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.

• Mark your calendars! Our next meeting will be April 14th from 1-2:30PM. The folks from Mission West will join us to present their new toolkit which walks us through their experiences developing and realizing Montana Marina.

• February saw two Food Hub Network Meetings. At the first meeting Jesse Jones (North Coast Food Web) and Erin Maher (Agricultural Connections) presented the findings from the 2025 Food Hub Trade Network project. To learn more check out the Recording and the folder with Slides andTranscript.

• At the second meeting Abigail Blinn (Kitchen Sync), and Kayla Koether (Kitchen Sync) gave an excellent presentation on how they approach institutional sales on behalf of food hubs, and food hub readiness to participate in institutional sales. Here is the Recording and the folder with Transcript and Slides.

• The Food Hub Network has a new Youtube playlist, ”Favorites of OR Food Hub Network”, to highlight relevant recordings from our partner and collaborators.

It was lovely to see those who made it to the working group meeting today April 13th! WG members shared program updates, asked questions, and connected one another to resources. OCFSN shared a bit about how OCFSN working groups function behind the scenes and shared proposed projects that we could pursue to support food is medicine work across the state.

• Meeting Recording

• Slide Deck

Action Item:
If you didn't make it to this working group meeting, we need your input on how OCFSN can support your Veggie Rx or Food is Medicine Program! If you are interested in starting a Veggie Rx program or engaging in Food is Medicine work in Oregon we want your input too Please complete this 10 question survey by Monday April 27th to guide the future direction of this working group!

For resources and recordings of 2025 working group meetings including guest presentations from program operators and vendors visit https://ocfsn.org/veggie-rx. 

This group of 25 organizations meets monthly to learn from each other and build systems to become nutrition service providers under HRSN, a program where they can be reimbursed for providing services  through Medicaid. To learn more about this group visit https://ocfsn.org/hrsn.

• In Q1 we met three times, gave feedback on proposed guidance from Oregon Health Authority, learned from peer presenters, and asked questions of Coordinated Care Organization staff  at a live panel. 

• Key update: The Fruit & Vegetable benefit and Pantry Stocking benefit launch has been moved to July 1st, 2026.

• New Resource! Find answers to frequently asked questions from OHA, CCOs, and current HRSN service providers in the OCFSN Quarterly HRSN FAQ  EN / ES

• The Farm Viability subgroup last met on March 25

  • Here are the meeting notes

    • The group discussed national farm viability conference and the next phase of FoFF’s Capital Access for Local Farmers project.

  • The next Farm Viability subgroup meeting is May 27th at 2pm

    • We will be discussing farm workforce issues and solutions in May

    • Zoom link | Calendar link

• On February 19th the Beginning Farmer and Rancher subgroup hosted Nick Rossi of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, who works on their appropriations portfolio and also leads their research work - which includes programs like SARE, BFRDP, etc. Nick provided some great insights on federal ag appropriations and funding programs and what to expect for 2026. 

  • Meeting notes

    • Meeting Recording

    • Nick's Slides

    • FY27 Sustainable Ag Funding Priorities One-pager

  • The next Next BFR meeting is May 21st at 10am

    • Zoom link | Calendar link

• The Land Access working group is developing a Farmland Access in Oregon Virtual Convening for late May. We will hear from land access leaders and advocates from across Oregon and California to learn about what folks are doing in this arena and how we can collaborate in the future. 

  • We have confirmed CA's Kitchen Table Advisors who will be guest presenters for our kickoff event. They were members of CA's Agricultural Land Equity Task Force whose report has many great recommendations that can be informative to the work we are doing in Oregon.

  • If you are working on land access issues and want to engage in this convening, please reach out - andrew@ocfsn.org

• Also - Updating Farming for the Future Subgroup Lists:

  • We would like to make sure that calendar invites for subgroup meetings go to the right folks. Please use this form to renew your interest in our subgroups (details on the subgroups included in the form) and get added to the recurring meeting invitations. Meeting updates will continue to be sent to the full Farming for the Future working group list.

• The CFS at the Leg. working group hosted an end of session debrief with several presentations on food systems bill outcomes. I know several folks were unable to attend.

  • You can find the meeting recording here. 

  • There are great presentations on session outcomes and ways to stay involved on issues like: food access, land use and farmland grabs, data centers, farm stores, and budget outcomes for OSU Extension and other state programs. Of note, Ellie Gluhosky from the Oregon For All Coalition presented on the coalition's work and how to get involved. Folks can find information on how your organization can join the coalition here. 

  • The 2026 Short Session Bills to Watch Matrix and 2026 Bills to Watch slides provide great details on what happened to food systems and allied bills this session.

• The CFS at the Leg working group will be holding meetings this spring and summer to help folks stay engaged on non legislative policy opportunities, and connect as folks plan for the 2027 long session.

• Our March OFIC meeting covered topics from getting more organic into Oregon schools, the Rural Health Transformation Program and The Good Food Connections Summit in Washington with a presentation from Eddie Hill 

• Recording here

• Notes with transcript here

• Our April OFIC meeting will be joining the Food Hub Network April 14th from 1-2:30PM. Mission West, a development corporation from Montana will present their new toolkit which walks us through their experiences developing and realizing a value-added joint Montana Marina. This product has now been purchased by over 140 school districts in Montana. 

• Please join us on May 19th for a cross-over conversation on how farm to institution intersects with food as medicine. If you are interested in this topic and would like to see a specific conversation, please email ofic-coordinator@ocfsn.org

• If you are interested in being added to the OFIC listserv, please email oregon-farm-to-institution-collaborative+subscribe@googlegroup.com

• Our current OFIC documents and resources are linked here 

  • If you have a key resource for either producers or institutions regarding farm to institution to be added to the webpage, please email Aliza McHugh at ofic-coordinator@ocfsn.org.