Catastrophic hunger crisis? California food banks flooded by families seeking help

Instead of functioning as emergency aid, food banks say they're becoming long-term supermarkets for those facing food insecurity.

By Rya Jetha | CalMatters

California food banks, which saw more families seeking help during the pandemic, are now serving more people every month as extra benefits started during the pandemic come to an end.

The end of such programs is reducing benefits to 5.3 million Californians and prompting the statewide food banks association to warn of a “catastrophic hunger crisis” this year.

Instead of functioning as sources of emergency aid, food banks say they are becoming long-term supermarkets for Californians facing food insecurity.

Recipients of CalFresh, California’s version of the federal food stamp program, were given the maximum benefits available for their household size during the pandemic, or at least $95 more a month if they were already at the maximum. However, those emergency allotments ended March 26, meaning that for some single-person households, CalFresh benefits dropped from $281 to as little as $23 a month.

Also, a federal program that gives eligible households food benefits to replace in-person school meals will conclude at the end of this school year. While a summer program will replace it, the benefit will be $40 per month for each child, a substantial drop from the $125 per month for each child families received last summer.

Now, food banks are also worried about the federal debt ceiling agreement, which imposes more work requirements on food aid recipients.

“Often when people receive less CalFresh benefits or are kicked off the program more permanently, they turn to food banks to make up the difference. So we’re concerned about what the debt ceiling agreement will mean for food banks,” said Lauren Lathan Reid, director of communications at the California Association of Food Banks.

Even with the extra benefits during the pandemic, 20% of Californians still faced food insecurity in 2021. This year, the number is expected to rapidly rise.

From experiences during the 2008 Great Recession and recent survey results from food banks, Reid of the state association anticipates an increase in demand for food for many years to come.

Solutions at the Capitol?

There are efforts underway at the Legislature to increase the minimum CalFresh benefit. Senate Bill 600, authored by state Sen. Caroline Menjivar, raises the amount from $23 to $50 per month.

“I know $50 isn’t enough. New Jersey has $95, and their cost of living is nowhere near ours,” said Menjivar, a Van Nuys Democrat.

The bill, however, is estimated to cost $95 million a year, a steep price tag amid California’s $31.5 billion budget deficit.

Food banks across California are in favor of this bill, in addition to SB 348, which would ensure access to summer food and school meals programs, and SB 245 and Assembly Bill 311, which would provide state-funded nutrition benefits to all Californians regardless of their immigration status.

“We’re heartened to see that lawmakers at the state level have been acknowledging that this hunger crisis is still going on,” said Davidson of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. “We’ve been seeing the exact opposite at the federal level with Congress holding the debt ceiling hostage over SNAP restrictions, and unfortunately we’re seeing it from our local government.”

All four bills have passed their first house but could face hurdles to becoming law as the Legislative Analyst’s Office warns that the state cannot afford costly new programs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May budget plan includes $60 million for CalFood, which enables food banks to distribute California-grown produce; more than $300 million for School Meals for All; and a total of $2.7 billion in combined state and federal funding for anti-hunger programs.

The budget does not include any money for Market Match, California’s largest nutrition incentive program that allows CalFresh shoppers to double their benefits on fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets across the state. This has sparked concern from farmers, food banks, and CalFresh recipients who obtained 38 million servings of fruits and veggies through the program.

Newsom’s plan also does not include money to increase the monthly minimum CalFresh allotment, and Menjivar said it will be a challenge to get it included.