Next month, on Friday, September 25, the Washington State Food and Nutrition Council is holding its annual conference. With a record number of Americans on food stamps right now (34 million as of May), and residents of impoverished urban and rural areas still struggling with limited access to fresh food, this year’s theme, “The Right to Eat: Exploring Food Policy, Access, and Equity,” feels especially timely. In Washington state, hunger and food insecurity affected an estimated 255,000 families in 2007, including 300,000 children. And it disproportionately affects people of color: Hispanic families are nearly four times as likely as white families to experience food insecurity; Native American and African Americans twice as much.

The day-long conference will explore the way that local and national food policies affect communities, including a talk by national food policy expert Mark Winne. Cathy Franklin, the state’s WIC nutrition coordinator, will be on hand to present the new WIC packaging, which takes effect this October. And the folks from Seattle Youth Garden Works will talk about the role of young people in shaping community food policy.

Find more information and register on the conference website. The organizers are also looking for volunteers, who will receive discounted registration fees.