BURIEN, Wash. — One in 10 people in Washington are food insecure and in King County and the need for food has been increasing.
This increased need is seen by nonprofits that connect people to food. With many Washington families facing hunger, some groups are working to find long-term, sustainable solutions to make sure people have healthy and fresh food available.
During the Solar Punk Festival in Burien on Saturday, several organizations came together to focus on sustainability and innovation when it comes to energy, the environment and growing food
“Solar Punk is just this concept of the future where people, planet, technology and environment all happen simultaneously,” said Adam Powers, who put on the event and is with Key Tech Labs.
One of the vendors at the festival was International Nutritional Sustainable Partners (INSP) which is based in Redmond. They have been working since 2020 to supply people with healthy food, by holding food giveaways, supporting farmers and creating more farming opportunities. At the festival, they were giving out free food, which they say is desperately needed by people throughout Washington.
“The need is way worse than what we've ever experienced during the pandemic,” said Brandy Badger, the President of International Nutritional Sustainable Partners (INSP).
Badger said the need has increased as food prices are up and food stamp benefits decreased for hundreds of thousands of people in Washington this past spring.
“One senior I know was getting like $129 a month and now she gets $27 a month,” said Badger.
She said it has been hard to keep up, as money donations to her nonprofit are lower and the number of people they need to serve is higher. They are sometimes forced to limit the amount of food they can give out.
Even though times are hard for Badger's nonprofit and people in Washington, she is focused on getting fresh food to people in her community.
“We refuse to give up and we're continuing to push forward,” said Badger.