Office of Mayor Ted Wheeler
City of Portland
Office of Mayor Ted Wheeler
1221 SW 4th Avenue, Rm 340
Portland, OR 97204
February 2, 2017
Lynne Saxton, Director
Oregon Health Authority
500 Summer Street NE, E-20
Salem, OR 97301

Dear Director Saxton,
My office, together with the City of Portland’s Smart Cities team, has been working with
Josephine, Inc. on a proposal to pilot small-scale community meals by home cooks in Portland,
focusing on highly vulnerable communities. This is an innovative project I strongly support and
would like to see continue.
My request is for the State to work with the City of Portland to align public health protections in
order to support this innovative food model, which will spur economic development and
improves food access to highly vulnerable communities.
Food safety is vitally important and I appreciate the State’s role in protecting the public health.
We share that goal. I also believe that Josephine’s new and innovative model of food-sharing
that utilizes technology and provides critical support to cooks allows home cooks to do their
work safely and accountably. An integral part of the proposed pilot program specifically seeks
to improve public health safeguards by providing food safety training and liability insurance to
the home cooks.
Helping cooks establish and develop small-scale businesses legitimizes a vital lever of economic
empowerment for Portland’s most underserved and diverse communities. Throughout the pilot
1221 SW Fourth Avenue, Suite 340  Portland, Oregon 97204
MayorWheeler@PortlandOregon.gov

 program, Portland’s Smart Cities team would collect data and assess the outcomes of smallscale, home-based meal-sharing in partnership with Josephine and several community
organizations.
This pilot program and the regulatory framework will support the growth of the small-scale,
community-based food economy in Portland. This is a very exciting opportunity not only for
Portland, but for the State of Oregon, to be leaders in building a more sustainable and robust
food system.

Sincerely,

Mayor Ted Wheeler

cc: Deborah Kafoury, Chair, Multnomah County

1221 SW Fourth Avenue, Suite 340  Portland, Oregon 97204
MayorWheeler@PortlandOregon.gov