November 2025 Community Cultivator: Natural Grocers

Oregon Food Bank is proud to recognize Natural Grocers as our November 2025 Community Cultivator! Natural Grocers is a family-operated natural and organic national grocery retailer that got its start in 1955. They grew organically from their visionary beliefs with dedication to nutrition education, high-quality natural and organic products and caring for communities.

Natural Grocers believes that everyone should be able to afford health and live in a thriving, regenerating environment. They continue to empower the health and wellness in the communities they serve by adhering to their Five Founding Principles.

Within these principles is their “Commitment to Community.” Ending food insecurity is part of that commitment. “Every one of our stores has an established food bank partner. Each time a customer brings their own bag while shopping at one of our stores, we donate five cents per shopping trip to that partner. To date, we have donated over $1.5 million dollars to local food banks (and prevented an estimated 550 million bags from ending up in landfills),” says Katie Macarelli, Director of Public Relations.

They also work with local food banks and nonprofits to support community food rescue efforts, plus additional fundraising and food donation campaigns during the holidays. This year alone, they have donated over 181,200 pounds of food from 14 stores!

“We are so proud to work with the Oregon Food Bank. Together, we share a vision of thriving communities where everyone has access to the food, support and opportunities they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives. By combining our ‘Commitment to Community’ with Oregon Food Bank’s mission to eliminate hunger and its root causes, we are helping create a future where no one goes hungry, and every person can thrive.” Macarelli shared.

Oregon Food Bank is excited to partner with Natural Grocers Nutritionist Cindy Kneale at their Gresham store on Saturday, November 15th from 3-4pm. Join us for a fun, kids-focused event to learn about chocolate and its important health benefits, listening to stories of families who experience hunger and how we can all help our neighbors in need. We will read children's books that will help us build empathy and understanding. Information about our community services will also be available.

Thank you, Natural Grocers! Your ongoing support helps us feed people experiencing hunger, while we work to end its root causes for good.

Have questions about the Community Cultivator program or how your organization can get involved? Please don’t hesitate to reach out!