Yesterday, the United States Department of Agriculture released new data regarding their Current Population (CPS) Food Security Survey from 2011. The USDA defines food security as having access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Sadly, the assessment results of food security showed that this is not only untrue for all people in our country, but that results were similar to past years—or showing further signs of low food security in some instances. This is illustrated by the fact that…

When people think of the eastside of King County, many focus on the amazing companies and generous wealth and philanthropy that thrives on the other side of Lake Washington. However, times are still tough for many families ALL over King County, and we are seeing more and more people on the eastside experiencing job loss, home loss and the threat of hunger.

This threat is ever so present, especially during the summertime, for families with children who rely on free and reduced-price breakfast and…

On July 14, 2012, the volunteers headed to Renton’s Sunset Terrace Community Building—a partner site for United Way of King County‘s summer meal program. There, they learned about the inner workings of the Summer Food Service Program, a federal program that helps end hunger by feeding kids all summer long, when free or reduced-price meals at school are unavailable.

Boeing volunteers then grabbed bags full of promotional door hangers and hit the streets to get the word out about easy access to summer meal program sites.…

“Over 96,000 King County children utilize free or reduced lunch in school, an 8.5% increase since 2006. However in 2011 only 9.6% of these children who are eligible for free lunch accessed free summer meals.”

This was part of the training for the outreach events that the United Way of King County Summer Meals volunteers took part in. Volunteers attended a short training on how the Summer Food Service Program works, why we needed to do outreach, and what they were going to be doing…

If you were looking for another way to get involved in local food activism and keep the conversation going around hunger and food justice, how about participating in an international day of standing up for real food?  It’s called Food Revolution Day and it’s tomorrow, May 19th.  It’s a great opportunity to take an individual action – big or small – to make an impact on your local food system.

Here are some suggestions from Jamie Oliver and the Food Revolution folks…

This blog was prepared by the United Way lobbyist, Nick Federici

Last week, Governor Gregoire said that a budget deal must be reached immediately in order for the Legislature to act before the special session ends on April 10th.   Party leaders and budget writers have met extensively behind closed doors to negotiate, but Wednesday was the first time the full body has convened since special session began in early March.  Governor Gregoire said that lawmakers are wrapping up work on a “comprehensive” budget package that…

As we all already know, many people in Washington State and across the country have been severely affected by the recession that began in 2008.  It is evident, with high foreclosure rates, slow job growth, and rising unemployment, that families are struggling; however, one of the more tangible consequences of the economic downturn is the number of hungry people.  Since 2008, the number of people experiencing food insecurity in Washington has doubled: from 88,000 in 2008 to over 160,000 in the close…

Below is a guest post from students at Redmond High School, where a group of students has taken the initiative to make sure no one at their school goes hungry.  They are using Hunger Action Week as a chance to raise awareness about hunger and to host a food drive.  Redmond one of the five communities where a growing networking group called Nourishing Networks has begun bringing caring people together to take ownership of issues. starting with hunger, and work together to fill in…

At first glance it is easy to make the connection between hunger and agriculture – after all, our food comes from farms, so if there is hunger there must be something wrong with our farming practices, right?  However the nuances of this web of relationships are more complex and meaningful than meets the eye.  From the selective subsidies in the Farm Bill to poor working conditions and pay for farm workers to the consolidation of “Big Ag”, the way we have been producing our food…

The Hunger-Obesity Paradox

It is hard for many to believe that there is a hunger problem in America when the same population that is hungry is also often excessively overweight.  This paradox forces us to look at hunger in a different way: not starving, but food insecure.  This means that nearly 50 million people in America have at some point been unsure where their next meal is coming from, don’t have enough money to buy the basics and pay rent and utilities, or have trouble…