Missed a meeting? You can find recordings of working group meetings on OCFSN’s Youtube Channel and other materials in our Public Google Drive.

Stay looped into the latest news for each of the working groups by joining the mailing lists: How to Use OCFSN Google Groups.

The October Food Hub meeting featured Katie Swanson of Klamath Grown and Alison Smith of South Central Oregon Economic Development District (SCOEDD) sharing how they have worked together over the years to develop food system efforts in Klamath Falls. Watch the meeting recording here.

The November 28 meeting will focus on collaborative work between non-profits and cooperatives. We’ll hear from Sarah Sullivan of Gorge Grown Food Network and Kiara Kashuba of Gorge Farmer Collective. Sign up to the food hub email list to stay connected!

First, thank you to everyone that came from near and far to attend the first in-person OCFSN Veggie Rx meeting since 2020! 30 folks from across the State gathered at Estrada Supermarket in Gresham. Veggie Rx program operators, CCOs, non-profits, community members gathered to focus on the three pillars from the Veggie Rx Strategic Plan.

1. Develop sustainable growth and funding plan

2. Develop shared admin capacity

3. Systemize and streamline statewide program operations

Here are the documents we reviewed during our meeting and resources for all:

• FED Framework

• Feedback from previous gatherings

• List of Oregon’s CCO's

• OCFSN Veggie Rx Strategic Plan (created in 2020)

• List of Veggie Rx Grant/Funding opportunities

• 2023 Oregon Veggie Rx Census

• Oregon Waiver 1115 Field Report

In 2024, we plan to begin quarterly virtual meetings. Sign up to stay in the loop!

• The OCFSN team is preparing to launch the 2024 Farmer & Rancher Disaster Resilience Grant Program. Applications for producers will go live on January 1, 2024. This program is a state funded grant program to assist small farmers to be more disaster resilient and is an outcome of important work from across the network. Read this article in the recent Oregon Small Farms News for more information.

  • How to get involved: OCFSN, Friends of Family Farmers and our team are looking for paid Outreach Team members and paid Grant Review Committee members to support applicants and review applications.

  • If you would like to be on the Outreach Team and have connections to a historically underserved farming community please visit this form with more info and apply.

  • If you would like to participate on our Grant Review Committee, please visit this form with more info and apply.

Working Group News

• Led Friends of Family Farmers, nine F4tF working group members and six funding partners will come together through a newly funded USDA Regional Food System Partnership grant to engage in a community of practice to increase community support for funding opportunities for small producers. Key outcomes include a resource inventory with information about opportunities and projects for service providers to use when advising farmers across the state, and a plan for expanding one on one technical assistance and fund accessibility in the next phase of the project. Read FoFF’s update here.

• Working group members have started a Farmer & Rancher and Ag Service Provider Climate Resources spreadsheet to collect the many climate funding, education and other resources out there for producers and service providers. If you have a resource you want to share, please use this form to add it to the list. As the list gets populated we will share it with the network.

Meetings:

• The Climate Resilience & Stewardship subgroup had an excellent presentation from Billy Hackett, Policy Specialist for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition on expanding access to crop insurance and how this safety net is a primary driver of industrial farming and an impediment to climate adaptation. Watch the recording

• The Farm Viability subgroup met to discuss Tanya’s new role with the Northwest & Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center and other farm viability topics. Notes and recording.

Public Policy Skills and Engagement Opportunities Working Group

The working group held its third installment of the virtual Farm Bill Series on 10/26 with a presentation and conversation with the Native Farm Bill Coalition. John VanPool, Associate Director of Policy and Governance for the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, and Buck Jones, Salmon Marketing at the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission presented. This was not recorded at the request of the presenters but slides can be found here.

Community Food Systems (CFS) at the Legislature Working Group

The Working Group met on 10/31 to share plans and updates for the 2024 short Legislative Session. Here are the meeting recording and notes. If you have legislative priorities for 2024 please join this space. OCFSN is hiring a policy intern and will schedule regular monthly working group meetings through the session.