Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health

In the News


December 4, 2021

Fight climate change by eating your leftovers this holiday season

Photo courtesy of The Verge - Dec 22 article

Marie Spiker is quoted in this article highlighting the global impacts of food waste on the environment and gives advice on how we as consumers can do our part by reducing food waste at home.


June 27, 2021

For many King County families, food aid ‘not nearly enough’ as need spikes in pandemic

Photo of client at Auburn Food Bank

Food bank staff and public health officials predict it will take households several years to recover from food insecurity made worse by the economic instability of the pandemic. Ongoing research led by the UW Center for Public Health Nutrition in partnership with Washington State University and Tacoma Community College is highlighted.


March 23, 2021

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

Marie Spiker

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.


February 17, 2021

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

Sign saying Now Open UW Food Pantry

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.


February 10, 2021

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

Michelle Obama lunch program

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…


January 25, 2021

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

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.


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

Food donation volunteers

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.


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

PGAFF name

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.


January 4, 2021

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

Photo of canned foods

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.


January 2, 2021

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

worker stacking cans of food

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…



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