About Rogue to Go
Rogue to Go is a program overseen by local non-profit, Be The Change Rogue. Be The Change Rogue aims to create opportunities and inspire a more just and sustainable community through advocacy and programming that protects local resources, prevents waste and supports best practices for citizens and local government by being the change we wish to see in our community.
History, Legacy, & Where Rogue To Go Came From
We wanted to see a simple way to get food to go without all the trash. Rogue To Go has been designed to be community-wide, and accessible by all businesses as well as reduce the huge amount of trash we see from takeouts. The Rogue Valley has an amazing culinary scene and we love eating out and we wanted to design a better way. We can enjoy take-out with the same convenience but reduce the packaging and trash!
Rogue To Go was cultivated by Roxane Beigel-Coryell and Risa Buck during their service on the City of Ashland’s Conservation Commission (now the Ashland Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission) and started as a pilot program overseen by the City of Ashland. Following the success of the pilot it became a program run by the local nonprofit, Be The Change Rogue and the Rogue To Go Advisory Team.
Rogue To Go has been made possible by the support and participation of the original restaurateurs who were willing to try a new way. The initial grant started in January of 2020 with five eateries and has grown to nine and counting- during a pandemic and a devastating wildfire. Growth under these conditions demonstrates the community’s hunger for this solution.
We realized that we needed to design a program that met the needs of our rural community. Our goals include providing a service that supports local business while offering a solution for customers’ desire for ‘on the go’ convenience minus the environmental degradation reflected in mainstream “consumerism”. Our ultimate goal is that Rogue To Go will be a part of the paradigm shift for “how we do business,” in Southern Oregon designed to be self-sustaining and replicable in other places.
Meet the Team!
Risa Buck , Be The Change Board President/Chair, Rogue To Go Advisory Team
Risa has lived in Ashland for 31 years. It’s the longest place she’s ever lived. Risa has been creating her “sustainable urban homestead” utilizing permaculture principles with rainwater catchment, re-use of materials and electric generation fed to the city’s utility grid.
Risa also serves on the newly created Ashland Recreation Division Advisory Committee (APRC) and was co-creator for the Ashland pilot of Rogue To Go in January 2020 which became the non profit Be The Change Rogue in August of 2020 that now administers Rogue To Go.
Over the decades, Risa has worked in mediation, conflict resolution and waste prevention in Jackson County. She joined the Ashland Conservation Commission when the city launched it in 1997. It recently became the Ashland Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission before it was laid to rest by the city in 2022. She retired just before this occurred.
Risa is an avid swimmer, gardener and shy improvisor with Improv Alchemy. Her favorite camp/hike adventure includes friends, a river and someone else cooking.
Roxane Beigel-Coryell , Be The Change Board Vice President/Chair, Rogue To Go Advisory Team
Roxane fell in love with the Rogue Valley when she first arrived as a graduate student in 2010. During the decade she spent in Ashland, Roxane worked as the first Sustainability & Recycling Manager at Southern Oregon University and served on the City’s Conservation Commission, advocating for waste prevention and climate action initiatives. In 2019, Roxane moved back to southern California to be closer to family, where she continues her work to advance sustainability in Ventura County. Even from hundreds of miles away, she is still deeply connected to the Rogue Valley. Outside of work, Roxane loves to play tennis, hike, and spend time with her pets.
Linda Peterson Adams, Be The Change Rogue Board Treasurer, Rogue To Go Advisory Team
Linda grew up on a Mom & Pop retail nursery where they sold plants from reused metal gallon cans and wooden flats. In college, Linda and her roommates always took the time to take glass and cans to the Recycle Center and bought them in bulk. When Linda worked in the big city, she left a bucket of food scraps that wouldn’t go on the compost pile for the pig farmers and sent out recyclables in a blue bucket. Now that she is retired in Ashland, Linda continues her efforts and enthusiasm for reducing her consumption, recycling, reusing, repurposing, buying local and encouraging others to do the same. Because it is the right thing to do. Linda currently serves on the City of Ashland Transportation Commission, The Ashland Food Project Board, and SOCAN’s Ashland Climate Action Project.
Flavia Franco, Be The Change Rogue Board Secretary, Rogue To Go Advisory Team
Flavia Franco moved to Ashland in 2017. She believes in the power of building community, and volunteers through Southern Oregon Food Solutions, Ashland Bellview Grange #759, Southern Oregon Climate Action Now and Ashland Climate Collaborative. Flavia taught classes through OLLI and Ashland Parks and Rec about things like fighting climate change, sustainability, food, farming and community building. She and her life partner made their big steps in sustainability by installing solar panels on their home and buying a plug-in hybrid vehicle, and they make small steps part of their daily lives. Flavia likes exploring the network of trails around Ashland.
Jinnee Joos, Be The Change Rogue Board Member, Rogue To Go Advisory Team
Jinnee Joos grew up in the Rogue Valley and happily returned to raise
her daughter with her husband after exploring many other places and ultimately choosing to come home.
She is a people person and her first jobs were in the restaurant business. She is currently a Realtor with Full Circle Real Estate. She also loves homeschooling her daughter, riding her horse, hiking and singing.
Jinnee brings her enthusiasm and creative ideas to our non-profit and is
excited to help Rogue To Go move into its next phase as it spreads throughout the Rogue Valley and beyond.
Chris Byrne, Rogue to Go Advisory Team
Chris completed a GreenMBA in 2005 and became a certified Permaculture Instructor in 2006. Since then, he has used these two frameworks as a Green Business Development and Integrated Site and Systems Design Consultant. Before accepting the Sustainability Coordinator position at Ashland Food Co-op he served as the Administrative Manager of the Prepared Foods Department.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Chris left shortly after college and has lived in Vail, CO, San Francisco and Sonoma County, CA, and Tokyo Japan, among other places. He originally came to call Ashland home in 2005, developing a deep love for the Rogue Valley biome and its people.
“My dual careers have been in Food Service and Sustainability. Feeding people and caring for future generations are at the core of my purpose. I am delighted to join the Rogue To Go Advisory Board!”
Rachel Koning, Rogue To Go Advisory Team
Rachel is a Southern Oregon native and the Marketing & Events Coordinator for Common Block Brewing Company in Medford. When not planning social media or sharing news of the brewery’s waste/energy reduction programs, she’s enjoying local trails and taking home her family’s favorite meals from around the valley in Rogue To Go containers.
Supporters
- 1% for the Planet
- City of Ashland
- Department of Environmental Quality
- Houston Jewish Community Foundation
- Ashland Food Co-op
- Full Circle Realty
- Blue Genie Digital
- REI Medford
- Ashland Chamber of Commerce
- KS Wild
- True South Solar
- Body in Balance
- Andrew “Yav” Yavelow
- Dorinda Cottle
- Recology Ashland
- Ozzi
- Maple Creative