Washington Food Coalition

www.wafoodcoalition.org
PO Box 95752
Seattle, WA 98145
phone: 206.729.0501
fax: 206.729.0504
info@wafoodcoalition.org

October 22 , 2014
nd

The State of Food Banks in Washington State

Nearly all the data from the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) in SFY14 has
been received. There is a possibility that caseload numbers may come in even higher
when a couple additional reports are received. However, the data received thus far is
solid and shows a grim picture for the state of food banks in Washington State.
Attached is a collection of graphs to illustrate the situation that food banks in our state
are currently facing.
There are several items that are most compelling in the data. Unfortunately, the recent
SFY14 closeout data for EFAP shows that things are even more dire than they were a
year ago. Keep in mind that all of the data available does not reflect the situation with
the additional $800,000 provided for EFAP in the recent supplemental budget, as that
funding is being distributed in this current SFY15.
All categories of client visits have increased. This even includes new clients, which had
been on a downward trend for several years prior.
See Figure 1
The average number of visits per year increased only slightly, from 6.45 in SFY13 to 6.46
in SFY14. This is an all time record high for Washington.
See Figure 2
One of the most concerning figures is the pounds of food per visit. This is a direct
indicator of food banks struggling to stretch their limited capacity in order to reach
unprecedented demand. The system is clearly succumbing to the consistent weight of
increased clients without the necessary increases in support. While food banks managed
to rise to the challenge of the recession initially by providing up to 16.25 pounds of food
per visits in SFY10, this has fallen to 15.58 pounds of food per visit in SFY14.
See Figure 3 & 4
Another data point that is alarming is the number of children requiring assistance from
their local food bank. While visits to food banks reached an all-time high of 8,946,352
in SFY14, the percentage of these visits serving children increased 6.89% since one year
prior. The increase in senior clients is even more alarming, at 13.32% in the same year.
See Figure 5
For questions on this data, please contact WFCs Executive Director Julie Washburn at Julie@wafoodcoalition.org

Figure 1

PERCENT CHANGE IN FOOD BANK CLIENTS 2007-2014

40

35

30

Total Client
Visits

25

New Clients

20

Returning
Clients

15

Total New
Families
Served

10

0
SFY08

SFY09

SFY10

SFY11

SFY12

SFY13

SFY14

Figure 2

PERCENT CHANGE IN FOOD BANK CLIENTS 2011-2014

20

15

Total Client Visits

10

New Clients
5

Returning Clients

0
SFY12
-5

-10

-15

SFY13

SFY14

Total New Families

Served
Average # of Visits
per Client per Year

Figure 3

PERCENT CHANGE IN FOOD BANK DISTRIBUTION 20072014

40
35
30

Pounds of Food
Distributed

25
20
15

Average # of lbs
of Food/Client
Visit/Yr

10
5
0
SFY08

SFY09

SFY10

SFY11

SFY12

SFY13

SFY14

-5

Figure 4

PERCENT CHANGE IN FOOD BANK DISTRIBUTION

2011-2014
10
8
6

Pounds of Food Distributed

4
2

Average # of lbs of
Food/Client Visit/Yr

0
SFY12
-2
-4
-6

SFY13

SFY14

Figure 65

Figure 5

PERCENT CLIENTS PER AGE GROUP 2014

Seniors: 55+ YO,
20.25%
Children: 0-18 YO,
35.03%

Adults: 19-54 YO,

44.72%

This
anincrease
increase
Thiswas
was an
of of
6.89%from
in one
year
6.47%
last year