Sustainable Ag & Local Foods

Community Gardens & Youth Garden Project

Oregon Rural Action's work with community gardens in Eastern Oregon to promote food security by increasing access to nutritious food and giving people the tools to encourage self-sufficiency, while building community and raising awareness of some of the policy implications related to agriculture and food.

HB 2800 - Getting local food in school lunches

Did you know that Oregon is one of the few states that doesn't provide any funding for school lunches? Currently there is a bill in the Oregon Legislature that would provide state funding of a few cents for every student's lunch and would tie this money to purchasing Oregon-grown products. The bill would also offer funding for educational programs like school gardens.

Oregon Grows Partnership

In 2010 Oregon Rural Action and Friends of Family Farmers brought together Oregon farm, rural development, local food and food security organizations to create Oregon Grows, a partnership for food and farms. The one-year-old Oregon Grows Partnership (OGP) will be lobbying throughout the 2011 Legislative Session for policy that strengthens our food system and our rural communities.

ORA Members Help Pass Historic Food Safety Bill

On January 5th President Obama signed into law a food safety bill that Oregon Rural Action members played an important role in shaping. Working alongside a host of other state and national groups (including our own Western Organization of Resource Councils and its other member groups), Oregon Rural Action members played a pivotal role in getting the bill passed with protections for small farmers.

Local Foods Resolution

A resolution on increasing access to local food, adopted on October 4, 2008 at the Annual Meeting of the members of Oregon Rural Action.

LocalFood

8 Reasons We Should Support GIPSA Rules

The anti-competitive practices of the multinational meatpackers are threatening the livelihood of independent, small livestock producers and undermining rural communities. We have a broken system and new proposed rules to rein in the big meatpackers, the so-called GIPSA rules, are necessary for the survival of independent livestock producers and our food system. Here are 8 reasons you should support those rules.

Local Meat Campaign

Information on Oregon Rural Action's local meat campaign

Local Meat Campaign