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Two years after the pandemic's start, Washington's food banks still strained

caption: Boxes of fresh produce, meat and dairy are loaded into vehicles at a free food distribution drive-thru site led by the Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington on Thursday, July 10, 2020, along Military Road South in Kent.
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Boxes of fresh produce, meat and dairy are loaded into vehicles at a free food distribution drive-thru site led by the Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington on Thursday, July 10, 2020, along Military Road South in Kent.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

Demand at Seattle-area food banks continues to remain high, two years after the start of the pandemic.

“It’s not slowing down at all," said Carmen Smith, executive director at the White Center Food Bank. "Now we’re navigating other things like rising food costs and increases in fuel (costs). And so people are relying on the food bank to be able to stretch their budgets in other ways.”

Public Health Seattle and King County says that more than 113,000 households receive some form of federal food assistance.

And now that school is out, many children who rely on school meals will have one less option for food. A federal program that has helped states provide food during the summer has not been extended.

The number of Washington residents going hungry has nearly tripled during the pandemic.

Read the full story here.

More about Western Washington's food insecurity issue:


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