
Farmers Ending Hunger is proud to have Darrin Ditchen as one of our farmer donors. His generosity and commitment to our mission is admirable.
Darrin Ditchen with Jim Youde, FEH Treasurer and Board member