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News

Photo of farm workers harvesting produce wearing masks

How farms and ranches in Washington have been impacted by COVID-19

March 31, 2021

Nearly 60% of farms and ranches in Washington State have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 in 2020, and expect to make changes to adapt their businesses in 2021, according to a new report published by the University of Washington Center for Public Health Nutrition in collaboration with Washington State University and the Washington State Department...

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Marie Spiker

You waste more than $1,000 of food a year. Chew on that

March 23, 2021 | Los Angeles Times

Marie Spiker speaks with the Los Angeles Times about global food waste and new data published in the Food Waste Index for 2021 by the UN Environment Programme which assesses that the world wastes 1 billion tons of food each year.

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Sign saying Now Open UW Food Pantry

How the UW food pantry has adapted to rising food insecurity in the state

February 16, 2021 | The Daily

The Daily highlights how the UW Food Pantry is adapting to address food insecurity, and what UW Nutritional Sciences Program researchers involved in the WAFOOD survey have assessed thus far about state-wide food insecurity trends during the pandemic.

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Michelle Obama lunch program

Michelle Obama is continuing her mission with a Netflix children’s show, ‘Waffles + Mochi’

February 9, 2021 | Upworthy

Former first lady Michelle Obama to expand the work she started with her “Let’s Move” campaign which helps kids eat better and live healthy lives. A UW study published this year in JAMA by Nutritional Sciences Program researchers is noted. The study authors include senior study author Jessica Jones-Smith, Kelsey Kinderknecht, and Cristen Harris. The researchers found evidence that the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act that Obama championed had a positive impact for students who participated.

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UW & WSU Washington State Food Security Survey

WAFOOD survey receives support from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation

January 26, 2021

Among the several non-profit organizations and programs receiving recent emergency funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the University of Washington Foundation has received a gift in support of the WAFOOD food insecurity survey. The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has to date provided $12 million in emergency funding to provide relief to the...

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PGAFF name

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Continues Support for Vulnerable Communities During COVID-19

January 25, 2021 | PR Newswire

New support will boost efforts toward economic and social relief to those experiencing disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the University of Washington WAFOOD survey.

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Food donation volunteers

New COVID-19 Grants to Boost Efforts Toward Economic and Social Relief

January 25, 2021 | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation

Paul G. Allen Family Foundation announces $1.4 million in emergency funding focused on getting the state’s underserved populations the food, child care, and stability they need most during this time. The gift includes direct support to the collaborative research by UW, WSU, and Tacoma Community College on food access in Washington State due to COVID-19.

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Allen Family Foundation boosts COVID-19-related funding for hard-hit areas in Washington State

January 25, 2021 | The Seattle Times

UW Center for Public Health Nutrition research receives gift from Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, supporting the Washington State Food Security (WAFOOD) Survey, a project studying impacts of COVID-19 on food access and nutrition in Washington State.

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worker stacking cans of food

Need for free food in Washington state has doubled, many groups report, as COVID-19 rips away jobs and security

January 2, 2021 | The Seattle Times

Every level of the food distribution chain in the state of Washington has been challenged since the pandemic began, and this article illustrates how different food assistance organizations are faring. The WAFOOD survey and study from researchers in the UW Center for Public Health Nutrition, WSU and Tacoma Community College are mentioned, and how the study aims to understand nuances of this food insecurity crisis.

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Photo of canned foods

Washington researchers start second round of food security surveys amid coronavirus pandemic

December 22, 2020 | Seattle P-I

Jennifer Otten is quoted in this story that highlights wave 2 of the Washington Food Security Survey which monitors the continuing impact of the pandemic on economic- and food-related wellbeing, eight months after the initial lockdown in the state.

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