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.

This July, the Food Hub working group hosted a great discussion about the pros and cons of varied online sales platforms. Our Program Staff  peer mentorship group has met and dug into finding resources for conflict resolution training. Our Worker Safety program site visits are starting to take place and we are seeing some improvements and finding common themes that we will provide some additional training for. Upcoming meetings will cover topics like how to work with a marketing professional, Worker Safety training, and learning more about individual hubs.

Our next meeting is Tues 9/24 from 1-2:30pm | Zoom

Next Meeting: Wednesday, Aug. 28th 9-10:30am - Veggie Rx Working Group Quarterly Meeting - Registration Link

Meeting Agenda:

• Welcome/Intros

• Introduce new Veggie Rx Steering Committee Members (Claire, Theo & Trinh)

• CCBF Funding updates & HRSN Food Provider Learning Collaborative

• Share group goals/resources/how would we like to finish out 2024?

  • Veggie Rx Census

  • Veggie Rx Program Evaluation

  • Veggie Rx Google Drive Tour

Intros to Steering Committee Members:

Claire (she/her): Claire has over 10 years of experience in food systems working from field to fork. She is motivated to improve and innovate market opportunities for small and mid-scale food producers while improving food access, contributing to more resilient food systems. Claire currently supports the integration of social care and clinical healthcare, providing technical assistance around state and federal policy to coordinated care organizations, clinicians, and community-based organizations with the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network at OHSU.

Trinh: Trinh has experience working with Rockwood Community Development Corporation, where she supported BIPOC farmers in Boring, Oregon by helping them sell their produce through school meal programs and farmers markets. She is passionate about using food as medicine and enjoys spending her summers tending to her herb garden at home.

Theo Latta (he/him): Health Equity Manager for OHSU’s managed Medicaid plan. In both his academic endeavors and professional appointments, Theo has focused his attention to programs and projects that promote contextual equity. He’s led and contributed to trainings, retreats, and a wide range of educational symposiums including culturally specific approaches to equity, Indigenous allyship, decolonizing data, interrupting discrimination in the workplace, and community-based partnerships.

Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) Community Capacity Building Funds (CCBF)  Updates: 

The OCFSN Veggie Rx Working Group was awarded CCBF grants to facilitate an HRSN Food/Nutrition Provider Learning Collaborative for organizations interested in providing Medicaid transition populations with these vital benefits. OCFSN is awaiting final OHA approval and contracting details.

• $25k - EOCCO - Committed Award

• $46,916 - Trillium - Committed Award

We are committed to convening Food Is Medicine partners to help everyone navigate these new waters. With additional funding, we will be able to provide more comprehensive support and technical assistance and this is the most funding we've ever had for this working group - now that's something to celebrate! 

Through the Learning Collaborative we plan to:

• Convene a monthly/bi-monthly Learning Collaborative with 15-20+ CBO partners from around the state who are working to become HRSN food/nutrition providers. The priority of this group will be to prepare CBO partners to be ready to deliver HRSN food/nutrition benefits by Jan. 2025 and ongoing, while also recognizing that some partners may need to extend their start dates. This will be a peer-learning space with opportunities to bring in external support/training as identified by the group.

• Contract technical assistance support for the group, as identified and needed, for training and guidance.

• Host training on Community Exchange Platforms (i.e. ConnectOregon/UniteUS)

• Facilitate frequent bi-directional communication with OHA and CCO partners for policy/program updates and advocacy to improve systems.

Feel free to reach out to Kaely Summers summerka@ohsu.edu with any questions.

• From September 16th through October 27th, Andrew will be on parental leave, so the working group will be at reduced capacity. The Farm Viability subgroup will continue to move forward with Tanya’s leadership and the Farmer & Rancher Disaster Resilience Grant Program will open for second round applications November 15th. Please continue to use the farmingforthefuture@ocfsn.org Google Group to share your updates with working group members and email farmingforthefuture+subscribe@ocfsn.org to join that group.

• The Beginning Farmer & Rancher (BFR) Subgroup met on August 15th. View the notes doc to learn about BFR programs across the state and add your updates if you were unable to attend.

• After a long hiatus, the Farm Viability subgroup is back in action! At our July meeting we got inspired by the work that the Vermont Farm and Forest Viability Program is doing to support farm viability. We talked (more) about creating an internal resource for organizations that are working to support farm viability in Oregon that will help us make better referrals and coordinate on the programming we offer and develop. We also talked about what we want out of our meetings going forward and have a place to share ideas for future meetings. 

  • We will be meeting monthly on the third Wednesday of the month at 11am. That puts our next meeting on Wednesday, August 21st. Join us on Zoom. 

• Plans are coming together to staff this working group for the 2025 Legislative Session. Please join the Google Group if you would like to engage in policy work this session by emailing cfs-policy+subscribe@ocfsn.org.