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WAFOOD Brief 16 – Food Security and Food Assistance in the Wake of COVID-19: A 5th Survey (2024) of Washington State Households

Preview of the first page of the WAFOOD5 Research Brief 16
View WAFOOD5 Brief 16 (pdf)

Published February 13, 2025, this brief focuses on findings from WAFOOD5 (August-October 2024) and examines changes in food insecurity and food assistance in Washington State households as Washingtonians continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and high inflation persists. WAFOOD5 was available to be taken in English, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Somali, Tagalog, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

Key Findings

A total of 5,528 Washington State residents responded to the WAFOOD5 survey. Among the WAFOOD5 sample, which over-sampled households with lower incomes, food insecurity remained high with over half of households experiencing food insecurity. Food insecurity was higher in households with respondents identifying as Black (77%) or Hispanic (70%), households with children (68%), households with incomes <$15,000K (82%), and renters (61%). Food assistance use was high across the state, with more than half of respondents (55%) using at least one type of food assistance in the past month. Food price increases were felt by everyone, with more than half very concerned about price increases. Households experiencing food insecurity reported greater concern about price increases, as well as worse overall financial outlooks and more financial stress. To cope with price increases, nearly three quarters of food insecure respondents reported restricting the quality and quantity of food.

Explore More: Find all briefs and publications related to this study on the project page.

Materials

Publication Date: February 13, 2025

Author(s): The WAFOOD survey is a joint effort between the UW and WSU. The WAFOOD5 team comprises Jennifer J. Otten, Professor, Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health Program (FSNH) and the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) at the UW School of Public Health (UWSPH); Marie L. Spiker Assistant Professor, FSNH, Epidemiology, and DEOHS at UWSPH; Jane Dai, PhD Candidate, Health Systems and Population Health at UWSPH; James Buszkiewicz, Research Assistant Professor, Epidemiology at University of Michigan Ann Arbor SPH; Shawna Beese, Assistant Professor of Rural Health Promotion at WSU Health Sciences; Sarah M. Collier, Assistant Professor, NSP and DEOHS at UWSPH; Alan Ismach, Research Coordinator, DEOHS at UWSPH.

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