Washington State Food Banks Amid a Global Pandemic

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected nearly every facet of life, most alarmingly that of food security. Scholars suggests that food security is one of the most important indicators of physical and financial wellbeing. This study examines the success rate of various food pantries across Washington State in their addressing of local food insecurities. “Success” is measured by how many households each food bank served. In order to collect this data, I individually contacted food banks across Washington State requesting them for the number of households that their pantries served between January and August of 2020. A multivariate regression model is employed in order to examine whether locality population size has a statistically significant relationship with the number of households served, controlling for other variables.