New critical infrastructure is in place to tackle food insecurity in the state of Washington.  Northwest Harvest has opened a new 200,000-square-foot statewide food distribution center in Yakima that feeds families while supporting farmers. The extra storage space will go a long way toward addressing Washington's food crisis. Leaders say one in 12 families are struggling to put food on the table right now. "Right now in Washington state food insecurity is high and growing, unfortunately,” said Thomas Reynolds, the CEO of Northwest Harvest. “Inflation has been a major issue for households across Washington state." Food from this facility will be dispersed across the state to Northwest Harvest's more than 400 partners, including many food banks and schools. The facility has refrigerated food storage areas and a large storage area for frozen foods. The facility quadruples the amount of refrigerated storage space that Northwest Harvest has. "During harvest season, especially, this will be full of fruits and vegetables, bell peppers, apples, apricots,” said Reynolds. The produce will come from farmers right in the Yakima area, which is one of the reasons the city was selected, in addition to its central location. This was a decision supported by state leaders. READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/northwest-harvest-food-distribution-center-yakima-statewide/281-eabe9202-5b40-4692-869e-2cca69ceff5a