PORTLAND, Ore. — Right now thousands of Oregonians are facing food insecurity, which means they don't have reliable access to fresh and affordable food. A nonprofit called Farmers Market Fund is working with local producers to offer nutritious and fresh food at the right price.
At Black Futures Farm in Southeast Portland, farmers are preparing fresh fruits and vegetables to give out to the community. Co-founder Malcolm Hoover said that the goal of this farm is to reconnect Black people with the land.
The farm cultivates everything from kale to collard greens and apples. They bring their produce out to local farmers markets.
"The goal of Black Futures Farm is to repair the broken connection that Black people have with land," said Hoover. "We use every means possible to bring people here to build community."
Black Futures is just one farm that works with the Farmers Market Fund. The organization casts a wide net, working to make fruits and vegetables more accessible to everyone through a program called "Double Up Food Bucks."
"For every dollar of SNAP or food stamps that a shopper spends at a participating farmers market, they get an extra dollar of Double Up Food Bucks that they can use to get free local fruits and veggies," said Molly Notarianni, executive director of the fund.
According to Notarianni, the Double Up program encourages people to shop local, which benefits producers like Black Futures Farm.
"Double Up Food Bucks is a great tool that allows us to give more produce to our community members and to people who come to us as customers," said Hoover. "We primarily donate our produce."
"Oregon has the sixth highest cost of living in the country, inflation is really being felt by a lot of folks, we've seen food prices go up 9% in the last year," said Notarianni.
Double Up Food Bucks can be used at more than 75 farmers markets across the state.
"Everything is just — share with the community, teach people how to grow and build community," said Daniel Grady, lead farmer at Black Futures Farm.