What actions would you take as a state legislator to protect and strengthen Washington’s food security safety net, including both public nutrition programs and the food banks and food pantries serving communities across the state?

Food security is a basic issue of human dignity, family stability, and responsible government. As a state legislator, I would work to ensure that Washington protects essential nutrition assistance for children, seniors, families facing temporary hardship, and other vulnerable residents while ensuring that taxpayer resources are administered efficiently and reach the people they are intended to serve. First, I would protect Washington’s core nutrition infrastructure and closely monitor changes affecting SNAP/Basic Food, school meals, and senior nutrition programs. When federal policy changes affect Washington families, the Legislature should understand the actual impact, identify genuine gaps in service, and respond responsibly rather than allowing families to discover those gaps only after benefits or services have been disrupted. Second, I would support a strong partnership with Washington’s food banks and food pantries. These organizations are experiencing extraordinary demand while confronting higher food, transportation, staffing, and operating costs. State programs such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program should prioritize getting resources efficiently to frontline organizations while maintaining appropriate accountability for public dollars. Third, Washington should strengthen partnerships between hunger-relief organizations and our agricultural community. When practical, programs that connect Washington farmers and producers with food banks can put nutritious food on families’ tables, reduce unnecessary food waste, and support our local agricultural economy at the same time. Finally, I believe we must address food insecurity both compassionately and responsibly. Emergency assistance is essential, but our long-term objective should also be economic opportunity; affordable living costs, good jobs, thriving small businesses, and an economy in which fewer families are forced to choose between groceries, housing, utilities, and other necessities. Food banks cannot carry this responsibility alone, and government cannot solve food insecurity alone. Washington needs an accountable partnership among public nutrition programs, schools, local communities, nonprofit organizations, food banks, farmers, businesses, and volunteers so that people who genuinely need assistance can access nutritious food with dignity.

What have you done to understand food insecurity in the communities you seek to represent—including engaging with people experiencing hunger or local hunger-relief organizations—and what policies would you prioritize to address the root causes of hunger and ensure Washington residents can afford and access the food they need?

Understanding food insecurity begins with listening to the people affected by it and recognizing that hunger rarely exists in isolation. As a mother, small-business owner, and community advocate, I understand that a household budget is interconnected. When housing, utilities, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and groceries all increase in cost, food is often one of the few expenses a family can immediately reduce. I have also taken the time to review the challenges facing Washington families and our hunger-relief system. The latest Washington State Food Security Survey reinforces what many families are experiencing: rising prices continue to strain household budgets, and food, housing, and utilities are among the expenses people report having the greatest difficulty affording. I believe legislators should continue engaging directly with food banks, local service organizations, farmers, schools, seniors, families, and people who have personally experienced food insecurity when developing policy. My priority would be to address both the immediate need for food and the economic conditions contributing to that need. That means protecting effective nutrition programs and supporting our food banks while also working to make Washington more affordable. I would prioritize fiscal policies that reduce unnecessary cost pressures on families, expand economic opportunity, support small businesses and good-paying jobs, and examine barriers affecting housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and energy costs. Publicly funded food benefits must also have clear eligibility standards and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. I do not support extending taxpayer-funded food benefits to individuals who are in the United States unlawfully. Washington should preserve assistance for eligible residents while ensuring that programs are administered responsibly and consistently with established eligibility requirements. Access matters as much as affordability. Rural residents, seniors, people with disabilities, and families without reliable transportation can face very different barriers from those living near grocery stores and other services. Washington should strengthen partnerships with local organizations and agricultural producers, improve access to nutritious food in underserved communities, and give local communities flexibility to address the particular needs of the people they serve. Ultimately, I do not believe success should be measured simply by how many people receive assistance. We should also ask whether our policies are helping families achieve greater financial stability so that fewer Washingtonians need emergency assistance in the first place. We can maintain a compassionate safety net while pursuing the larger goal of making food and everyday life more affordable for Washington families.

What policies or investments would you support to strengthen Washington’s food system, increase access to locally produced food, support Washington farmers and producers, and reduce food waste?

Washington is one of the most agriculturally productive states in the nation, and our policies should make it easier not harder for Washington farmers, producers, and small food businesses to succeed while increasing access to locally produced food. I would support strengthening programs that connect Washington farmers directly with food banks, schools, local organizations, and consumers. Programs such as Farm to Food Pantry demonstrate how we can accomplish two goals at once: create additional markets for Washington farmers while providing fresh, nutritious food to families who need it. I would also prioritize practical investments in our local food infrastructure, including processing, refrigeration, storage, transportation, and distribution. Producing food is only part of the equation. Farmers and small producers need economically viable ways to get their products from the farm to local markets and communities throughout Washington. Reducing food waste should be another priority. When safe, edible food would otherwise go unused, we should make it easier for farmers, grocery stores, restaurants, distributors, and other businesses to donate or redirect that food to hunger-relief organizations. I support public-private partnerships that improve food recovery, transportation, processing, and distribution rather than imposing unnecessary regulatory burdens on the very farmers and businesses we depend upon. At the same time, Washington must recognize the economic pressures facing our agricultural community. Policies affecting taxes, energy, transportation, labor, land use, and regulation ultimately affect what it costs farmers to produce food and what families pay for it. I would evaluate agricultural and food policy with both sides of that equation in mind. A strong Washington food system should waste less, produce opportunity for our farmers and small businesses, strengthen local supply chains, and make nutritious Washington-grown food more accessible to the people who live here.