Forty organizations, including Oregon State University and the Oregon Food Bank, have teamed up to strengthen local food systems and connect growers who struggle to find markets with buyers who struggle to obtain healthful food.

People involved with the new entity, which is called the Oregon Community Food Systems Network, or OCFSN, believe strong local and regional food systems can improve economic, social, health and environmental conditions throughout the state.

The network formed from the realization that many nonprofit organizations were working on aspects of food, farming, health, poverty and economic development issues, but were coming at it in a disconnected way. They would benefit by collaborating, said Lauren Gwin, associate director of OSU’s Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems and a member of the new network’s leadership team.

Jump-started with funding from the Meyer Memorial Trust, network members settled on four primary initiatives:

• Obtain money to match SNAP vouchers, formerly called food stamps, spent at farmers’ markets and rural grocery stores. The move would double the purchasing power of SNAP recipients choosing to buy fresh and local food.

• Establish a “Veggie Rx” program, in which doctors could write a prescription for healthful food as they would for medicine. A program in Hood River, Ore., initiated by Gorge Grown, allows doctors to give patients $30 vouchers that can only be used to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. In the past year, the program helped 6,500 people buy food.

• Provide new and beginning farmers with access to farmland and capital by supporting various transition programs. With many farmers approaching retirement, analysts estimate two-thirds of Oregon farmland will change ownership in the coming years.

• Help producers scale-up and sell more to retail and institutional food buyers. One of the ideas is to establish food hubs that aggregate, process and store production from small farms to provide the large volume needed by big buyers.

The network’s vision statement is ambitious: All Oregonians will have access to healthful, affordable food that is grown and processed regionally. This will happen in a food system that is environmentally and economically resilient and that “provides entrepreneurial opportunity and fulfilling livelihoods for employees throughout the supply chain.”

Gwin, of OSU, said farmers should understand the group is not saying the existing food system is bad. It does keep people fed, she said, but serious health disparities exist.

The network also is “not just about small farms,” she said, but about mid-size and large farms as well. The food they produce, the way it’s produced and the impact on rural economic vitality are all part of the discussion, she said.

“Farmers need to know how to support that without losing their shirts,” Gwin said. “It’s important for ag to see themselves in this.”

The network’s website is at http://ocfsn.net