San Diego Food Bank expands services with North County facility

Between the lines: The food bank was spending about $400,000 per year to rent a leased space. With help from a major donor, the organization now owns this building, so it can use that money on services instead.

• The facility includes a food pantry designed like a grocery store, as well as more cold storage and refrigeration for fresh produce, dairy and protein.

By the numbers: About 1 in 4 San Diegans experience food insecurity, and 400,000 rely on the San Diego Food Bank each month.

State of play: Recent reductions to federal food assistance, including for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or CalFresh in California, put tens of thousands of San Diego County residents at risk of losing benefits.

• Without that money to buy groceries, more people are seeking help from local food banks already facing heightened demand and funding cuts.