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.

The Food Hub Network met in July to learn the ins and outs of buying and selling fish products. Watch the meeting and review resources shared.

The Food Hub Trade Network project has been very active in this time and has been making larger volume sales mostly between Eugene, Central OR and the Gorge with smaller connection points in Southern OR & the north coast. A findings report and route recommendations are due in late fall.

New Shared Resources:

• SNAP at Food Hubs FAQ

• Online Marketplace Budgeting Tool with cash flow analyses, balance sheet and visuals was developed and added to our resource folders

Upcoming Events:

• OCFSN & the Food Hub Network is hosting four more workshops for food hub leadership and staff with the Becoming the Employer of Choice (BTEC) team, Sarah Janes Ugoretz and Katie Bishop. Sarah and Katie hosted our recent Strategic Leadership  workshop and follow-up discussion. Below are the workshop offerings for the rest of the year. Food Hub Network members get priority for spots in these workshops. Please click the links to register! 

  • October 14th 10-11:30am Developing an Effective Hiring Process

    • This nuts and bolts session covers best practices with job descriptions, job applications, candidate interviews, and overall hiring protocols.

  • The unveiling of two new toolkits:

    • Processing for Small Scale Makers and Becoming a Co-Packer, September 9 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm PST 

    • Building a Hub to Hub Trade Network: From Idea to MOU with Northwest Food Hub Network,September 11 @ 11:00 am - 12:30 pm PDT

  • Monthly meetings covering producing Fill Your Pantry events, more fish regulations, and the introduction of a new SOP resource library, an updated Post-Harvest Handling guide, and other operational resources

Register for the October Veggie Rx Working Group Quarterly Meeting; from 9-10:30am.

We will be sharing updates on what to expect at the November Full Network Convening at Salishan as well as hearing from two speakers…and maybe a third!

• Kaila Luttrell of UC Veg in Roseburg will be presenting on their Veggie Rx Program model and share updates as they enter their third year of using the AboutFresh card for participants and referrals through UniteUs. Read about the 2021 Fresh Connect Pilot Project.

• Theo Latta, a Veggie Rx Steering Committee member will be sharing about The Toward Healthy Lifestyles Initiative he co-developed with Leah Werner and Gina Zatarain partnership with with CO-LED and community-based organizations to support innovative approaches to exercise and nutrition for OHSU IDS members. We are offering small awards ($5,000–$20,000) to help bring forward ideas that promote healthier lifestyles in ways that reflect the strengths and creativity of each community. Instead of requiring a traditional grant submission, we invite organizations into conversation with us and to provide a simple process for tracking progress. Together, we aim to make health more accessible, culturally relevant, and community-driven.

Finally, we plan to share results from our 2025 Oregon Veggie Rx Program Census at the November Convening. To have your program included, please complete this short census survey!

• BFR Subgroup met in August 

  • Meeting Notes

  • Meeting Recording

  • Subgroup Folder

• Oregon Beginning Farmer & Rancher Resources story map is ready to be shared on your websites and with your networks! I have updated OCFSN's website with the map links, and if you would like to be added to the map, please complete this form.

• The Farm Viability Subgroup is restarting! Our first meeting back will be Wednesday September 24th at 2pm and we will then meet every other month on the fourth Wednesday at 2pm. 

  • On the agenda for the first meeting back is a presentation from Carly Boyer of American Farmland Trust on her recent Agricultural Viability Indicators paper, see attached.

  • Zoom Details: link, passcode: 260626

  • Calendar link

• Oregon Public Policy (CFS at the Leg) working group virtual convening | Monday, September 15th at 1pm | Watch the Recording!

  • Who is this for? Anyone in the network interested in state policy and connection to food systems!

  • Agenda

    • 1:00pm - Introductions in chat

    • 1:05pm - Next phase of OCFSN Oregon Public Policy working group - focusing on CFS and more general Oregon public policy

    • 1:15pm - Presentations

      • Oregon Hunger Task Force food safetynet directory and SNAP funding (Chris Baker and Alex Aghdaei from Partners for Hunger Free Oregon)

      • Plan for a Resilient Oregon (Aimee Fritsch and Jonna Papaefthimiou from Plan for a Resilient Oregon)

      • Oregon Agency Partnerships (Rachael Ward from Farmer's Market Fund)

    • 2:45pm - Breakouts on specific policy area

    • 2:00pm - Focused discussion on important OCFSN policy topics

      • Folks can stay and participate or head out

    • 2:30pm - End of meeting

• OCFSN membership has great representation in the Plan for a Resilient Oregon regional work groups with 8 member organizations participating in all but one region of the state!