Our commitment to equity and racial justice
At Oregon Food Bank, we hold people experiencing hunger and food insecurity in Oregon and Southwest Washington at the center of our actions and decisions. We envision a community where each person can fully participate, prosper and have reliable access to food that is in keeping with their culture. This work is driven by strong community-centered partnerships, organizing, advocacy and food distribution.
We know that the root causes of hunger are systemic injustices — including the intersectionalities of racism, classism, sexism and more — which create and perpetuate the conditions that sustain hunger and poverty. Understanding this, we commit to center those who most disproportionately experience hunger across our service area — Black, Indigenous and all People of Color, immigrants and refugees, trans and gender-nonconforming individuals, and single mothers and caregivers — in ways that honor and value each other and our lived experiences.
We resolve to be led by our communities — those with lived experience of systemic oppression and food insecurity — in a shared effort to eliminate hunger and its root causes. We will respond to racism and other inequities, both in our own work and in society-at-large. We will confront poverty and oppression through solutions that honor our shared humanity and respond to the diversity of community strengths and needs. And we will hold ourselves, our partners and our elected leaders accountable to the equity and racial justice priorities of our communities — and to the preservation of our interconnected health, dignity and well-being. Because no one should be hungry.
