State officials, university researchers, anti‑hunger groups and food‑bank operators told the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Friday that food insecurity in Washington remains elevated, that charitable hunger‑relief networks are strained, and that a mix of federal, state and local programs is needed to meet demand.

Jennifer Otten, a professor at the University of Washington who leads the WA Food survey, said the survey oversamples low‑income households and families who use food assistance to allow more precise analysis. Her latest (wave 5) fall survey included about 5,500 respondents and showed 55 percent of those respondents were food insecure in the past month (the survey oversamples food‑assistance users). Otten said school meals, SNAP (Basic Food), and food banks are consistently the top three programs Washington households use for food assistance.

Katie Raines, food policy advisor at the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), described the state’s role in coordinating food security responses during and after the COVID emergency. Raines said the department’s state‑funded food assistance budget was about $12.5 million before the pandemic and that recent appropriations and one‑time emergency purchases greatly expanded state purchasing and distribution capacity; she said the department proposed larger biennial amounts in its current budget request (staff cited a figure in the presentation near $149 million, subject to OFM and legislative review). Raines said the department and partners moved to improve local market and cold‑storage infrastructure to enable more local procurement for hunger relief and schools.

Panelists described how federal programs and state partnerships intersect: OSPI’s Leanne Echo explained child nutrition programs, noting nearly 700,000 children have access to free school meals in participating schools and that buy‑American rules steer school purchasing toward domestic products. Claire Lane of the Anti Hunger & Nutrition Coalition outlined senior and WIC nutrition programs and the Farm to Farmers Market incentive programs. Lane and others highlighted that SNAP (Basic Food) remains Washington’s largest single source of food assistance, providing roughly $219 million in federal benefits per month to households across the state; however, average per‑person SNAP benefits are modest.

Food‑bank operators and distribution networks urged investment in infrastructure and purchasing flexibility. Aaron Chazewski of Food Lifeline and other distribution‑center leaders described a network of large distribution centers, regional hubs and more than 600 local pantries; these centers source donated and purchased food from retail, wholesalers, farms and USDA commodity programs. Chazewski and Rosella Mosby, president of the Washington Farm Bureau, said the traditional model in which farms donated harvest surplus has weakened: higher labor costs, changes in overtime and other farm economics reduce harvestable surplus that can be donated. Mosby said farms are businesses and stressed the need to preserve farm viability while maintaining donation pathways.

Local providers described rising client loads and constrained resources. Jen Musee, executive director of Ballard Food Bank, said her organization’s monthly household visits increased from roughly 3,200 pre‑pandemic to about 10,000 a month today and that state and federal commodity supplies have not returned to earlier levels. Musee said Ballard’s total budget is roughly $5 million and that the food bank received about $57,000 from the state emergency food assistance program in the most recent allocation, which she said covered roughly one week of purchases; she described buying food and recovering grocery donations seven days a week to meet demand.

Researchers and agency staff emphasized multiple drivers of need: elevated food prices (USDA national data show food prices rose about 25 percent from 2019 to 2023), mounting housing and energy costs, and reductions in some pandemic‑era federal supports. UW survey data presented by Otten show that households often use multiple coping strategies—cutting food quantity and quality, turning to food banks and relying on school meals—and that food rarely lasts more than a week after a food‑bank visit, indicating ongoing need rather than occasional shortfalls.

Panelists recommended continued and targeted investments: stronger state purchasing authority to buy culturally relevant foods, support for regional distribution and storage infrastructure, funding for farm‑to‑food‑bank and farm‑to‑school programs, and measures that maintain viability for producers while increasing donated and contracted procurement. Committee members did not take votes during the work session; the chair said members should submit follow‑up questions in writing and expressed interest in making food security a committee priority.

Ending: The committee adjourned after the panels; members and staff said they will continue follow up with agencies and stakeholders on budget priorities and program details during the legislative session.