Oregon Food Bank: Ending Hunger for Good

In 2021, Oregon Food Bank (OFB) formed the Policy Leadership Council (PLC), comprised of community leaders with lived experience of hunger, food insecurity, and its root causes. Unlike any other peer leadership group at a food bank, the PLC develops and drives OFB’s policy agenda, enabling us to achieve our mission of eliminating hunger and its root causes. 

To address hunger and its root causes—deeply-rooted inequalities that disproportionately leave behind Black, Indigenous, and people of color; immigrants and refugees; and transgender and gender nonconforming folx—the PLC will lead collectively by:

• Identifying the root causes of hunger and opportunities for Oregon Food Bank to contribute to ending these root causes.
• Articulating a systems change platform or road map to guide the priorities of Oregon Food Bank now and into the future.
• Setting Oregon Food Bank’s positions on legislation and ballot measures in alignment with our systems change platform.

The 14 community members across Oregon have experience in food systems, food sovereignty, emergency assistance, environmental justice, and sustainable agriculture. Each member brings their lived experience, community trust, and expertise to monthly meetings. Over the past year,  the PLC has reviewed 80 pieces of legislation to set our policy priorities through an intentional equity lens. 

In alignment with the policy agenda set by the PLC, OFB community organizers are actively building Regional Leadership Squads through extensive outreach across Oregon. These squads are instrumental in recruiting and developing priority equity constituency leaders, who in turn inspire others to join the movement towards systems change. We firmly believe that to eliminate hunger and its root causes, we must foster collective power among those most affected by food insecurity and inequality in our communities.