Rogue Food Unites

Help Rogue Food Unites nourish our community with free, regionally-sourced organic produce each week!

Rogue Food Unites (RFU) uses food to heal individuals and communities during times of crisis. They have been nourishing our community with local food since their inception in 2020. RFU understands that food insecurity has profound negative impacts on the well-being and success of individuals, families, and communities. RFU strives to ensure universal access to healthy, nutritious food – every day and in times of crisis. To address food insecurity locally, RFU established the Neighbors Unite: No Cost, No Barrier Farmers Market which provides regional, organic produce to 600 households weekly.

During a disaster, RFU provides boxes of culturally relevant and organic shelf stable food, water, meal cards, and works with local restaurants to deliver nourishing meals to those impacted. RFU also has a mobile kitchen that can be used for immediate response to provide hot meals to disaster-affected communities. When not responding to an active emergency, RFU’s mobile kitchen increases awareness of RFU’s work by serving thoughtfully produced meals made from regionally-sourced, organic ingredients at community events across the Rogue Valley. In addition to immediate disaster response, RFU is preparing for future disasters by producing locally-sourced, organic, culturally relevant Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) to be stockpiled across Oregon.

Funds will support RFU’s Neighbors Unite: No Cost, No Barrier Farmers Market. Through this program, RFU not only drives revenue to local food producers but also helps keep our local community fed. The barrier free, mobile farmers market program provides fresh, regional, organic produce, local eggs, and regionally-sourced meat to people across Jackson County experiencing food insecurity. The market is open three times per week and creates reliable, free-of-charge access to organic produce. RFU prioritizes purchasing the produce for the market locally, then regionally, whenever possible. This commitment to local purchasing drives revenue to regional organic farms, economically revitalizes the local food system through large-scale food purchasing, and builds community resilience.

Each week, the farmers market serves an average of 2,000 individuals and 630 households across three locations in Jackson County. On average, 50% of the households served have at least one child under the age of 18; 42% have at least one household member who is 60 or older; and 29% of households have at least one person who identifies with having a disability.