Concerning statewide food security.

Washington plans better food access

Beginning June 11, 2026, Washington’s Department of Agriculture leads statewide food security planning and monitoring. Its expanded duties cover farm markets, land and water use, transportation, and farm labor. A strategy due to lawmakers by December 1, 2027, must address food access, viable farms, and reliable supply chains. It must recommend ways to make food more affordable and set measures to track progress. An annually updated data framework must track state and federal hunger-relief spending, program use, and available demographic data. Measures on food-assistance needs and hunger’s root causes are required only when relevant data is readily available from existing sources. The plan also covers nutrition education, research, and agency coordination to keep food available during disasters. State agencies, universities, nonprofits, and food system partners participate. The department must consult people who have experienced food insecurity, emphasizing Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. It must also include small farmers from those communities and regularly engage federally recognized tribes. Reviews must identify policy barriers and consider state-imposed regulatory costs for fuel, packaging, and labor. Most planning provisions expire July 1, 2028. Separately, starting June 30, 2030, the department must compare Washington’s agricultural rules with peer states at least every four years. The law does not directly change food benefits, eligibility, taxes, wages, fees, or prices, and provides no ongoing appropriation.