Between the sunset of pandemic emergency support and the rising cost of food and housing, we expect a sharp increase in demand for food assistance throughout the region. Legislative action is more important than ever as we work to meet evolving needs and address hunger at its roots.
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 nutritious 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.
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 across seven key issue areas for the 2023 legislative session: