Marie Spiker
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mariespiker.bsky.social
Marie Spiker
@mariespiker.bsky.social
Assistant Professor, University of Washington School of Public Health | food systems, nutrition, public health, qualitative research, systems science, sustainability & resilience | views my own
@laurenbjenks.bsky.social Your talk yesterday was so insightful, refreshing, inspiring, and just what I needed to hear in these challenging times! The challenge of how to fight misinformation while not giving in to confirmation bias is real. Thank you for giving us tools to navigate this!!
February 21, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Thank you! Donations are great, and volunteering. And community care! Helping neighbors, especially people with mobility issues. And, making sure that people don't perpetuate false and harmful stereotypes about food assistance and other safety nets, which are so essential, especially now!
February 20, 2025 at 2:06 AM
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While some food assistance resources are shrinking, the need for them certainly hasn’t.

The situation is sobering, but our state's commitment to addressing hunger gives me some hope.

This part of the press release says it all:

“We all have to eat, and we’re in this together.”
February 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
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We collected granular data on the types of food assistance programs people are using, and we see that households with and without children turn to different programs suited for their needs.

Safety nets are not one-size-fits all, and we need a variety of programs for different life stages.
February 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
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In our survey, while almost everyone was feeling price increases in their area, food insecure households were more likely to feel stressed about these price increases, and more likely to cope with high costs by restricting the quantity and quality of their food.
February 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
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Fresh produce and animal proteins topped the list of hard-to-afford foods, highlighting the health impacts of food insecurity.

Food insecurity is linked to physical AND mental health. Among food insecure respondents, 84% reported high stress, and over half reported anxiety or depression.
February 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
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Something we see in our data is that food is expensive right now!!!

Groceries were listed as the #1 hard-to-afford expense, and on average WA families in our survey reported spending $263 per person per month on groceries. That’s over $1,000/month for a family of four.
February 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
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Read the WAFOOD5 press release here:

🔗 agr.wa.gov/about-wsda/n...

Download our new research brief here—our 16th research brief since 2020, sharing results from a 5th survey of WA residents (n=5,528), fielded in autumn 2024:

🔗 foodsystems.uw.edu/resource/bri...
February 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I'm realizing that the link doesn't work for some reason, sorry about that! I think you'll need to access this by going to @waiterich.bsky.social's profile and tabbing over to his Starter Packs
November 28, 2024 at 2:05 AM
Click on that link, and then scroll through the list of excellent food systems experts that Richard has compiled, and Follow people to your heart's content!
November 27, 2024 at 11:28 PM