Snake River Chapter
The Snake River Chapter of Oregon Rural Action (based in Malheur County and including parts of Southwest Idaho)
The Snake River Chapter formed in 2003. Members in Malheur County have centered their work around social justice and sustainable agriculture issues. Beginning with fair water billing and moving on to language access for Spanish speakers, increasing the donated food supply to area food banks, and improving the participation rates of those low-income individuals who are eligible for food stamps. The chapter is currently working on a local community garden project in partnership with Oregon Food Bank and other local organizations.
Get Involved. Contact nancy@oregonrural.org for the time and place of Snaker River Chapter meetings.
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS
- Four Rivers Community Garden - Since 2009 the Snake River Chapter has been partnering with St Matthew's Episcopal Church and Southeast Oregon Regional Food Bank to coordinate the Four Rivers Community Garden, which donates produce to the food bank and provides gardening education to adults and children alike. Read more >>
- Education on the Hazards of Natural Gas Fracking - With the arrival of oil and gas companies and exploration on the Idaho side of the Snake River Chapter's area, members have been working to inform communities about the hazards from hydraulic fracturing in natural gas development. See the latest news on the Facebook group "Protect Idaho's Natural Resources" >>
- Past Successes - Addressing food insecurity, calling for fair and equitable treatment within the Food Stamp Program, and reforming the local water shutoff policy to ensure low income residents do not lose access to water. Read more >>
CHAPTER BLOG AND UPDATES
Chapter Update: Winter 2011
The Snake River Chapter has been busy these past several months with a Recycling Awareness Day held in November, two on-going fundraisers, and working with the Boys and Girls Club in the Four Rivers Community Garden. Read on to see what we've been up to!
Chapter Update: Summer 2010
The Four Rivers Community Garden, a project of our chapter, has formed a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of the Western Treasure Valley, Southeast Oregon Regional Food Bank, and OSU Extension to provide nutrition and gardening education for youth in Malheur County to help end the root causes of hunger.
Celebrate a year in the garden
A year after its initial kick-off, the Four Rivers Community Garden is operating successfully as a place for community members to come together, to provide families with a place to grow their own food and learn how to garden, and for addressing local hunger through donations of produce from the garden to the local food bank. Help celebrate Earth Day and the first anniversary of the Four Rivers Community Garden on April 22.
A Seed Saver's Point of View
The Snake River Chapter of Oregon Rural Action oversees the Four Rivers Community Garden (FRCG) in Ontario, Oregon. On February 25th I was in Ontario and stopped by to take a look at what was happening in our garden. I was thrilled to find a carpet of tiny vibrant red and green lettuce seedlings...
Chapter Update: Spring 2010
After watching the film FOOD, INC at a chapter meeting, attendees were reminded of the importance of access to local sources of food. Our Four Rivers Community Garden project is a source of fresh food for the food bank and for volunteers who grow the garden. We are expanding the garden this year...
Conversations Across the Food System in Southeast Oregon
Southeast Oregon faces many unique challenges. Harney and Malheur Counties are the two largest counties in the state, dominated by harsh and varying climate, great distances, isolated mountains and communities and few people. This isolation and the lack of a local food system infrastructure, paired with the persistent poverty and unemployment that plague the region, have made food insecurity a critical issue faced by many people throughout southeast Oregon.
Chapter Update: Fall 2009
In August, the Snake River Chapter and supporters of the Four Rivers Community Garden sponsored a "Garden Know and Grow" workshop and community fundraiser for the garden, which is a new Snake River Chapter project this year. Snake River Chapter members also attend Senators Wyden and Merkley town hall meetings...
Chapter Update: Summer 2009
The Snake River Chapter has been hard at work on the Four Rivers Community Garden, with which it has partnered with St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Ontario and Oregon Food Bank. Following months of planning and workdays in the garden to build raised beds, the opening day ceremony on Earth Day brought over 50 people out to celebrate.
Celebrating Earth Day and a garden's grand opening
On April 22, members of the Snake River Chapter and well over 50 community members gathered at the site of the Four Rivers Community Garden to celebrate Earth Day and the opening of the Four Rivers Community Garden.
Earth Day Remarks
I am hoping that all of you have had the experience of gardening. There is such wonder and mystery in the growing of plants from seed. We nurture them, watch them grow, they blossom and give us nourishment both for the body and the soul...
Pitch in at workdays in the Four Rivers Community Garden
The Snake River Chapter is hosting fun workdays in the Four Rivers Community Garden every Thursday from 2pm to 5pm. If you'd like to pitch in and get into the soil, please come - even if you can only stay for a short while.
Chapter Update: Fall 2008
The Snake River Chapter is meeting monthly again and has adopted a large community garden as one of its campaigns, through which it will partner with a local church and Oregon Food Bank. It will continue to recruit new members and look at other issue campaigns in the coming months.
Genetically Modified Crops - What's the Problem?
In late April Oregon Rural Action organized a series of presentations on the topic “Genetically Modified Crops — What’s the Problem?” in partnership with Idaho Rural Council, the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), and the Center for Food Safety. Three events were put on in Eastern Oregon, and a few more in Southern Idaho, aimed at educating producers and consumers alike on the economic risks associated with genetically modified (GM) crops.
Chapter Update: Summer 2008
Members of the Snake River Chapter are working hard to reinvigorate the chapter by showing informative films and participating in our local food campaign. The Snake River Chapter is looking to the future, thinking of ways to recruit new members and bring back old ones, and helping to plan for the Homegrown Prosperity tour and its stop in Ontario.
Chapter Update: Spring 2008
In Malheur County, Oregon Rural Action staff have begun to reconnect with the members of the Snake River Chapter. Together they are working to strengthen the chapter and begin regular meetings again after a period of inactivity.
