According to the USDA (2020) food insecurity is "the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.”
The mission of the UW Food Security Taskforce is to end student food insecurity at UW through a range of interrelated strategies. While student food security is our primary mission, we additionally support strategies that ultimately aim to end staff food and financial insecurity and related challenges within our broader community. In this way, our mission is to ensure that every Poke is nourished.
Prioritizing dignity and respect for students and others as whole people through a sharing ethos.
Securing good food to support variety, appealing choices, health and wellbeing, dietary restrictions, and culturally appropriate options for all.
Advancing multiple high-impact, coordinated, and sustainable strategies to reduce student food insecurity over the long-term.
Adopting a systemic approach that considers the underlying factors leading to food
and overall financial insecurity.
Maintaining a focus on student food insecurity, while supporting efforts to address
other factors of food and financial insecurity across the UW community.
Amplifying students’ and other constituents’ voices and perspectives, as those affected by food insecurity, in order to move toward food justice.