On Thursday mornings, two trucks pull into the gravel parking lot adjacent to the Caswell-Brown Village. The drivers, a mix of volunteers and paid employees, step out, shake off the morning cold, and then wander to the back of the vehicle where they unfasten a latch and throw open the roll-up.  

A collection of worn folding tables slide out of the truck’s interior. Steel legs are locked into place and the hard, molded-plastic surfaces are brushed clean before the crew arranges a dozen or so cold-storage containers filled with perishables; chicken and beef, dairy and eggs

Boxes of items with longer shelf-lives follow - canned goods and dried beans, russet potatoes and spaghetti noodles. Signs reading “Please, take only one” are affixed to the more expensive provisions, and a clipboard that requests patrons sign in is set on a card table beneath a flimsy canopy.

The Mobile Food Market provided by The Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCap) is an important element of Jefferson County’s effort to fulfill the nutritional needs of residents. Over the course of the next several hours, dozens of locals, including many of the inhabitants of Caswell-Brown, will arrive at the site to collect food for their families.

 This past Thursday, the sign-in table was manned by Yuri Genaw. Wrapped in gloves and multiple layers of clothing to ward off the morning’s sub-40-degree weather, Genaw is a big fellow who comes across as thoughtful, easy-going, and kind-hearted. He describes how, on any Thursday, as many as 160 Jefferson County residents will visit the Mobile Food Market at their two sites in Port Townsend (9-11 a.m.) and Port Hadlock (12-2 p.m.).

 “Visitors often collect food for multiple family members,” he says. “So, from that perspective, the program serves between four and five hundred community members each week.”

Genaw explains that contributions to the Mobile Food Truck program predominantly come from two sources. Food Lifeline is a 40-plus-year-old, Seattle-based program that provides donated and government-sourced food to over 300 food banks, meal programs and shelters across western Washington. In addition, resources from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), a federal agency run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are funneled through individual state agencies.

The importance of these programs and the work that OlyCap’s volunteers and employees perform cannot be over-stated. Across the 50 states, Washington ranks number four in average monthly food costs. And within the state, Jefferson County ranks number six (out of 39) for the highest percentage of children who battle hunger. Translated into real numbers, that means 860 children living in Port Townsend and Chimacum, Quilcene and Port Hadlock, Brinnon and Marrowstone do not have reliable access to food.

Becky Forrester, a member of the Caswell-Brown community, underscores how important the mobile market is to the village. She estimates that as many as 75 percent of the members, both adults and children, utilize the resource. She talks about how the healthy food choices provided by OlyCap are unaffordable to many of the residents.

“There was a time when I could go to the store and buy a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, and a gallon of milk for five dollars,” she says. “Now adays, five dollars will barely buy one of those items.”

A walk through one of the local supermarket chains supports Forrester’s claims and brings home the realities of food costs in Jefferson County. Two pounds of chicken breasts cost $9.67. Twelve ounces of Oscar Mayer bacon is $11.99. Two pounds of Tillamook cheese is $10.99. And 18 eggs and a gallon of milk are $6.99 and $5.99, respectively. Combined, the estimated monthly food expenses in Port Townsend range between $353 and $402 per person.

Forrester says she’s not only grateful for the variety of food that OlyCap provides, but also values the fact that the market is brought to the community.

“A lot of people here are disabled,” she explains. “They can’t get to the food bank, so we really appreciate that the program brings the food to the people who really need it.”

As the morning pushes forward, the temperatures continue to hover around 40 degrees. A town resident drives up to drop off a couple of jackets and a pair of gloves for anyone who might need them. Genaw thanks her, and then signals his cohorts that it’s time to pack up the tables and prepare for the drive to Port Hadlock.

Fifteen minutes later, as the trucks pull out, a cloud of dust flies up, leaving Forrester’s parting words to linger in the now empty lot.

“If it weren’t for the mobile food market,” she says, “a lot of people would go hungry.”