Oregon House woman plans foothills store

As a little girl, Jenny Cavaliere distinctly recalls being enchanted one morning when she awoke to discover a Holstein cow had wandered from a nearby dairy to stand in Cavaliere's backyard kiddie pool.

Cavaliere's Oregon House ranch is a long way from that New Jersey memory, but she is still enchanted with livestock, and hoping a store based around farm products will enchant others.

Within the next few weeks, Cavaliere said, she hopes to see a nearly two-year quest fulfilled when she opens Oregon House Farms Store on her ranch, rustic in appearance, but in tune with the culinary zeitgeist in products.

"If there's a thread about this store, it's that I plan to sell local agricultural products," said Cavaliere, who does so now through her online grass-fed beef business, High Sierra Beef.

The store will offer more than organic steaks and roasts. Cavaliere said she will also sell organic pork, poultry and lamb — all inspected and approved by state and federal regulators — eggs, honey, olive oil and produce, mostly from her own 63-acre ranch. She is also looking for other vendors.

Cavaliere operated a similar store on her property in 2007, but closed in early 2010 after a neighbor complained, though she said she thinks the closure was also prompted by her decision to run against Yuba County Supervisor Hal Stocker.

The closure, though, had an upside, as it gave her time to get organic certifications and reapply through the county for an operating permit.

Timing helped when the county, as part of a new General Plan adopted this year, made it easier for a small business like hers to open without extensive review.

"One of the goals of the General Plan update was to encourage business opportunities for people in agricultural districts," said Ed Palmeri, a county project planner. "There was a real concern by the board for people who have farms or are in rural areas to have the opportunity to create jobs and local business."

Cavaliere's farm received administrative approval under the new plan, but neighbors who had received necessary notice appealed for a full hearing before the county Board of Supervisors. Earlier this month, the board rejected the appeal, giving her only a couple small hurdles left with county planning before she can open, she said.

Opponents, mostly neighbors, worried a store's presence would bring too much traffic to her ranch on Indiana School Road.

But Cavaliere said she only plans to be open two days a week, for a total of 10 hours. And Palmeri said a county study found little reason to think there would be a sizable increase in traffic.

Still, Stocker said he is concerned the store either won't be popular enough to sustain itself or too popular.

"What she was doing before didn't sit well with the neighbors at all," Stocker said. "If she's getting a lot of people there, I know I'll get calls."

Cavaliere said that is not the goal.

"I'm just a small rancher, and I want to stay that way," she said, though it's also possible she might eventually move the store to a more visible parcel on Marysville Road.

Cavaliere said she envisions her customers as being both local residents and people from elsewhere attracted to organic, farm fresh products. Cavaliere already sells her products to some local restaurants and stores, including Sunflower Natural Foods in Yuba City.

Based on the response by customers there, Cavaliere might get a lot of interest, said the store's buyer, Erika Collazo.

"She's come here and done barbecues with her beef as well," Collazo said. "And she's gotten some really good feedback. It's all grass fed, and that's a big thing for us."

CONTACT reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4786.