OSU Family and Community Health programs address two important aspects of food security in Oregon:  

• strengthening food resource

• improving community food security

Strengthening Food Resources

OSU Extension Nutrition Education Programs (NEP) reach Food Stamp eligible youth and adults to provide educational programming that will increase, within a limited budget, the likelihood that all State Nutrition Action Plan (SNAP) recipients and those eligible for SNAP are making healthy food choices, including:

• Eating healthy and choosing active lifestyles consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• Increasing household good security
• Reducing foodborne illness

In addition to Food Stamps and other federal food assistance programs, many NEP participants have utilized emergency foods at least once within the last year.  Some rely on emergency and supplemental food programs each month.  The partnership between OSU Extension and the Oregon Food Bank has resulted in strengthened connections between county-based Extension programs and Regions Food Banks across Oregon.

Improving Community Food Security

Community Food security means that all people at all times have access to safe, nutritious, affordable adequate, and culturally appropriate food from non-emergency food sources.  It also means that food is produced, processed, and distributed in ways that honor and protect the environment and the workers who produce it.  

OSU Extension Family and Community Health Program supports community food security through education, outreach, policy activities conducted at the household, local, regional, and statewide level.
Activities include:

• Food Hero – a website to help you plan meals and prepare tasty, low-cost foods that are quick and easy.
• Food for Oregon - a searchable database of non-emergency community food programs in Oregon and Southwest Washington developed in partnership with Oregon Food Bank
• Childhood Hunger Initiative -  A free, on-line course with a focus on childhood hunger, including health impacts, screening, and intervention.
• Eat Well for Less Learning Module - On-line lessons to help you keep food safe and stretch food dollars.

Additional Resources

To learn more about hunger in Oregon, health consequences of hunger, or what you can do to improve food security, please visit the following websites:

• Family Policy Program
• Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force 
• Oregon Center for Public Policy 
• Food Resource and Action Center
• Food Stamp Program Participation Studies