Hunger-Free Pierce County Collaborative

While United Way of Pierce County works to break the cycle of poverty over the long term, every day people face immediate crises that threaten their health and well-being. In Pierce County, nearly 1 in 6 households experience food insecurity throughout the year. This means over 120,000 people, including over 42,000 children, are at risk of going hungry in our community.

The Hunger-Free Pierce County Collaborative (HFPCC) is working to create a community where each person has access to sufficient, nutritious and culturally-appropriate food to support a healthy lifestyle. HFPCC is working to end hunger by focusing on:

Access to healthy food

With food insecurity and chronic disease diagnosis rates about the national average, it is clear there is a need in Pierce County for increased access to healthy food. By increasing access to fresh, nutritious food, we have the ability to not only help families meet their basic needs but also positively influence health and scholastic outcomes.

 

Nutrition & Education

For households in high-need, low-access areas (or food deserts), the challenges to providing healthy meals are multi-faceted. For those living in poverty, without transportation and/or access to grocery stores, the options for access to food may be limited to corner stores and mini-marts featuring high-priced, less-healthy food options. These same household may face additional barriers, such as not having a working oven, stove or appropriate tools for cooking or lacking knowledge about how to shop for and prepare healthy meals from scratch.

 

Fighting Childhood Hunger

In Pierce County, 1 in 6 people are unsure of where their next meal will come from, but for children at risk of experiencing hunger the number is closer to 1 in 4. More than 50,000 children rely on free school breakfast and lunch programs to provide foundational nutrition each week. By increasing access to nutritious food, we have the ability to not only help families meet their basic needs, but also to positively influence health and scholastic outcomes for children.

Sustainable Local Food Systems

Approximately 40% of food produced in the U.S. goes to waste. This equates to nearly 63 million tons, of which 10.1 million never gets harvested and 52.4 million ends up in landfills. HFPCC is focused on two strategies designed to decrease waste and increase local food availability through food and produce recovery and by supporting local growing efforts.