Improving regional food security
Registration Opens April 24th
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ANNOUNCEMENT
A project of Lane Community Health Council, Upper Willamette SWCD, FOOD for Lane County & Ensoterra, LLC
Building a resilient and sustainable food system and investing in the health of our community through collaboration.
Project Overview
The Grow Lane County Project is the result of an investment by the Lane Community Health Council (LCHC) to address the social determinants of health that affect residents, particularly those experiencing a high rate of food insecurity.
To meet the priorities identified in the project, LCHC will collaborate with FOOD For Lane County, the Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District and Ensoterra, a food systems consultant, to deliver a comprehensive five-year project.
The overall goal is to improve the health quality for residents through improved access to Lane County foods primarily, and Oregon-grown secondarily.
Carrie Copeland (FFLC) and Grant Simonton (UWSWCD)
Building a Food System
Food security means having access to safe and nutritious food that meets a person’s needs and preferences. A reliable food system can provide for a healthy diet and can be a powerful tool for increasing and improving food security. The development of a Food Security Coalition is a method by which individuals from diverse backgrounds can share their insight and improve regional food security, together.
As the first step in this five-year project, we hosted community meetings with identified stakeholders involved in education, government, food distribution, hunger relief, health, food businesses and lived experience in Fall 2024 and ask them to identify other community members to initiate a Coalition.
A Food & Farm RARE Coordinator is conducting a county-wide food needs assessment, and the findings will be presented at the Food Summit.
Long Term Goals
Our five-year goals for both the Council and the Project in general are to:
Support Coalition-identified projects that address health disparities, patient-centered education about food security, public health campaigns with health departments focused on food access, educational programs and health promotion activities.
Host four annual one-day food security conferences (Summit).
Improve decision making and diversity of engagement.
Decrease duplications of services.
“Food security is when all people have access to safe and nutritious food that meets their needs and preferences.”
— World Bank