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.
Over the last few years, we have all witnessed the power that the purveyors of the industrial food system wield. From their opposition to the Tester-Hagan Amendment in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (which excluded direct market farmers from overbearing regulation) to their opposition to the enforcement of the Packers & Stockyards Act requiring fair payment to livestock producers, we have seen the brute force of the industrial Big Ag lobby.
In the face of Big Ag, many are asking, who is out there lobbying for healthy food and family agriculture? Through our membership in the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), ORA has been able to participate at the national level on food and farm policy discussions. But what about the state level?
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. OGP is currently chaired by Oregon Rural Action member and former director, Andrea Malmberg.
In August the members of OGP, including the Rural Organizing Project, Friends of Family Farmers and the Oregon Farmers Market Association, along with Oregon Rural Action, met and decided the partnership’s 2011 legislative priorities:
- State recognition of the federal 1000 limit poultry exemption, which would allow small-scale on-farm slaughter of poultry; and
- Creation of an Oregon State Bank, which would expand credit for family farmers and ranchers and other small businesses.
These are important issues for the sustainability of family farms and ranches and access to local food. You’ll find more in-depth articles about these legislative priorities by the following the links above.
The 2011 Legislative Session officially started on February 1st. To win on these legislative priorities those of us who care about local food and small agriculture must be active. Through activity in the Oregon Grows Partnership, Oregon Rural Action members and supporters have a new way to stay informed of upcoming food and farm legislation and are empowered to engage with our legislators on critical food and farm policy in our state.
Check out the terrific Oregon Grows website at oregongrows.org for information on the partnership and state legislation. If you’re interested in participating in and helping guide the Oregon Grows Partnership, contact us at info@oregonrural.org or 541-975-2411. Stay tuned for action alerts from us on the Oregon Grows legislative priorities and be prepared to take action!
