To fight hunger in Lane County, help the farmer

At lunchtime April 9, Alyssa Loza pulled sugar snap peas, carrots, bok choy and purple broccoli from a cardboard box.

“I eat so much better when the bounty boxes are around,” she said, marveling at the rainbow of Willamette Valley produce arranged on the kitchen counter in her Eugene apartment.

Her box looks like the ones paid subscribers receive. It wasn’t free; the workers who packed the box were paid. Nor was it a donation; the farmers who filled it were either paid market prices or received special funding. 

Still, Loza did not pay for it.

The $30 produce box came from a growing food system in Lane County, powered by a $4.5 million grant and an idea: Bring local farmers into the fight against hunger. 

“It would have been easy to just give money to Food for Lane County, but for me it was about sustainability,” said Rhonda Busek, who spearheaded the idea. “What will outlast that money is a system of pathways between partner organizations and farmers.”

The dots were there. Busek just needed to connect them. 

Building an enduring system 

Busek is the executive director of Lane Community Health Council, a nonprofit and governing body aligned with health insurer PacificSource. The council directs grant money awarded by PacificSource to community health initiatives in Lane County.

Busek realized she could use some of those funds to create a sustainable food system that starts with the farmer and ends with the consumer. 

A five-year project to build that food system, Grow Lane County, was born.

Busek needed local farmers to grow the food and organizations to distribute it. She delegated the funds to two organizations, Food for Lane County and Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District.

Feeding people in need isn’t new. But food boxes containing local produce, such as the one Loza received, are. So, too, is using grant funding to buy food directly from the farmer.

“It lifts the food bank model on its head,” said Carrie Copeland, Food for Lane County’s program manager. “We’re getting the freshest, best food that money can buy into the hands of the people that need it the most.”

Food access in action

Lane County Bounty is part of the network Busek helped launch. The online food marketplace aggregates locally grown and produced fruits, veggies, meat, dairy, eggs and pantry items. About half the bounty boxes are distributed through its food security program, Community Harvest, to people like Loza.

“Our entire team is really committed to food accessibility,” founder Shelley Schuler said.

Food for Lane County helps fund the Community Harvest program. Last year, the food hub distributed 2,000 farm-fresh boxes to Native American bands and tribes, rural areas, schools and communities lacking access to fresh, healthy groceries.

Members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, such as Loza, receive boxes throughout the year. Loza is currently studying to become a licensed massage therapist at Lane Community College. She’ll have to cut back hours — and thus wages — as a barista for the next two years while she pursues her license.

The weekly boxes, along with a credit to buy more food from Lane County Bounty, cut her grocery spending by about 75%. She also gets to choose what goes into her box, like any paying member.

“Best of the best is something that tribal members don’t always get access to,” Loza said. “Tribes receive old food or processed food, or things would be going to waste if the tribe didn’t take it, which is a good thing. I think of it as a positive. But the fact that we are able to raise that standard for tribal members is amazing.”

Bring in the farmers

To find farmers, Busek enlisted the help of the Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District. 

Using Grow Lane County funds, the conservation district awards annual producer grants of $7,500 to $10,000 to local farmers to boost food security efforts across the county.

“If we want to address hunger, we should be focusing on locally grown, healthy, fresh food — not just shelf stable,” said Jared Pruch, the district’s grant management specialist.

In 2025, the producer grants helped 28 farms deliver $50,000 worth of vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs and garden starts. Pruch said that number is expected to double this year.

The goods were donated to food pantries in Eugene, Veneta and Noti, on the coast in Florence and to some of the most food-insecure areas in the county, including Oakridge. Schools, farmers markets and nonprofits with food distribution programs also received donations. 

For Busek, who grew up on a farm in west Texas, launching the five-year project was in part a nod to her roots.

“Farmers are a huge part of this,” she said.

No food left on the field

On a misty April morning, Adam Lee walked down a path and onto a grassy field near the McKenzie River. The chickens clucked louder as he approached them. They knew: It was feeding time.

Lee and his wife, Kelly Hardin, rent 32 acres from the McKenzie River Trust for their farm, Willow & Oak. Of those, 20 acres are dedicated to poultry production. They mostly sell eggs and pullets, which are teenage hens ideal for people who want guaranteed eggs without the hassle of raising chicks. 

The subsidized lease meant Lee and Hardin could avoid some of the lofty overhead costs required to start a farm — namely, buying land. Right now, the couple’s chickens lay about 200 dozen eggs each week. 

Willow & Oak was one of 32 farms to receive a producer grant from the conservation district. The couple will donate 25% of their award, or $2,500 worth of eggs, to local community food pantries. That’s 15 dozen eggs every week for six months. 

The rest of the award will go toward a 40-foot mobile trailer, feed huts and an electric fence energizer so they can house another 500 chickens on their farm this summer. 

Camas Swale Farm owners Amber Lippert and Jonah Bloch were awarded producer grants in 2024 and 2025 for soil health and sustainable cultivation tools on their Eugene farm. They didn’t apply this year, but they maintained relationships with community partners beyond the grant and still donate when they can.

“The grant helped us prioritize harvesting everything and not leaving any food in the field, and donating to Burrito Brigade,” Lippert said. 

The producer grants don’t just address food insecurity: They help farmers increase production while restoring and conserving the environment.

“We can align the funds with our mission of being good stewards of land and water,” Pruch said. “It allows us to directly invest in the people out there: farmers, ranchers and residents.”

Rosie Sweetman and Adam Kern, co-owners of Little Wings Farm, invested in soil management and irrigation upgrades with the producer grant they received last year. The farm grows produce, berries, flowers and plants.

“It’s really awesome to know those funds are supporting farmers in terms of water quality and soil health,” Sweetman said. “It’s not cheap to do those practices, but it’s important.”

In turn, Little Wings gave food and garden starts to Centennial Elementary School in Springfield. The Eugene farm also donated food to Positive Community Kitchen, a nonprofit that tailors meals to community members with serious health issues. 

“It helped us financially carry on the practices of an organic, diverse farm like ours,” Sweetman said. “Sometimes the best grants are ones totally appropriate to what you’re already doing.” 

No questions asked

The farm-fresh food is delivered to not just food banks, but inside classrooms, health and wellness clinics and community centers. 

The dollars also stretch further than PacificSource funds: Oregon-based nonprofit Good Meat Project is fundraising to add ethically produced meat to Lane County Bounty’s food boxes.

“Donated meat is rarely coming from local producers, because the cost is higher,” executive director Michele Thorne said. “By raising these funds, we’re able to buy directly at market price. And that’s the real impact: We’re supporting local producers to feed the community.”

The partnership was born out of crisis last October, when the 43-day federal government shutdown caused a temporary yet devastating lapse in food assistance benefits. While Oregon restored payments in November, food insecurity remains a critical issue.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 19% of Lane County households — about 75,000 residents — receive food assistance benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program program, commonly known as SNAP. Several farmers and farmers markets accept both SNAP/EBT cards and offer Double Up Bucks, which lets SNAP recipients double their SNAP dollars on fresh produce.

But hunger is not limited to people who qualify for food assistance. 

In Oregon, a family of four must make $66,000 or less a year to receive SNAP benefits. For one person, that drops to $31,920. Any amount over that — regardless of whether you’re struggling to afford food — you’re no longer eligible.

“There’s a gap between what people are earning and what they need,” Pruch said. “You can’t not pay your rent or utility bills. So food ends up being an item that households can cut.” 

That’s why Lane County Bounty’s free food boxes, including for members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, often don’t require proof of income or an extensive eligibility process. 

Jessica Hibler, the confederation’s Eugene office supervisor, knows all too well the constraints of food assistance requirements. When she tried signing her kids up for a free school lunch program, she was denied because she made $25 too much. 

“I’ve been on all sides of it,” Hibler said. “Having a low-paying job, I was getting rental assistance and food stamps and medical and child care. But then I decide to move up in my job, and then they take all that away, and I’m like, I actually am poor now, because now I have to pay every one of those things when I didn’t have to before.” 

She signed up for a food box subscription last year, when a good friend lost her housing. Hibler invited her friend and her two kids to move in for the summer. They grew to a household of nine with no change in income.

“It was a really great time to have that box, because it helped supplement the extra eating in the house,” she said.

The future of Grow Lane County

The food system Busek envisioned is still being built. 

There are limitations in the current system, and what farmers need to fight hunger are often the same things that grow and sustain their businesses: vehicles, tractors, storage, electricity, grant writers, health care access, upfront payments and contracts, time. 

Through food summits, coalitions and listening sessions, farmers and food-insecure folks drive the decision-making and strategy behind the project.

Using that feedback, Grow Lane County plans to grow its infrastructure over the next few years: Expanding delivery options, operating hours, mobile food pantry locations and processing and storage capacity for food producers; planting new gardens; providing technical assistance to farmers and cooking and nutrition services to residents. 

“We’re now at the point of identifying what will help our food system be maximally resilient,” said Jessica Cuadra, a farmer and member of the project’s Farm & Food Working Group. “What makes growing food economic for the farmers and what is affordable to the customers? We’re finding ways to fill in that space and helping the community know about those programs.”

Right now, most of the food under Grow Lane County is delivered to the Eugene-Springfield area, but over the next few years, community partners will scale efforts to distribute more frequently throughout the county, especially where grocery stores and food banks are scarcer. 

By the time the initiative ends in 2029, Grow Lane County will be in the community’s hands.

“The goal is to create a system that will outlast all of us,” Busek said.

That means securing funds beyond the $4.5 million investment from Lane Community Health Council that launched it.

It means more food on the table — food that is culturally important, meets dietary needs, and is delivered to people with mobility issues and to other vulnerable populations across this vast county. 

It means having a system built around choice, agency and trust — both for the farmer and the consumer.

‘Nobody goes hungry on my watch’

The earthy, bright punch of grated carrots, simmering cauliflower and pan-fried potatoes hung in the air as Loza made lunch. She whisked up a vinaigrette using raspberry syrup she got with a previous bounty box.

Loza loves color in her food. She loves trying new produce, such as quince and celery root and leeks. She loves that the food boxes remind her of the meals her mom cooked for her and her siblings.

She cooks for roommates, friends, family and even people she just met. 

This month, as Loza continues her massage therapy studies, she will sign up for another six-week supply. 

“The highlight of my season is getting all of these things,” she said, scooping the salad and cooked veggies onto plates.

Cuadra, who owns Basil and Bees Farm in Eugene and serves as president of Eugene Garden Club, lives by the motto, “Nobody goes hungry on my watch.”

She’s been on both ends of the food system spectrum.

Cuadra is a food producer now, with about 30 years of gardening and permaculture experience. Decades ago, she faced food insecurity and homelessness with her young kids.

For Cuadra, this new food system supports what farmers have provided for millennia. 

“What we do as farmers: We grow plants, we raise animals and we feed people,” Cuadra said. “It’s as simple as that. It’s really fundamental. Meeting people’s needs with things from the earth.”