Inside Oregon Food Bank: A Conversation with Iván Hernández

For Iván Hernández, Oregon Food Bank’s work to eliminate hunger and its root causes isn’t just a professional pursuit – it’s a personal mission rooted in his own life story.

“I'm a person who has experienced hunger through different points of my life. Food or the lack of food have been significant parts of my life. My most fond memories — whether it be family gatherings, large celebrations or just dinners with my loved ones — always have food in them. And I'm a big foodie. I love all sorts of food. I love trying new food, But food insecurity has also shaped my life. I come from a family of farmworkers, even dating back to our origins in Mexico. My grandfather was a farmer; my dad also helped out. But even though my grandfather was a farmer, they usually did not have enough food to eat.”

Iván’s parents have been farmworkers in Eastern Oregon for almost 30 years. Like so many of the immigrant workers who are critical to our foodstream, they’ve worked in the fields and food production factories for more than 12 hours a day, every day. His parents have experienced discrimination and extremely challenging working conditions – including low wages, a lack of benefits and overtime protections, even outright wage theft.

Iván notes that the pandemic brought new awareness of the inner workings and challenges of our food system. And though many people now consider agricultural workers to be an essential workforce, hunger and poverty are still prominent among people who harvest, package and distribute food.

"We don’t deem them essential enough to give them a pathway to citizenship. We don’t deem them essential enough to pay them a fair wage. And we don’t deem them essential enough to treat them like any other.”

Iván shares, noting that immigrant and migrant farmworkers face disproportionate food insecurity here in Oregon and nationwide.

“How is it possible that folks who are working to put food on the table for everybody else don’t have enough to eat themselves?"

Iván’s experiences led him to a series roles where he could help ensure information, resources and products are accessible to Black, Indigenous and other Communities of Color. Starting with marketing and communications positions at Latine-owned Lara Media, Iván got involved in issue advocacy – working to defeat Measure 105, which attempted to remove Oregon’s 31-year-old sanctuary law. From there, Iván teamed up with Causa Oregon to pass the Equal Access to Roads Act, establishing a law to prevent discriminatory practices against immigrants seeking driver’s licenses. When the pandemic hit, Iván’s focus shifted to focus on the Oregon Worker Relief Fund, which provided financial assistance to Oregonians who were excluded from unemployment benefits due to their immigration status.

This work brought Iván to the Oregon Food Bank team, where he saw an organization that shared his values and a community that was serious about addressing the drivers of hunger. No matter where Iván has worked, he has focused on making a difference in the community.

“I come from a family and a community where the only way we were able to get by was when we worked together, when we worked collaboratively towards common goals. The only way that we could advance was together. That has always been my main motivator. I have opportunities afforded to me because of the sacrifices my parents make, the sacrifices that millions of others make every single day.”

As a young parent in college, Iván juggled the costs of tuition, rent and food for his family. He was able to make ends meet with support from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) – a program he was eligible for as a Legal Permanent Resident. Unfortunately, more than 62,000 Oregonians are currently excluded from this vital resource due to arbitrary factors like immigration status.

Drawing from his own experiences, Iván firmly believes in the importance of holding people who are most impacted by hunger at the center of our work at Oregon Food Bank.

“I'm just one person who has experienced hunger – and there are, unfortunately, millions of others who experience it on a daily basis.I think it's important that people with lived experience with hunger lead this work because we are the experts on hunger. We know what it feels like.”

If Iván could share one point about the fight to end hunger, it’s that it’s winnable – as long as we work together as a community. Not just working together to provide food to people today, but to prevent hunger from happening in the first place.

I've seen what people power can do. And if we can harness the people power of the Oregon Food Bank community, we're going to be able to make the changes we need to uproot hunger. We need you all – whether it be to come work with us, to take action with us, to donate, to volunteer – to really help push this movement to end hunger for good.”