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?

I would want to make sure existing funding is in place to maintain the programs that are currently in place.  I believe public support of these programs is necessary and critical to helping people escape poverty.

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?

Anything we can do as a state to ensure our citizens, regardless of their situation, are properly fed.  A basic human need such as food is not something we should negotiate over.  That being said, I believe our legislature needs to STOP making life more expensive for all of us.  We can no longer look at taxes on businesses as something that doesn’t cause layoffs, hours cut from employee’s schedules, and other negative consequences.  Many of the taxes and regulations businesses are placed under add to the stress of our society by making it unnecessarily more expensive to do business here, and that often leads to people falling out of the bottom of our economy.  This is my upstream prevention goal – stop making it so hard to survive here for the lower end of our economic spectrum which is where almost all of my entry level employees at my own business have seen.

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?

As a restaurant owner, I know first hand what producers are up against in Washington.  These are some of the very reasons why food insecurity is on the rise because our lawmakers have not done a very good job of connecting the dots between their mandates and the cost to citizens.  We need to quite demonizing business and see them as part of the solution, especially in a state where 60% of public dollars come out of business pockets, not just the ultra wealthy.  We need to protect this class to ensure our costs do not get handed over to large corporations that care less and less about our local communities.