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Food Access Coalition for Kittitas County

The mission of the Food Access Coalition for Kittitas County is to advocate for all people of Kittitas County to have consistent access to healthy food and an understanding of nutrition by promoting and developing local programs and partnerships.

History of the Coalition

In 2007, the director of the FISH Food Bank approached Shape Up Kittitas County staff at the health department about how to get more healthy foods, especially fresh produce into the food bank. Shape Up staff started consulting with others in the community about how to increase access to healthy foods in our community and the coalition was born. The first meeting took place in May 2007 and by July 2007, the coalition had a name, a mission, and overarching goals.

Goals

Increase the availability of, usage of, and access to healthy foods (with a focus on local food banks)
Support infrastructure of local food access and nutrition programs
Identify community needs, assets, and resources related to access to healthy foods and nutrition information
Increase nutrition education opportunities
Conduct outreach and publicity about the coalition and local food access efforts

Coalition Membership

Currently, members of the Food Access Coalition for Kittitas County include representatives from:

Kittitas County Public Health Department
FISH Food Bank
HopeSource
WSU Extension
Central Washington University Nutrition Science and Public Health departments
St. Andrew's Community Garden
Community members in upper and lower Kittitas County

Anyone is welcome to come to the coalition meetings (first Thursday of each month, Noon-1:30pm, FISH Food Bank, corner of 2nd Ave. and Water St.) and/or become a member. There are three different membership categories:

Projects

Coalition members are involved in a variety of local efforts related to access to healthy foods and nutrition in Kittitas County. Some are coalition-led efforts and some are led by other community groups or members, but supported by coalition members. Here are just a few examples of projects coalition members are involved in:

Facts & Figures

About 4% of Kittitas County adults ate less than they wanted to because they didn't have enough money to buy food.
About 20% of Kittitas County 10th grade students said their family had to cut meal sizes or skip meals because there wasn't enough money to buy food.
According to the Food Access Coalition's Community Food Survey in 2010,
- About 60% of respondents who don't garden said it's because they don't have a place to do it.
- About 10% of respondents get some or most of their food from local food banks.
- Over 80% of respondents said they prepare dinner at home at least 5 days per week.
- About 24% of respondents said they or someone in their household had skipped a meal sometime in the past year because they didn't have enough food.
- Over 60% of respondents said they sometimes, often, or all the time eat less healthy foods because they are cheaper.

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