July 5, 2005 -- Oregon Agriculture and Rural Communities to Benefit from Major Grant Awarded to Oregon Environmental Council

Three-year $325,000 Economic Development Project is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

For Immediate Release:

July 5, 2005

For more information contact:

Karen Lewotsky, 503-222-1963 x 112

Jeff Allen, 503-222-1963 x 104

Oregon Agriculture and Rural  Communities to Benefit from Major Grant Awarded to Oregon Environmental Council

Three-year $325,000 Economic Development Project is Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation 

The Oregon Environmental Council (OEC) today announced that it has secured a three-year $325,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to work with a wide array of partners from the agricultural community to create and implement state economic development policies that will help increase the economic vitality of Oregon agriculture and Oregon’s rural communities while protecting and restoring the state’s environment.

Oregonians statewide will benefit from this program, particularly Oregon farmers and ranchers who use environmentally sound agricultural practices on the farms and ranches they own and/or manage, food-related Oregon businesses that employ local people, and rural communities throughout the state.

The goal of the project is to further develop and promote Oregon’s agricultural production and agriculture-related business practices as national models for economic and environmentally sustainable, value added statewide economic development.

Working with a diverse array of partners, including state agencies, Oregon State University and representatives of the agricultural and business communities, OEC will pursue two major complementary objectives:

• Develop and implement new innovative economic development policies that build and support agricultural-related businesses with a commitment to sustainability, while identifying and eliminating barriers to adoption.

• Build support for new policies by strengthening the role of collaborative voices in the public policy process.

“Promising signs of a new interest in collaborative approaches are beginning to emerge,” says Jeff Allen, executive director of the OEC.  “This grant will help us nurture this interest and to develop new voices, new leadership and new ways of working together, in support of creative and innovative state policies that further both economic development and sustainable agricultural and business practices.”

The specific targeted outcomes of this project are at least three major policy changes that will serve as national models for how to use economic development policies to support agriculture, which will be developed with input and cooperation from project partners. Members of the agricultural and environmental communities will continue to strengthen their relationships as they work together to achieve the identified policy changes by partnering on the following projects:

·        the completion of an economic cluster analysis and report on the current state of agriculture and agricultural-related businesses;

·        development of a statement of shared principles about sustainability;

·        hosting a statewide conference on agriculture, economic development and the environment; and

·        continued participation in the on-going statewide speaker series by the OEC-sponsored Forum for Agriculture and the Environment.

The policy changes will be designed to increase the economic reward to agricultural-related enterprises for implementing sustainable production and business practices.  Once these policies are in place, OEC and its project partners expect that an increasing number of agricultural producers and ag-related businesses will adopt sustainable practices due to the higher returns provided by the “value-added” nature of their products, packaging or services.

“OEC understands that rural communities face different environmental challenges than urban communities,” says Karen Lewotsky, program director for the Oregon Environmental Council.  “OEC programs truly benefit all Oregonians when they bring value to both rural and urban communities in ways that are equitable and helpful to all.”

“OEC knows that a healthy flourishing environment includes healthy flourishing communities,” comments OEC’s Allen.   “OEC is committed to a future that supports thriving rural communities and family run farms and ranches, where local people manage the land in a way that is both economically and environmentally sustainable.”

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 “to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations.” Its programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive; and, to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.

About the Oregon Environmental Council

Founded in 1968, The Oregon Environmental Council (OEC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with more than 2,000 members throughout the state. We bring Oregonians together for a healthy environment. Via programs such as the Bottle Bill, curbside recycling and the creation of local watershed councils, OEC has played a leadership role in helping Oregonians be part of the solution to environmental problems. Our current programs focus on protecting kids’ health from toxic pollution, cleaning up Oregon’s rivers, and protecting our climate by curbing vehicle pollution.  For more information about OEC and its programs, please visit http://www.oeconline.org.

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