Food Security

My name is Mike Cohen and I am the director of Bellingham Food Bank. Bellingham Food Bank is the busiest food bank in the state. 5,000 households visit the food bank each week. The City's historical support of the food bank has been modest at best. With 20% of our community relying on the food bank for assistance I believe the city must make a greater investment in the food bank's operations. This website has a section described as food access. However, it simply gives people an option of what type of food retailer do we need more of. It ignores the fact that far too many peoples' access is limited by their inability to buy the healthy food they want, need and deserve. The city has done a great job prioritizing parks, trails, climate action and public safety. It needs to do better supporting food security efforts. People of color are disproportionately food insecure in our city. 50% of our food bank shoppers are BIPIC, refugees and or immigrants.