Governor Ted Kulongoski awarded Fred Meyer Stores with the Mahonia Food Industry Award for Hunger Relief for their work with As part of Harvest Week 2005, honored Fred Meyer Stores with the Oregon Food Bank as part of the Fresh Alliance program. The Mahonia Food Industry Award for Hunger Relief is a new award as part of Harvest Week to recognize a member of Oregon’s food industry for its commitment and contributions to ending hunger in Oregon.

“When I took office in 2003, I committed to making certain that every Oregonian knows that people in our state are hungry – and the good news is that over the last three years, not only are more Oregonians aware of the hunger issue, but together we are making a difference in the hunger rate in Oregon,” Governor Ted Kulongoski said. “It is partnerships with the state, Oregon Food Bank Network, local communities, and private sector that help make programs like the Fresh Alliance successful and put food on the table for hungry Oregonians throughout the state.”

Fresh Alliance is a partnership of Oregon Food Bank, its network of regional food banks and local agencies, and leading grocery retailers who work together to safely and effectively collect and distribute high-value perishable foods for people who are hungry in Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Fred Meyer has 45 stores in Portland, Redmond, Bend, Medford, Grants Pass, Roseburg, Eugene and areas throughout the state participating in the program with four additional stores in St. Helens, McMinnville, Florence and Coos Bay joining this October. By next year, 100 percent of Fred Meyer stores in Oregon will be Fresh Alliance partners. During the last fiscal year, Fred Meyer donated more than 330,000 pounds of meat and more than 380,000 pounds of dairy products through the Fresh Alliance, which combined with other contributions, totaled more than 1.8 million pounds of food to the Oregon Food Bank Network.

Between 1996 and 1998, Oregon had the worst average rate of “food insecurity with hunger” in the nation – with six percent of Oregonians considered “food insecure with hunger”. When the Governor was sworn into Office Oregon was ranked the 2nd hungriest State in the Nation. The USDA reported last November that Oregon’s rate of food insecurity with hunger declined to 4.3 percent – leaving Oregon now ranked 8th among states in this category.