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By Michaela Friedrich
Cheney Free Press 

Food scarcity and insecurity issues continue

 

Last updated 5/25/2022 at 4:18pm

CHENEY— With inflation growing and affecting all aspects of everyday life, food insecurity is asserting itself as a prevalent issue in the Cheney community and surrounding areas.

The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a “lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.”

In a study done by the University of Washington in March 2022, research showed that rural Ag communities in Washington State are at a higher risk for experiencing food insecurity than their urban counterparts and have a higher poverty rate. The data observed was collected in 2019, so what does that mean three years later?

Food insecurity rates sky-rocketed when COVID emerged in 2020.

The issue has since urged communities like Cheney to find ways to survive the obstacle of putting food on the table.

Second Harvest is a food bank based out of Spokane that gives supplies to other food banks in 26 counties in central and eastern Washington and northern Idaho.


Eric Williams, community partnerships director at Second Harvest, said people on the front lines had seen the growth of need firsthand.

“For the latter half of last year, things kind of settled down and we were inching back towards normal and then inflation hit.” Williams said. “We could really see it on the front line. It [the demand] has increased notably since December and January.”

Even while considering the high demand within communities like Cheney, Williams isn’t worried about the ability of non-profits to provide.

“One thing I’ve learned about food bankers, whether it’s staff here or volunteers at local food pantries and food banks is that you figure out a way,” Williams said. “You figure out a way to pedal faster. The variety might not be as much, but we’ll figure out a way to get food to people.”


The generosity of the Ag community that surrounds Cheney and the greater Spokane area has kept the wheels on the non-profits that depend on donations and volunteer work to help their communities.

Williams suspects that the high production costs farmers are facing will impact their ability to supply food banks with local produce but is still grateful for the support they give where they can.

“I want to emphasize how fortunate we are to be located in an area like this,” Williams said. “It’s nice to be in a robust Ag area.”

Duane Isaac, director at the Cheney Food Bank, has been in his volunteer position since April and organizes four drop-offs from Second Harvest every month.

He said they feed anywhere from 130-to 150 families every month and 25 families every week but still fear that there is a stigma around food banks that keeps more people from coming to the distributions.

“Anyone who walks up to the window, we’ll give them food,” Isaac said. “I know for a fact we’re not reaching all of the people that need it.”

Once a month, the food bank distributes what Isaac calls the “full meal deal,” where families go home with a more significant portion of food than the weekly distributions.

Bill Fuqua has been volunteering with the Cheney Food Bank since March. He said there are a couple of changes they’re trying to make to get people better access to their resources.

“We’re working on opening up on evenings or weekends so it can be more accessible for people,” he said. “Part of what’s limiting us is the number of volunteers we have. Right now we just don’t have enough.”

Participating in grocery rescues Sunday–Tuesday, receiving deliveries from Second Harvest and stocking shelves on Tuesdays and distributing food on Wednesdays from 9-11 a.m. are all opportunities for involvement from the community.

Fuqua expressed some concerns about the potential increased demand from the community.

“I’m trying to keep my ear out for what’s going on with the economy,” he said. “I think the demand is going to be increasing soon.”

Anyone in need locally can start at the Cheney Outreach Center, where they can sign up and qualify for many resources in town.

The Cheney Food Bank and Feed Cheney are both local organizations that depend on the work and time of volunteers to make sure that people are getting resources.

Author Bio

Michaela Friedrich, Former intern

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Michaela is a former newsroom intern at the Cheney Free Press. She covered stories on education, city government, cops/courts/fire departments and local businesses.

 

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