I’d been aware of East Fork’s organic farm since I first met with Nathan Howard, one of the company’s founders, back in 2016 when Oregon first legalized cannabis. At that time, I had never heard of CBD but got a rapid education on its benefits based on research known at the time. Most people are familiar with East Fork’s story enough to know that Nathan and his brother Aaron founded the company to farm sun-grown, organic plant medicine for their (now deceased) brother Wesley for whom CBD provided notable relief from a terminal brain condition. In the years since, East Fork expanded into organic, sun-grown hemp, genetics, CBD-rich consumer goods, and added Ecommerce and a retail space (Hemp Bar). Meanwhile, after some years of consulting work, my career path brought me back to East Fork, where I am currently contracted as their CFO.
Timing aligned to provide me with an opportunity to finally visit the Southern Oregon facility with Mason Walker, East Fork’s CEO. Mason walked me around the properties, sharing stories of his personal journey from a successful journalism career to his current role leading the company’s hemp and cannabis businesses through socially and economically turbulent times. We meandered past the stable where the llama’s were housed when the property was purchased, a huge old barn, and various processing facilities. When the door to the storage area was opened, one was struck with the overwhelming fragrance of pineapple and fruit - a delicious sensory wall emanating from hundreds of pounds of one of the company’s popular cultivars, Sour Pineapple.
While the fields lay dormant before the next round of spring planting, the farm was still abuzz with activity. Farm technicians made repairs, trimmed, packaged, and held meetings to prepare for this year’s crop. Everyone I encountered was pleasant and well-spoken. The facilities are modest, but intentional, and a new employee shared with me how impressed she was with all the systems in place at the farm relative to her previous places of employment.
The contrast between the East Fork farm and many of the grows in the valley, where plastic litters bulldozed spaces and hastily-erected hoop houses, is indeed stark. Like much of rural America, many people are struggling to make ends meet, so well-financed opportunists, legal or otherwise, can influence the landscape significantly: A reminder to pay attention to the provenance of what you purchase. In listening to stories, it sometimes sounded like there was more enforcement around organizations that were trying to participate in the legal market than for those who were operating outside of it. Unlicensed operations are not subject to building codes, water agreements, or regulation but in small communities, it is difficult for people to come forward about abuses when sharing such information could put a neighbor at risk, and increasingly, that of violence.
The abundant bird life on the farm was also striking. On the beautiful morning of our departure, as the team struggled with a glitch in the State’s transfer manifest system, I wandered around the fields and oak groves, which were bustling with robins, ducks, geese, hawks, bluejays, and flickers. If you pay attention to the skies, the lack of major urban centers in Southern Oregon means that a staggering amount of stars are visible on a clear night. I braved the chill to stand in solitude and admire the constellations every evening I was there. Unable to switch off my mind, I contemplated my immersion in East Fork over the past months and acknowledged that while the company strives to care for its team in every way that it can, everyone makes some sacrifice rooted in the importance of the motivations that ultimately guide the company. For me, it’s a passion for artisanal products, helping small businesses grow, and ensuring we have genuine choices in the marketplace. For the cultivation team, it is serving as good stewards of the land by being Farmers, not Growers. For others, it is working in a place where idealism manifests itself in real ways while creating things that truly benefit people directly.
I’ll look forward to returning to the farm, perhaps later in 2022, to witness the fullness of the team’s efforts. In the meantime, this year is young, and like the empty fields, quietly holds the promise of better times.
