Thank a Farmer
Celebrate Farmers Forever on Oct. 12
We all care about how the food we eat gets to our plates. And since we can’t all be farmers, we want the farmland, and the farmers and ranchers who steward it, to be around for generations to come. At Burgerville, we share this vision. More than 75% of the ingredients we serve are grown and raised within a 300 mile radius of Vancouver, Washington. We’ve been making this connection between delicious food and thriving farms and farmers since we opened our first restaurant in 1961 in Vancouver, Washington. Our regional scale makes us a perfect partner for Pacific Northwest farmers and ranchers–a majority of whom grow crops or raise cattle, hogs and poultry, on small-acreage farms.
Our investment in regional farms is crucial. It keeps money circulating in the local economy, directly benefiting the women and men working the land, and the communities where they live. At the same time, our guests benefit from sampling the best of the Northwest–fresh, pastured beef, poultry, and pork, artisan cheeses, pumpkin, Walla Walla onions, berries, mint, whole grain buns, and more. Each tasty Burgerville cheeseburger or shake you order comes with a whopping side of the landscapes, natural resources, rural communities, and carbon sequestering soils that make your food possible.
Let’s talk about farmland. Here in the Pacific Northwest, farm and ranch land makes up 25% of Oregon and 34% of Washington, covering over 30 million acres. It provides not only food to the region and the world, but also wildlife habitat and beautiful open spaces. And it can help our land stay resilient in the face of climate change. That’s a great thing.
Right now, agricultural land across the country is under threat: from development pressure, which is reducing farmland by 2,000 acres per year, and because many farmers are retiring without a plan for the future. That’s right: millions of additional acres will be changing hands as the majority of farmers and ranchers reach retirement age in the next decade. No one knows what’s going to happen to this farmland. There are plenty of beginning farmers and ranchers who are eager to begin farming. Yet it’s nearly impossible for them to afford land in part because prices are inflated by development potential. Tragically, once this farmland changes hands and becomes developed, its agricultural and natural resource values are permanently destroyed. This leaves us with little guarantee that the abundance and variety of foods we enjoy will be available into the future.
Fortunately, land trusts like Oregon Agricultural Trust (OAT) and Washington Farmland Trust (WFT) are working to permanently protect farmland in the Pacific Northwest and make it available to future generations of farmers and ranchers. Their programs help conserve farmland and natural resources, support rural communities and economies, and increase the ability of an diversifying beginning farmer population to access land.
This National Farmers Day (October 12) Burgerville is joining with our Pacific Northwest suppliers Country Natural Beef and Tillamook to show our commitment to Northwest farmers, ranchers, and the lands they steward. In giving $1 from every Northwest Cheeseburger to OAT and WFT, and with our partners’ matching gifts, Burgerville is ensuring that farmers and farmland are around to feed the eaters of the future.
Donate Directly
Oregon Agricultural Trust
Washington Farmland Trust
Join us on Tuesday, October 12 by ordering a Northwest Cheeseburger to support #FarmersForever.
FARMERS DAY UPDATE:
You Really Love Our Farmers! Way to come through for our farmers & ranchers on National Farmers Day! Thanks to you and partners Tillamook and Country Natural Beef, we raised $8,100 for The Oregon Agriculture Trust and Washington Farmland Trust! That’s $8,100 toward keeping farmers on the land.