The pandemic is supposed to be over. Why is Pierce County food insecurity still so high?

Nearly three years after the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything — bringing life as we knew it to a standstill and instantly thrusting thousands of Pierce County families into economic uncertainty — it can be tempting to look at all of it as the past.

In so many ways, the world has moved on. We have new problems, new fears and new concerns. There were those spy balloons. Joe Biden declared the pandemic over five months ago.

According to Jennifer Otten, a University of Washington researcher who has now helped to conduct four statewide food security surveys since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, any such notion is premature. Even if plenty of us have turned the page, the challenges unleashed by the coronavirus continue.

Case in point: This month, results from the fourth Washington State Food Security Survey were released. Conducted between December 2022 and January 2023 by researchers at the UW and Washington State University, the survey — which over-sampled lower-income households to gain better insights into the problem — found that people across the state are still facing food insecurity in vast numbers, in rural and urban locations, across red counties and blue.

Among the survey’s key findings, almost half of responding households reported experiencing food insecurity in the past month — with the highest occurrences among BIPOC respondents, households with children and renters. Meanwhile, the overall reliance on food assistance programs and food banks remained high. In Pierce County, 56% of respondents reported using some form of food assistance program in the previous month.

As Otten put it, trends that first became clear in late 2020 when the first survey was conducted continue today.

Making matters worse: In March, the COVID-19-related temporary boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — commonly known as SNAP benefits — is set to expire. In response, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would allocate $28 million to support statewide food assistance programs. Tacoma state Sen. Twina Nobles also has introduced a bill that would provide free school meals to every student.

“People look at these numbers, and they don’t believe how high they are. (But) you can kind of triangulate this data,” Otten said. “We’re looking at food banks, they have this incredibly low inventory right now – not just because people are coming in and asking for more, but also because they’re having trouble with high food costs and fuel costs, and they’re having trouble with food supply-chain issues.”

“It’s clear that there are populations that are experiencing late-pandemic effects, long term,” Otten continued. “We need to figure out how to meet the needs of these populations, because we’re not fully recovered.”

It is a lot to take in. In the heat of COVID-19-related shutdowns, it was easier to identify direct causes: people were rightfully scared, out of work and unable to gather in public places, diminishing access to food. Now, with the world back to normal in many ways, some of the issues we face — inflation, the ludicrous price of eggs and staffing shortages — can feel unrelated to the various disruptions the pandemic caused.

According to Otten, however, it’s all related — and all somewhat predictable, given the circumstances. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial recession, she noted, insecurity persisted for several years, even after standard economic markers began to improve. While time and access to vaccines have eased many of the pandemic’s immediate concerns, there’s little doubt that we’re still feeling the ripple effects, she said.

“In my mind, it’s bigger than just income. It’s the turbulence of employment right now for a lot of people,” Otten said. “The primary driver food security is economic insecurity, and that’s what we’re seeing.”

Digging into the latest statewide food security survey tells the story, Otten said. Overall, food insecurity was highest in Columbia County, near Walla Walla, where 73% of participants reported experiencing it. In Pierce County, 51% of respondents reported food insecurity, more than King County’s 46%, Whatcom County’s 44% and Thurston County’s 40%.

Tellingly, across the state, food insecurity was highest among respondents with some college education or less and those working in the service industry, with similar levels reported among the employed and unemployed.

For households experiencing food insecurity, groceries have now become the most challenging bill to pay every month, according to the survey — surpassing expenditures like rent. That has given rise to various coping mechanisms – like sale shopping and different shopping patterns — and, in turn, diets that many respondents described as poor.

Otten noted that food prices increased by roughly 10% across the country in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s consumer price index, with a 7% increase predicted this year.

Big picture, Otten said, all of it underscores the need to keep our eye on the food insecurity ball.

Sure, it might be tempting to close the book on the pandemic — and forget about the havoc it wrought and the disparities it brought to light — but we’re not out of the woods yet.

“I hope people will continue to come up with resources and support to offset a lot of the challenges that are still cropping up,” Otten said, again citing current efforts in the legislature to address the problem.

They’re a start, she suggested, but clearly more needs to be done.

“The effects of the pandemic are certainly not over,” she said. “Especially when it comes to economic disruptions and food insecurity.”