It Takes More Than Food to End Hunger

At Northwest Harvest, we believe that it takes a two-pronged approach to address hunger in our communities: we work to provide nutritious food to meet immediate needs, and we work on structural, systemic change to address the root causes of hunger.

Hunger persists when struggling individuals and families don’t have enough income and resources to make ends meet. Meals are skipped in order to save money to pay less flexible costs for housing, health care, and the bills that must be paid to keep the lights on and the water running. These are impossible choices and they should be false choices: if we invest in resources that provide housing, cash assistance, and affordable health care that are needed to stabilize economic crises then people can afford the food they need to focus on learning in school and stay healthy for work. In fact, according to a recent study, for every $1 invested in programs that target child poverty, we see $7 returned on our investment.

This is why we advocate for investments and policy changes for more equitable access to nutritious food and for the priorities that help low-income Washingtonians attain basic needs, including safe and affordable housing and cash assistance programs, used to bolster our economy because recipients spend it on essentials like diapers, car repairs, and paying the bills.

One critical piece that must be supported alongside food assistance-Washington’s eviction moratorium must be extended before it expires in just two short weeks. According to the most recent census data, the continuing economic hardship brought on by the pandemic has resulted in 1 in 10 Washingtonians reporting that they are unable to get caught up on rent. Nationally, the rent hardship is disproportionately impacting Black renters at nearly three times the rate of their White peers.

Another critical investment in families in our state: it’s time to boost the TANF cash assistance benefit. Families with children living in deepest poverty are eligible for TANF which provides work support services, child care assistance, and a cash assistance benefit, but that cash benefit has hardly changed over the last 20 years despite ever increasing costs of living. A 15% boost to the monthly benefit will give families roughly $82 more per month and could make a real difference for household expenses for the family, helping to provide some stability needed for parents to find and retain jobs.

In other words, it takes more than food to end hunger. Food is just one part of a constellation of support services that together, can be a catalyst for economic growth and stability.

What You Can Do