Document Actions

Goal: Food Security

To secure enough food in terms of quantity, quality, sustainability, and cultural acceptability for all people at all times for a healthy and active life.

Pike Place Market, Photo by New Moon Blue

Share your experience and thoughts on why this goal matters.

Take Action by discovering what others are doing and actions to take.

Learn

What Is Happening?

It may seem contradictory that many people - here and elsewhere - suffer from both hunger and obesity at the same time but in fact these two problems are linked.

The food security challenge is not only to make sure that people have enough to eat but also that they have ready access to fresh, high quality, nutritious food at prices they can afford. A great many people are in dismay at how fast the price of food is climbing in the current economic downturn.

read more
For many years, Washington State ranked surprisingly high in food insecurity given its comparative level of wealth (top quintile in personal income per capita for all states). While we are making headway on tackling hunger, we have a long way to go in making healthy food available to all. One important action focus is improving the quality of food in school cafeterias. Recently, the term "food security" is also being used to mean having the regional agricultural productive capacity to feed ourselves. Research is just beginning on how much productive capacity is needed versus how much is available.

Status Indicators
Adequate Food --- Washington State has long struggled with high rates of food insecurity. From 1997 to 2001, the state ranked second highest in food insecurity out of the fifty states. Since then, the percentage of families struggling to put food on the table has dropped, primarily because of an increase in food assistance. In 2007, Washington ranked 30th. That food security persists reflects the number of families who scrape by on less than living wages. (view data graph)
more info

Why Is It Happening?

It is no surprise that food insecurity is highly correlated with poverty and factors indicating poverty. For example, households with children headed by single women are at increased risk of hunger. But poverty is compounded by the fact that the only food readily available to many low-income families, here in Central Puget Sound as elsewhere, is in the form of “cheap calories” – highly processed foods, heavily laden with corn syrup, with very high calorie counts.

read more

Upstream Indicators
Children Living in Poverty --- Growing up in poverty greatly increases the probability that a child will be exposed to environments and experiences that pose developmental threats. Poverty during early childhood may be more damaging than poverty experienced at later ages, particularly for academic achievement. Poverty both in the family and in the surrounding neighborhood, which affects minority children to a much greater extent, imposes a double risk. (view data graph) Access to Fresh Food --- Low-income neighborhoods have fewer grocery stores than wealthier areas and there is less produce and less fresh produce. What prevents the just distribution of food is a refection of both global and local inequalities associated with racial and class disparities. Rates of obesity go up with an increase in distance to the nearest grocery. An encouraging counter trend has been the growth in the number of farmers markets, from 10 in Central Puget Sound in 2000 to 55 in 2008. (view data graph) Number of Farms in Organic Production --- Organic food is safer and contains substantially more vitamins and minerals than does commodity food. It also tastes better. Organic production is better for the environment and healthier for farm workers because fewer chemicals are used for cleaner groundwater, rivers and soil. In Central Puget Sound, dead zones (areas of low oxygen water) are now year round in Hood Canal in part due to fertilizer run-off. (view data graph) Living Wage --- A living wage guarantees that a person working a 40-hour week makes enough to pay for essentials: housing, food, utilities, transport, health care, and some recreation. A living wage differs from the minimum wage in that the latter is set by law and may fail to cover basics. Workers making less than living wages in the communities where they work are often forced to live at a distance at a cost. Nearly one-fourth of all low-wage earners are immigrants or refugees. (view data graph)
more info

Why Is It Important?

The impacts of food insecurity are many and the costs exorbitant. The overconsumption of cheap, high calorie foods is a factor in the diabetes epidemic which carries a price tag of an estimated $1 billion a year in King County alone.

read more

Downstream Indicators
Low Birth Weight Rate --- Low birth weight is a major contributor to infant mortality and poor health and care of low birth weight babies is costly. Incidence of low birth rates differ by race, age and behavioral factors of the mother. In past years in King County, high poverty neighborhoods had significantly higher rates of low birth weight babies but these rates declined from 1994 to 2003. In Washington State, low birth weight rates are higher among mothers receiving welfare (TANF) than other mothers. (view data graph) Diabetes Rate --- Eating too much food of the wrong kind is a major reason for the alarming rise in obesity-related diabetes and heart disease. In King County, the number of people with diabetes has doubled over the decade - such a rapid increase in the occurance of a chronic illness is rare. Diabetes is a serious and costly disease. Without proper treatment, diabetes can result in a heart attack, kidney failure, blindness, or lower limb amputation. In King County alone, the cost of diabetes is estimated to be over $1 billion a year (Seattle-King County Public Health). (view data graph) Prevalence of Overweight & Obese Adults --- Inactivity and overeating generally lead people to become overweight. A reliance on calorie-laden fast and processed foods also contribute. Daily schedules do not make time to prepare healthier meals, and portion sizes, in the home and out, have drastically increased. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions including hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease. (view data graph) High School Graduation Rate --- Disparities in high school graduation rates indicate where we - as a community - might be failing particular segments of the student population. For a student who does not graduate from high school, the career outlook is bleak. High school dropouts earn significantly less on average than students finishing high school and going onto at least some college. And, according to the Seattle Foundation's A Healthy Community report, half the people without high-school diplomas lack health insurance and they run out of food money 10 times as often as college graduates. (view data graph) Physical and Mental Health Restrictions --- Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Poor physical health may be caused by poor diet, lack of exercise, substance abuse and stress. Poor mental health is linked with social isolation, poor quality of life, and increased mortality. A survey of King County residents asking how many days did poor physical or mental health keep them from doing their usual activities found substantial differences by income and race. (view data graph)
more info

Find out what others are saying, then share your experience and thoughts on why this goal matters.

Take Action

Discover what others are doing and actions to take, then tell us what you are doing or suggest actions for others to take.

Actions

Eat Local

Discover ten reasons to motivate yourself to eat local.    read more

Additional Resources

Food Insecurity: Family Problem, Community Challenge
Written by a strategic advisor on childhood obesity prevention issues for the Children's Alliance, this short article is a clear analysis of the problems and solutions involved in food insecurity.

Personal tools

Sections