Oregon Food Bank's 2025 Legislative Pathway

Oregon Food Bank’s mission is to eliminate hunger and its root causes… because no one should be hungry. Yet one-third more Oregonians experience hunger now than before the pandemic. Last year, we saw 2.5 million visits to the 1,200 food assistance sites through the Oregon Food Network — a 31% increase from the previous year. Our state is in an ongoing hunger crisis.

The Trump administration and congressional leaders have made campaign promises to disrupt and threaten communities that we know are most vulnerable to hunger and poverty. Oregon must act now to lead the way by ensuring that Oregonians have access to the food they need to keep families and communities resilient. Oregon’s legislative session begins January 21, 2025, and runs up to 160 days.

Our advocacy efforts focus on ensuring food is available to everyone who needs 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.

Yet we know we can’t truly end hunger for good through food alone; we have to take action to prevent hunger from happening in the first place. That means addressing the policies and systems that drive hunger and poverty in our communities. We also know that due to injustices, many people experience hunger at disproportionately high rates: Black, Indigenous and all People of Color; immigrants and refugees; trans and gender expansive individuals; and single mothers and caregivers.

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 experience of 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 2025 legislative session.

LEARN MORE: POLICY LEADERSHIP COUNCIL'S SYSTEMS CHANGE PLATFORM

Strengthen food assistance for all Oregonians

Food for All Oregonians

Everyone deserves access to food. Yet tens of thousands of Oregonians are excluded from food assistance and other vital programs today, leaving huge portions of Oregon’s communities, from Ontario to Medford to Portland behind. Food for All Oregonian is a community-led coalition working to pass policies that ensure we all have access to the food we need to thrive. In 2025, we are advocating to pass Food for All Oregonians legislation to strengthen food access for youth and elderly immigrant Oregonians facing food insecurity. This is a crucial step toward a future without hunger.

TAKE ACTION: SUPPORT FOOD FOR ALL OREGONIANS

School Meals for All

Every student in Oregon should have the opportunity to eat breakfast and lunch at school, regardless of where they are in the state or how much money their family makes. By joining eight other states in passing School Meals for All, Oregon can ensure every child has access to nourishing meals to support their learning and development.

TAKE ACTION: SUPPORT SCHOOL MEALS FOR ALL

Address the Root Causes of Hunger

Housing for all

Everyone deserves a safe, stable and affordable place to call home. Yet far too many Oregonians still make the impossible choice between paying rent and buying food. Renters are over four times as likely to struggle to afford food as homeowners.

We’re calling on legislators to make meaningful investments in housing stability and affordable housing development to address one of the biggest drivers of hunger in our state:

• Invest in emergency rent assistance and shelter operations to prevent evictions and address houselessness.

• Support the development and preservation of affordable housing stock.

• Ensure that Oregonians are not punished or criminalized for experiencing houselessness.
  

Immigrant Justice Package

The incoming Trump administration and congressional leaders have made campaign promises that target immigrant communities. As a state, we can and must act now to keep families safe. Immigrants and refugees in Oregon are already twice as likely to face hunger and poverty due to the unique barriers they face. If the Trump administration proceeds with their campaign promises these dire truths will worsen. The Immigrant Justice Package provides the Oregon legislature with a critical opportunity to invest in proven solutions and support immigrant families now:

• Food for All Oregonians — Food assistance no matter where we were born.

• Universal Representation — Legal support to keep families together.

• Home Fund — Rent assistance to prevent eviction and houselessness.

• Farmworker Disaster Relief Fund — Emergency relief for events like dangerous heat waves and wildfire smoke.

• Indigenous Language Justice — Interpretation services during times of need.

Build community resilience

Food justice and climate justice are deeply interconnected. Oregonians are on the front lines of climate disasters like wildfires, extreme heat and flooding — all of which increase the need for food assistance. As advocates work to fight climate change, we can also prepare our communities in advance.

• Fund Community Resilience Hubs to make Oregon more resilient to disasters by improving resource navigation across the state during emergencies.

Strengthen community safety

To end hunger for good, we need effective community-led solutions to address harm, poverty and houselessness.

• Support the Justice Reinvestment Equity Program to provide housing, behavioral health services and reentry programs.

• Expand Oregon’s Earned Income Tax Credit to help more working families afford groceries and rent.

Legislative action is urgent

As food insecurity continues to rise across Oregon, this year’s legislative session is a momentous and highly consequential opportunity to take action to help end hunger in our state. Together, we can ensure food is available to all who need it while addressing the root causes driving hunger in our communities. We hope you'll get involved in whatever way is most meaningful to you!

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