Expanding Access to Local Food
Willamette Farm & Food Coalition works alongside farmers, food producers, markets, and community partners to expand access to fresh, locally grown food across the Willamette Valley and Coastal Regions.
Our programs are designed to strengthen both sides of the food system — supporting farmers and food producers while ensuring more households can participate in the local food economy.
Across Oregon, fields are waking up. Farmers are planting. Markets are opening. And yet, at the same time, more of our neighbors are struggling to access fresh, nutrient-dense food.
Right now, our Food Equity Programs are facing a significant funding gap. Without additional support, we’ve already had to pause parts of this work — and more may be at risk.
Through these efforts, we are building a regional food system rooted in community care, shared abundance, and dignity — where local food remains accessible, farmers and food producers are supported, and everyone has a place at the table.
Join our coalition
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Join our coalition 〰️
By becoming a monthly donor, you are joining a community of neighbors helping strengthen a resilient and equitable regional food system. Your ongoing support helps sustain food equity programs, connect more families with locally grown food, and support the farmers and food producers who nourish our communities year-round.
Protein Bucks
Expanding access to locally raised protein
Locally raised protein, including eggs, meat, and fish, plays an important role in how people nourish themselves and their families. Yet these foods can be difficult to access for many households.
Protein Bucks help bridge that gap by making it easier to purchase locally raised protein directly from regional farmers and producers at participating markets.
When families use Protein Bucks, they bring home foods sourced from within our regional food system while supporting the farmers who raise them.
Why This Matters:
Programs like Protein Bucks strengthen farmer livelihoods while expanding access to nutrient-dense, locally raised proteins across our community. At this time, Protein Bucks is only available at Florence Farmers Market and South Valley Farmers Market while we continue grant writing and community fundraising efforts to help bridge the current funding gap and restore broader program access.
Little Sprouts Bucks
Growing the next generation of local food lovers
Little Sprouts Bucks invites children to explore farmers markets in a hands-on, meaningful way. Kids receive a small token to spend on fruits, vegetables, and edible plant starts at participating markets.
These experiences build confidence, curiosity, and connection. Children choose their own food, meet the farmers who grow it, and engage with what’s in season.
For many families, children become the spark that brings them back to the market week after week.
Why This Matters:
When children are given the opportunity to choose their own food, they build lasting relationships with farmers markets, local food, and the land. While many farmers markets operate similar youth incentive programs independently of WFFC, our Little Sprouts Bucks program is currently paused at all participating markets as we continue grant writing and community fundraising efforts to help bridge the current funding gap.
Pantry Bucks
Helping families bring more local food home
Pantry Bucks is a SNAP Match program that helps households stretch their food dollars while supporting regional farmers and food producers.
At Fill Your Pantry and participating events, SNAP shoppers receive matching funds to spend directly on locally grown food. This allows families to bring home more of what they need while keeping food dollars circulating within the local economy.
These programs create meaningful access while strengthening connections between farmers and the communities they nourish.
Why This Matters:
When food access programs are rooted in local systems, the impact reaches beyond a single purchase — supporting farms, families, and the broader regional economy. We are currently fundraising and grant writing to help expand matching funds and strengthen food access opportunities at the 2026 Fill Your Pantry event.
Abundance to Access
Turning local harvest into community Abundance
In a region rich with agricultural abundance, no fresh food should go to waste while households face barriers to accessing it.
Abundance to Access purchases surplus produce directly from local farmers and food producers, then redistributes it to food pantries and community meal programs across the region.
Farmers are paid fairly for their harvest, nourishing food reaches communities that need it most, and valuable local food stays circulating within our regional food system.
Why This Matters:
At the end of each farmers market day, Abundance to Access purchases unsold produce directly from farmers and immediately redistributes it through local food pantries and meal programs — helping fresh local food nourish community members instead of going to waste.
Right now, the program is fully funded at Florence Farmers Market and South Valley Farmers Market, and partially funded at Oakridge Community Farmers Market. It is currently paused at other participating markets while we continue fundraising and grant writing to help bridge the funding gap.
Fill Your pantry
Stocking up for winter while supporting local farms
Fill Your Pantry is a seasonal community food event where households can purchase fresh local food directly from farmers, ranchers, and food producers — in both small and bulk quantities — while learning about food preservation and seasonal cooking.
Each fall, community members gather to stock up on produce, grains, meat, and pantry staples grown right here in our region.
Through Pantry Bucks and community partnerships, the event also expands access to local food. Last year alone, Fill Your Pantry distributed nearly $40,000 in free food in a single day — directly supporting local farmers and food producers.
Why This Matters:
Fill Your Pantry strengthens relationships between farmers, food producers, and community members while keeping food dollars circulating within our regional food system. The event supports local farms, increases community food security, and helps more households access nourishing local food heading into the winter months.
Emergency Food Distribution
Connecting Local Harvests Directly To Community Care
Our Emergency Food Distribution Program works alongside regional partners to help fresh local food reach community members experiencing food insecurity and barriers to access.
Through direct partnerships with farms, food producers, and community organizations, the program distributes nourishing local food directly to households across our region. One participating partner is OG Corner Market, where community members receive free shopping credits, monthly eggs from Horai Farm, and other direct farm-to-community food support.
By shortening the distance between growers and community members, the program helps keep local food circulating within the community while supporting regional farms and food producers.
Why This Matters:
As SNAP benefits shrink, grocery prices continue to rise, and the cost of farming and food production increases, more households are struggling to access nourishing food while local farmers face growing financial pressure.
This program helps bridge that gap by moving food directly from farms and local producers into the hands of community members — reducing barriers, strengthening local relationships, and keeping resources circulating within our regional food system instead of being lost to unnecessary middle systems.
