Western Washington Food Systems Partnership

Equity in Washington State Food System Assessment Q&A

Responses by Mercy Kariuki-McGee, Haki Farmers Collective & Informal BIPOC Leadership Team

Report:   Assessing WA Food Systems Through an Equity Lens 

Q: How accurate is the WSU or UW data and how old is the data?

A: The data should be accurate and current. The reports are linked here: 

Q: Marcie Cleaver: How many farms were surveyed/responded to give you your data?

I would also be interested in the types of farms surveyed, small, medium or large (by prior year sales amounts) and also the locations of the farms. That is Eastern WA vs. Western WA or some other break down.

A: See Assessing Resilience in Washington Agriculture: Impacts of COVID-19 on Farms and Ranches.

Q: What counties are experiencing high amounts of food insecurity?

A: See:

Q: Are there successful models for two concerns mentioned: 1. Supporting families in learning how to prepare unfamiliar food; 2. Finding funding for infrastructure like refrigerator trucks/units, vehicles, etc.

A: There are some mobile market models. A model Haki used with a hunger relief project is to take food to people who need it. We partner with groups who are working with black & brown people and distribute food to people. We use a grassroots movement to distribute food.

For infrastructure building: That goes back to what the government systems are. Our experience is that if you don’t have 3-5 years of experience, or if you don’t have large capacity (25-30 people on staff), you are excluded from the funding. Haki has shown what can be done with one van going to people where they are. Building trust with the people in the community. That’s the best model. That’s moving away from business as usual and questioning people about their needs. People struggle with hunger for different reasons. We did not qualify for 2nd year funding and have been left scrambling trying to serve these communities that need food.

Comment – David Bulindah: Thank you for bringing up how BIPOC have been left out of important decisions and distribution of resources. When we apply for funding, we are not acknowledged because we are a small organization led by Black people – African people who have an accent. We have been in business over six years and are struggling to find money. When they say BIPOC, they say Black. There is Black and there is African, and we (African immigrants) are sometimes left out. There are a lot of racial injustices. During COVID, nobody with money wanted to buy our food. We need advocates. Need to be identified as African immigrants. We love the land and do this work out of passion.

Where are the resources for us? We are growing on 8 acres. We have had a horrible year. We need technical assistance, a truck, labor. Immigrants work extra hard supporting ourselves and people in our home country. Land acquisition is almost impossible for us. There is so much red tape. We have been trying to find land for 6 years and we can only get a 1-5 year lease. How to empower small organizations like ours (Wakulima) to have a space at the table? Some of the grants are skewed to big organizations. If you aren’t in business long enough, you don’t qualify. There are a lot of systemic issues that need to be addressed. It is important that we are included among the people who make these decisions. Thanks to NABC for having these conversations. 

Comment – Lora Liegel: I participated on a WSDA grant panel recently and it really opened my eyes to the process. I encourage those who can carve out time to show up and be a part of processes like that. The comments I have heard today will help inform me if I sit on other grant type panels in the future.

Q: Are there any particular types of support that other orgs in this meeting could provide for Haki Farmers to continue advancing your important work?

A: We are trying to continue our hunger relief work and our plan is to ask communities to support our work to show up with food to South King County, Thurston, Lewis, and Mason, etc. We can grow food, organize, deliver. We also accept food donations and will pick it up. We share equipment, seeds, starts, etc. with BIPOC farmers. Every dollar goes back into the community. Donate to us. Buy from BIPOC farmers. We can make equity happen. Don’t stop working to change the systems.