Conservancy's Valencia Season Begins This Week
By Bobbe Monk, the Redlands Daily Facts, published Saturday, August 13, 2005
Got oranges? The Inland Orange Conservancy wants you to have oranges and help retain Redlands area groves for future generations.
Bob Knight, chair of the IOC, said that beginning Aug. 15, juicy, sweet local Valencia oranges will be available to IOC members along with white and ruby grapefruit. Orders placed by then will be delivered Tuesday.
Saving the groves, increasing the feeling of community, helping the needy and providing nutritious snacks are all within the plan of the IOC which completed its first season in the spring.
"We're still feeling our way," Knight said, obviously pleased that the first season went so well. Some 1,094 families were members, making the organization the biggest community-supported agriculture network in California, he said.
The families consumed some 100 tons of oranges last season; 11 tons were donated to the less fortunate and homeless through Inland Harvest; 56 local citrus-supporting community groups received donations from IOC and five other community groups received giveaways to use in their activities.
And the IOC is strictly run by volunteers—no paid staff to pack and deliver the fruit in the season, which this summer will run 14-16 weeks.
Membership in the IOC is $65 per family. Memberships may also be shared.
Members get 10 pounds (two bags) of oranges each week throughout the season as well as the organization's newsletter and information on any activities.
Additionally, members may designate a community organization they feel supports the cause of orange preservation, such as a local service club, family assistance group, PTAs, church groups, sports clubs, etc. Memberships may also be purchased as gifts for others.
Each time a club or organization is designated by a new IOC member, it receives $15 from the IOC, providing another fund-raising method for the club, Knight said.
IOC members pick up their oranges at one of 30 area locations. Community groups with 30 or more IOC members may have their oranges delivered to wherever they want. For a group which meets weekly, like a Kiwanis Club or a sports club, IOC members can pick up their oranges at their club meeting.
A few of the area pickup points include Gerrard's Market, Olive Avenue Market, Clark's Nutrition Center in Loma Linda, Mariposa Elementary School, Redlands Adventist Academy, Grove School, the Montessori School and Highland House of Flowers.
For the first time this year, deliveries will be made to Riverside, to Jammin' Bread, a store in the Cedar Crest Center near the University of California, Riverside, Knight said.
In all, there will be about 19 pickup locations serviced by what he fondly called "Peels on Wheels," the volunteer distributors.
These are all places which give the feel of community, Knight said.
About 14 growers participated in the program last season. This season, so far, there are agreements with groves in Crafton, Greenspot, San Timoteo Canyon and Riverside, with more in the offing.
"We try to commit to about half of what we need," Knight said, because IOC is uncertain at this point how many members it will have.
Last year the groves produced blood oranges, Oro Blanco, Pomelo and white grapefruit, lemons and one week, avocados.
"We called it 'guacamole mix' that week," Knight said. "We try to provide some surprise—a little spice."
Members are issued bar code cards which they turn in each time they pick up their share. And, Knight said, it's acceptable to share your portion with family and friends. Just give them your bar code for that week.
Additionally, oranges not picked up, or any overabundance, will be delivered to Inland Harvest for distribution through its food program for needy families.
All of this helps local growers, who cannot sell their fruit to local chain markets, Knight said.
While the Inland Empire was called "The Napa Valley of the Navel Orange," by the New York Times in the past, it is losing its orange groves at a rate of about 600 acres a year. Inland groves could be a thing of the past by the end of the decade.
Urban sprawl is doing its share to kill the groves, as is marketing fruit as "big is beautiful." Inland oranges are noted for their taste, but they are smaller that oranges sold in large markets, Knight said.
And while orange groves once nearly stretched to the ocean from the Inland Empire (example: Orange County), they are now only in a few areas.
Knight, who was a telecommunications engineer in Saudi Arabia, grew up locally and is a fourth-generation grove owner. Coming home with his family after Sept. 11, 2001, when "things were getting a little dicey" in Saudi Arabia, he was distressed at the disappearance of the orange groves.
Growers get "a terrible price" in the orange market, he said, even though oranges are selling in big markets for a high price. The money goes to the middleman, he said.
Then the idea came to make a connection to the local growers and inland Orange Conservancy was born.
The conservancy, he said, pays local grove owners five times what they would receive by selling their citrus to major distributors. And the conservancy wasn't formed to make money, but rather to help local growers make a living.
It will even pay growers in bad years, according to information on the Web site.
"A lot of family (grove owners) don't want to sell, but they can't make the groves pay for themselves," Knight said.
"We want to find (those growers) and help them maintain their lifestyles."
The conservancy also supports citrus heritage through community events, Knight said.
He pointed to last year's Orange Blossom Grove Walk in Prospect Park, part of the new Redlands Festival. There were historical exhibits, machinery and explanations of how to care for a grove. There was also a booth offering tastes of new varietal oranges from the University of California, Riverside.
Future plans include providing programs to third-grade teachers, with oranges and information, to help educate local children.
Knight said he's tasted oranges in many countries, but his opinion is that Redlands oranges taste the best. He urges area residents to find out for themselves by joining the conservancy.
For information, or an application to join, call the Inland Orange Conservancy at 794-4484; email them at inlandorange@hotmail.com, or visit the Web site at www.inlandorange.com.