During the virtual meeting, offered in both English and Spanish, Northwest Harvest Director of Public Policy Anna Nepomuceno presented data showing that food insecurity remains a significant challenge across Washington and Grant County. 

Nepomuceno said one in eight adults and one in six children in Washington experience hunger, while more than 1 million residents receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. 

“What we have today is a broken food system,” Nepomuceno said. “Our local farmers are experiencing a farming crisis and without our farms doing well, then our food system isn't going to do well.” 

She said Grant County faces unique challenges, with approximately one in four residents receiving SNAP benefits and 85% of public school students qualifying for free school meals, well above the statewide average. 

Nepomuceno also discussed recent federal changes to SNAP, saying Washington could face tens of millions of dollars in additional administrative costs and potentially hundreds of millions more in state spending to maintain current benefit levels. She said with House Resolution 1, also known as the Big Beautiful Bill, administrative costs of SNAP were transitioned from a 50-50 split between states and the federal government to a 75-25 split, with states covering a majority of the cost. Nepomuceno said this is about a $66 million increase for Washington to cover.  

“We're going to be facing another budget deficit this coming legislative session,” she said, adding that lawmakers will be forced to balance those costs against other priorities. 

The presentation focused heavily on Northwest Harvest’s “Right to Food” initiative, which calls for governments at all levels to recognize food as a human right and prioritize policies that ensure food is available, accessible, adequate and sustainable. 

“We believe that the right to food is the solution,” Nepomuceno said. “Food is a human right.” 

The organization ultimately hopes to build support for a constitutional amendment in Washington recognizing a right to food, similar to an effort adopted in Maine. 

Nepomuceno said the proposal is aimed at creating long-term policy changes rather than relying solely on emergency food assistance. 

“We cannot food bank our way out of hunger,” she said. “We want people to have the dignity to be able to obtain food for themselves and their families every single day.” 

Several local organizations shared their experiences during the discussion. 

Mary Joy Bara Vega of Moses Lake Community Health Center said food insecurity remains one of the most pressing needs among patients in Quincy and surrounding communities. She said the organization recently devoted funding from a Microsoft partnership to expand mobile food distribution efforts. 

“It's a crisis. It's been a crisis,” Bara Vega said. “That's where we are at, and that's the need that we see the most with our clients and patients in our area.” 

Jose Garza, representing the Othello Food Bank and Washington Food Coalition, encouraged attendees to participate in Hunger Action Day at the state Capitol Feb. 8 and share firsthand experiences with lawmakers.