Sarah Collier

Affording food is such a challenge in Washington state that residents who experience food insecurity say their grocery bills are their biggest source of financial stress, more so than paying for rent or utilities.

A new study led by faculty in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and the Nutritional Sciences Program explores how the COVID-19 pandemic affected access to food in Washington in the areas of both food production and food assistance, and how the state can learn from the pandemic and take advantage of new opportunities.

Last year, the University of Washington Population Health Initiative awarded COVID-19 population health equity research grants to three projects involving partnerships between UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and community leaders.

About 30% of households in Washington state experienced food insecurity last summer, according to a survey by researchers at the University of Washington and their partners at Washington State University and Tacoma Community College.

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative has awarded COVID-19 population health equity research grants to three projects involving partnerships between UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and community leaders.

This spring, the first group of undergraduates to complete the UW Nutritional Sciences Program’s Food Systems, Nutrition and Health major are taking the knowledge they’ve acquired and applying it to help their communities.

The University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) was recently awarded funding for four new projects to address the health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Dr. Sarah Collier is an Assistant Professor in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and core faculty in food systems, nutrition, and health within the Nutritional Sciences Program.

SEATTLE (March 20, 2024) — Washington’s farmers are on the front lines of climate change. Whether they are growing vegetables on farmland or raising shellfish on tidelands, farmers’ productivity and prosperity depends on a healthy environment.