Driven by the ongoing economic fallout of COVID-19, the sunsetting of pandemic safety nets and the rising cost of food and housing, we are in an ongoing hunger crisis. Last year, we saw 1.9 million visits to food assistance sites through the Oregon Food Bank Network — a 14 percent increase from the previous year. Legislative action is more important than ever as we work to meet evolving needs and address hunger at its roots.
Requests for food are back at peak-pandemic levels. Our advocacy efforts are focused on ensuring food is available to all who need it. Food is essential to our daily lives — and our freedom, our health, our ability to thrive all depend on access to food that is both nourishing and familiar. Take action today to ensure that over 290,000 kids receive money for food in the summer when school is out.
Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. Yet far too many Oregonians still make the impossible choice between rent and food. Renters are about four times as likely to struggle to afford food as homeowners. We envision an Oregon where all people and families can live in communities and homes that create the conditions for well-being, sustainability and stability.
To truly end hunger for good, we have to address the systems that drive hunger and poverty in our communities. Studies show that 90 percent of people returning from incarceration experience food insecurity. We deserve community solutions to combat violence, dependence on substances, poverty and houselessness.
There’s no one better to name solutions to hunger than those of us who have experienced it first-hand — and the Oregon Food Bank Policy Leadership Council is made up entirely of community leaders with lived expertise in hunger from across our great state. With the Council’s leadership, we’re shortening the distance between people who experience food insecurity and the decisions that affect us. Our Policy Leadership Council has endorsed a host of anti-hunger policy and investment priorities for the 2024 legislative session.
Hunger is not an individual experience. It’s a symptom of unfair systems that create barriers to employment, affordable housing and health care. Oregon Food Bank is building a movement for change and organizing support for policies that ensure all of us can thrive. To learn more about making your voice heard, download our guide Whose Government? Our Government.
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