Holidays highlight food needs for all

Food security is often thought of as a national topic, but food security starts locally.

Washington state is part of what the U.S. Department of Agriculture has dubbed the “Fruitful Rim.” Yet, we are also home to numerous “food deserts” where food is hard to come by.

The USDA defines a food desert as a “low-income tract where a substantial number or substantial share of residents does not have easy access to a supermarket or grocery store.” More specifically, food deserts are areas where people do not have easy access to affordable, nutritious food either from a grocery store or a farmers’ mar...