Meet OGC Mission Fund Recipient: Friends of Family Farmers

Friends of Family Farmers (FOFF) was founded in 2005 to be the voice of folks in communities who wanted an approach to managing natural resources that prioritized long-term ecological health, community well-being and sustainability over short-term extraction and profit. Now, they have about 1,600 farmer members across Oregon. These farmers are operating on a triple bottom line: a viable business, accountability to the natural world and connection with community. More than 90% of their farmers are using organic practices; some are also certified.

FOFF divides its work into three main programs: Oregon Farm Link/Farm Link Navigate, Oregon Pasture Network and advocacy work.

Oregon Farm Link connects farmers and land holders to make farm business dreams a reality and help people find the next steward of their land. Land access continues to be one of the biggest barriers to starting and maintaining a small farm business. Oregon has some of the fastest rising farmland prices on the west coast.

In the Farm Link Navigate program, FOFF offers one-on-one case management for farmers who are looking for land and already have some experience and an idea of what their business is going to look like. If someone is starting from scratch, they can still contact FOFF for a reference to one of their training partners.

The Oregon Pasture Network is an educational community for pasture-based livestock managers. It’s about reading the land and rotating animals to simulate the natural migration system from grasslands in the pre-agricultural era. This practice increases organic matter, water filtration and retention and the health of pastureland, all of which then helps animals get more nutrients and reduces input costs.

The last pillar of their perennial programming is advocacy. FOFF was founded as an advocacy organization by a group of farmers and rural community members because they didn’t feel represented by other groups and wanted to have a voice at the state legislature, agencies, county commission spaces and even just their small-town city councils.

“We educate elected officials because a lot of people who are in elected positions and get to weigh in on agriculture, natural resources and land use issues have no experience in agriculture or living rurally. We want to show how the decisions they make play out for the folks that we work with,” shared Co-Executive Director—Policy and Development, Alice Morrison.

OGC gave FOFF an unrestricted Mission Fund grant. “Grant programs like yours are more important than ever right now because of the huge destabilizing force that the shifts in federal funding have had. OGC’s grant supported staffing for our Oregon Farm Link Navigator Program,” shared Alice. “It’s fortunate that we have companies like OGC to step up and to help us continue to get beginning farmers onto land and help folks find land security.”

OGC’s Mission Fund Grant Program supports organic farm viability, youth education, increased access to organic food and more. FOFF is just one of many organizations the Mission Fund supports. Find the complete list of grant recipients here.