Groceries were the most common expense reported as hard to afford in the past month, followed by housing, according to the latest Washington State Food Security Survey (WAFOOD). 

Results for WAFOOD5, the fifth and latest iteration of the survey, were released earlier this month. This effort is led by the University of Washington and Washington State University, supported in part by WSDA. Since 2020, the WAFOOD surveys have provided key insights into food insecurity trends throughout the state by intentionally oversampling households with lower incomes and those using food assistance to help inform policy and collaborative strategies. 

Key findings from WAFOOD5 include: 

• Food insecurity was more common among households with children; larger households; lower income households; and households with Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native and multi-racial respondents.
• Among the 55% of surveyed respondents who used food assistance in the past month, food banks/pantries, SNAP and school meals were among the most-used programs.
• 70% of food insecure respondents reported reducing their food quantity and quality due to high costs.
• Stress, anxiety and depression were more common among food insecure households, with 84% of food-insecure households reporting high stress. 

“This latest data confirms what our hunger relief partners across the state have been telling us. A growing number of Washingtonians are impacted by food insecurity and are worried about their ability to afford food,” said Katie Rains, food policy advisor at WSDA. “WSDA continues to support this important research because food is important to everybody. We all have to eat, and we’re in this together. By making this information broadly available to policymakers and community organizations, we hope to foster a shared understanding and collaborative strategies to address food insecurity and feed people well in our state in the years ahead.”

WSDA staff participated in three work sessions with lawmakers over the last several weeks to provide insights on sustainable agriculture and food security throughout our state. The Agriculture & Natural Resources Committees in both the Washington State House and Senate held work sessions in order to learn more about these issues and help inform strategies to support WA’s agriculture and food system. 

The House committee met on January 31 for a session focused on sustainable agriculture (starting at 1:00:18 in the video). The House committee met again on February 7 for a work session focused on food security (starting at 40:46), while the Senate committee met for session on food security on February 10 (starting at 16:19). 

Click the links above to view each corresponding work session. 

Congratulations to the following organizations that were recently announced as successful grantees for the Washington Commodities Donation Grant Program: Feeding Washington, Northwest Harvest, and East/West Food Rescue!  

WSDA Food Assistance opened a request for proposals in fall 2024, and grant agreements will be in place from January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025. Designed to reduce food waste, the program facilitates purchasing of at-risk foods that are unprocessed or minimally processed. The program provides awards to nonprofit organizations for large scale food acquisitions of Washington grown produce, grains, and protein otherwise at risk of ending up as food waste, for distribution to Washington state hunger relief organizations.