Cultivating Ideas: FoFF's 2020 Community Meet Ups

  Our organizers are at it again, hitting the road to bring FoFF to your community! We have revamped our Listening Session model to make it more celebratory, more participatory, and flat out more fun! Join us this spring on our Cultivating Ideas: FoFF Meet Up Tour. These are open to everyone, both farmers and eaters.  
 
We hope you will come to share your opinions and hear from a few of your local farmers. There will be plenty of social time to meet, connect with, and celebrate our hard-working, ecologically responsible food producers and the eaters who support them. You'll also have several opportunities to get engaged and earn raffle tickets for awesome local prizes throughout the night.
 
Meet Ups will be at these communities around the state:
Make sure to follow us on social media and watch your inbox for invites to the Meet Up in your area. This is a space for farmers, eaters, and all who are part of the Good Food Movement of all races, ages, orientations and gender identities to come together to keep Oregon a great place to live and farm!  
 
 

Please Take Our Survey

Help direct our efforts!  Every other year, we seek input from our farmers and supporters to determine where our programming and advocacy can do the most good. As a grassroots organization our policy priorities come from our community and we focus our efforts on the most pressing issues. That's where you come in.
 
Our survey is open to all of our constituents. Whether you are a farmer, rancher, eater, or food system advocate, our 2020 Family Farms Survey  will direct you to the questions most relevant to you.  Everyone is encouraged to fill out the survey. Then, please share it with your networks around the state.
 
The Survey will be our only data collection tool for gathering feedback for the 2021 legislative session. It will be open until the end of May and everyone who participates will be entered into a raffle to win some delicious and stylish Oregon grown prizes from our sponsors at Hummingbird Wholesale.
 
Please don’t wait. Take it today and make your voice heard!
 
 
 

Celebrate Earth Day's 50th Anniversary!

Earth Day is one of our favorite celebrations. It's no exaggeration to say that  for farmers and ranchers every day is Earth Day, so we embrace this occasion to remind everyone of the utmost need to care for our one and only precious Earth.

We are honored to be the only organization partnering with Earth Day Oregon who works on behalf of socially responsible family farmers, advocating for those who farm in ways that respect the land, mitigate climate change and promote water and soil health. Please be sure to patronize these businesses who support FoFF!

“I feel more confident than ever that the power to save the planet rests with the individual consumer." - Denis Hayes, Organizer of the 1st Earth Day, 1970 

 
 
 

2020 Legislative Update

The Oregon Legislature will end its 4-week ‘short session’ on Sunday, March 8. There were several bills that would have impacted small and mid-sized family farmers, however, the issue that completely overshadowed everything was SB 1530, known as 'cap and trade' or 'cap and invest,' which if passed, would limit greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon. Intense debate and concerns of economic collapse have led all but one Republican Senator to walk off the job and out of the Capitol, essentially halting the legislative process.

Whether any bill ends up passing is unclear as this goes to press. We did weigh in on a few. We support HB 4152 which would increase access to small farm meat processing infrastructure, and we support HB 4109 which would phase out the use of Chlorpyrifos, a highly toxic WWII-era nerve agent-turned pesticide.

We oppose SB 1513 which would make a few minor tweaks to the permitting process for the very largest CAFOs. We believe it is a woefully insufficient bandaid that would do nothing to eliminate the loopholes that allowed mega-dairies like the disastrous Lost Valley Farm to open.

Friends of Family Farmers will continue to ensure that the voices of Oregon's socially responsible farmers are heard loud and clear. We are part of the solution!

 
 
 

Calendar of Events

March 9 : Farm to School Equipment & Infrastructure Grant submission deadline - Statewide
March 10 : Hemp, Hemp, Hooray - Corvallis
March 15: Fruit Propagation Fair - Canby
March 17: Building Healthy Soil - Eugene
March 18: Slow Food Monthly Convivium - Portland
March 22: CSA Fair Share - Portland 
March 28: Growing Vegetables in Central Oregon - Prineville
March 28: Apple Tree Grafting Workshop - Roseburg
March 29: NYFC Young Farmer Grant submission deadline - Statewide
 
Do you have an upcoming event you'd like to put in our Calendar? Submit your event here for consideration.
 
 

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The voice for Oregon family farmers who responsibly steward their land and feed our communities. 

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Friends of Family Farmers
PO Box 396
Corbett, Oregon 97019
503-581-7124
info@friendsoffamilyfarmers.org
www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org

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