Fill Your Pantry History
Fill Your Pantry (FYP) started in Willamette Valley eight years ago when farmers discussed expanding grain and bean production to meet the fall season’s consumer demand. Ten Rivers Food Web hosted the first event in Corvallis, which sprouted across Oregon to include other regions. This year marks Central Oregon’s 7th annual event! It started in a quaint Redmond grange and has grown to a size that no one expected, but everyone aspired to achieve — HUGE.
Boundless Farmstead is the inspiration and creator of this event, and every year brings hundreds of people and growers together. There’s no denying that this event benefits our community because it not only extends the season for farmers to provide food for our community (especially in bulk), but also provides consumers the opportunity to fill up their pantry, and freezers!
Let’s Grow Together
The High Desert Food and Farm Alliance (HDFFA) proudly partners with Boundless Farmstead to expand food access by removing financial and physical barriers and expanding the overall marketing of the event. For the last two years, HDFFA has worked with Boundless to expand access by providing pre-made Veggie Kits.
AUSDA Community Food Project funding enables us to purchase event supplies such as wagons to make moving food easier. We organize volunteer support to help people to shop, and move their food. We support patrons in doubling their purchases by using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Double Up Food Bucks.
We are grateful for the opportunity to support our FYP and our HDFFA Partners at FYP. Read below about how you can get involved (buy a Veggie Kit, use SNAP to double your purchase, and how to show up to the event). Financial accessibility is one priority for Fill Your Pantry. Another priority is ensuring that people who need assistance while shopping have it. Shopping Assistance is available to those who need help.
Everyone Deserves Good Food
HDFFA improves access to “good food” — nutritious and culturally appropriate foods grown, raised, and crafted by regional farmers, ranchers, and food businesses in Central Oregon.
For the second year, HDFFA has developed 20 pre-made vegetable kits for SNAP users.
Each kit is filled with $40 worth of delicious fall vegetables, adaptable recipes, resources on cooking, storage, nutrition, and more! To get a Veggie Kit, visit the Bend Farmers Markets booth and use your SNAP to purchase the Kit for $20, and then the Bend Farmers Market will match an additional $20 through Double Up Food Bucks.
These Kits will only be available at the Bend Farmers Market booth (located at the entrance of the event) and are reserved for SNAP recipients.
Double Up Food Bucks Oregon is a program offered through Farmers Market Fund and participating farmers markets and grocery stores. The program is based on a national model of offering additional incentives and matching funds to SNAP users when they spend their SNAP benefits. In Oregon, the program doubles the value of SNAP benefits so shoppers are able to purchase twice the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Double Up Food Bucks are specifically for the purchase of locally produced fruits and vegetables, so shoppers are incentivized to eat more local, fresh produce. This helps boost the local agricultural economy.
Thanksgiving Fresh Harvest Kits
For the first time, Fresh Harvest Kits will be available throughout Central Oregon and into the winter season. HDFFA is collaborating with other community partners to offer fall holiday Fresh Harvest Kits. These Fresh Harvest Kits are free of charge through our partner pantry and community organizations. For example, we’re collaborating with Friends of the Children – Central Oregon to provide Thanksgiving Fresh Harvest Kits to 50 families this season. Each family will receive a recipe booklet, fresh locally grown produce, and everything they need to create a delicious holiday meal. Thanks to this initiative, more produce will make its way into the bellies of Central Oregonians experiencing hunger this fall.
HDFFA wants to thank all of our partner pantries, non-profits, markets, farmers, ranchers, food businesses, and sponsors for working with us this year to make fresh, local, nutritious food more accessible to community members — especially for those impacted by food insecurity.
Collaboration Over Competition
The High Desert Food and Farm Alliance support food access initiatives like Fill Your Pantry through numerous grant funding opportunities. In 2021, HDFFA was awarded funding through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture
(NIFA), within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), to increase food security in Central Oregon.
This Community Food Project grant enables us to support community-based efforts to increase food access across the High Desert.
Other projects that HDFFA is spearheading through this grant are:
- FEAST: Food, Education, Agriculture, Solutions, Together (FEAST) is a project of the Oregon Food Bank. The Community Food Project provides additional support for participants.
- Fresh Harvest Kits: HDFFA has delivered over 2,000 kits at seven locations throughout Central Oregon over the past year. With the support of the Community Food Project and our Warm Springs partnership, HDFFA also delivered 70 Fresh Harvest Kits to WIC recipients in Warm Springs.
- Grow & Give: Our Grow & Give program expanded in 2022 and we were able to donate 26,397 pounds of produce to NeighborImpact this year, exceeding our goal of 15,000 pounds.
See You At Fill Your Pantry!
Come out Saturday, November 12th from 11 AM to 3 PM to the Deschutes County Fairgrounds OSU Extension Parking Lot to support resilient farmers, ranchers, and producers and keep our food economy thriving! Six years later, we hope to see you there!
