QUESTION: 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?

My top food security priority in Olympia would be to protect our public nutrition programs. SNAP was just cut at the federal level last year, tightening its work requirements and shifting costs onto the states. Those cuts will push more families toward food banks that are already serving record numbers. I would protect state food assistance funding and enrollment.  I would also fund the programs that reach people where they are, such as expanding free school meals, protecting senior nutrition and WIC. Washington has made real progress on school meals, and I would keep building on it.

QUESTION: 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?

I have relied on food assistance myself. As a young mom putting myself through college, I navigated public assistance and multiple jobs, so I know it personally. I have also worked on hunger from the community side, as former Vice-Chair of the Clark County Food System Council and former President of Urban Abundance and Slow Food Southwest Washington. I also have volunteered a number of times to serve food to the public or at the local food banks. I have also helped with mutual aid style projects like “free fridges.”  The root cause, like many other things, is the affordability crisis we are in. Housing and healthcare are two of the biggest factors that lead families to cut their budgets for food. When families can cover their other basic needs, food stops being the thing they cut. Another root cause is access to food, such as the problem of living in places considered “food deserts”.

QUESTION: 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 grows more than enough food, but the challenge is connecting it to the people who need it while paying the people who grow it fairly. I would invest in local food systems that link Washington farms directly to schools, food banks, and families, so more of what we produce stays in our communities. Farm to school and farm to food bank programs do this well and deserve real state support.  I would also stand with the workers and producers who feed us. That means supporting collective bargaining rights for farm workers, keeping small producers viable, and cutting food waste by backing food recovery and gleaning, so edible food reaches tables instead of landfills.  Lastly, we need to protect our agricultural lands. The state’s growth management laws do this well, but we can be doing more to ensure we have the agricultural lands we need for food sovereignty and resiliency.