Fall Greetings from WSDA Food Assistance
Washington Food Coalition Staff
Fall greetings from WSDA Food Assistance!
Many Food Assistance (FA) team members attended the Washington Food Coalition Conference in September, and we continue to reflect on the conversations and learning that we engaged in during those three action-packed days. Thank you to the partners from across the state who said hi, shared your accomplishments & struggles, and asked some great questions about our programs.
In light of the questions that were asked, we thought we’d take a moment to provide a high-level overview of our programs and how they currently support the flow of foods and funds across the state. If you missed attending our session at the conference (or even if you joined in!), this article will cover some of the themes we discussed.
FA manages and creates statewide policy for four unique federal and state food assistance programs, and six grants, each with a different set of regulations. We work with over 50 Lead Agencies and contractors that are made up of a mix of food banks, community action agencies, tribes and tribal organizations who typically operate more than one of our programs. Through these organizations we reach over 800 local hunger relief organizations. We work with a wide variety of partners, stakeholders, and state agencies to support our mutual goals.
Our primary functions are to:
- Provide funding, food, program management, technical assistance, grants, and outreach.
- Manage logistics, ordering, purchasing, warehousing, inventory, emergency management, and distribution of USDA Foods.
- Identify and address gaps, create improvements, support local food purchasing, conduct research, build the tools and resources to support hunger relief efforts.
WSDA FA operates four Core Programs which together establish the body of work that provides a consistent framework of program offerings for emergency food providers serving their communities. These programs have evolved and grown over the last 45 years and are used to pass-through a combination of funds and USDA-procured foods.
State Core Programs
- Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP)
- Emergency Food Assistance Program – Tribal (EFAP – Tribal)
Federal Core Programs
- The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
- Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
Some recent outcomes through these Core Programs:
- About 16 million Washingtonians were served at participating food pantries through EFAP & EFAP – Tribal in State Fiscal Year 2026 (July-June), an 8.4 percent increase from 2025.
- Roughly 26 million pounds of food were provided to Lead and Sub Agencies through TEFAP in Federal Fiscal Year 2026 (October-September).
- CSFP has supported about 5,400 seniors each month with a pre-packed box of food (about 30 pounds) intended to meet basic nutritional needs through a balanced combination of products.
For the last several years, FA has also offered Resiliency Grants - a competitive grant with a 1-year cycle. In the current 2025-2027 biennium, this program awarded $14 million dollars of funding in each State Fiscal Year. Through this program, FA funds projects that bring immediate benefit to the community and target the following priorities:
- Provide access to flexible funding to hunger relief organizations including tribes and tribal organizations, to support current and vital organizational needs.
- Support hunger relief organizations in ways that they determine are best for their community.
- Support access to nutritious food.
- Ensure funding is distributed across the entire state.
Grant funding is available to all hunger relief organizations regardless of if they are engaged in our Core Programs or not. This allows the funds to help fill gaps in communities throughout Washington state.
Finally, we have Farm to Community (F2C). The work done in F2C helps bridge the gaps between Washington’s Agricultural producers and its hunger relief organizations. F2C funding has specific goals to support Washington’s agricultural economies, while providing high-quality fresh foods to people visiting hunger relief organizations throughout the state, all while reducing food waste. The current F2C initiatives include the State-funded Farm to Food Pantry, and Food Rescue Grant Program, alongside the federally funded TEFAP Farm to Food Bank program. Together, these programs have awarded roughly $5.9 million in SFY26 alone to support distribution of local WA produced food which has reached an astounding 700 last mile distribution sites.
Most importantly, all of this work thrives on connection, communication, and transparency. We play many roles in our work, just like you. We get food and funding to the places they need to go, we implement “rules” and “regulations”, we conduct compliance reviews and risk assessments, track data and inventories, develop policies and procedures, share information, do community outreach, and most importantly work to build relationships at the local, state, and federal level. We recognize that Food Assistance is only one piece of the puzzle that affects food security throughout the state. We know that the work done in local communities by hunger relief organizations is how these resources create a positive impact in the lives of Washingtonians.
We hope to continue to be a trusted partner you feel supported by whether participating in FA programming directly or indirectly. We all share the common goal of improving food security for the people and communities we serve.
In community,
WSDA Food Assistance Team