Bay Area food banks gear up as food stamp pause looms
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
Gov. Gavin Newsom is planning to deploy the California National Guard to assist local food banks as the federal government shutdown threatens the CalFresh (SNAP) food aid program.
Why it matters: Millions of families in California — and hundreds of thousands in San Francisco — rely on CalFresh to buy groceries, but they likely won't get money on their benefits cards next month.
- Losing federally funded payments will make food insecurity even more prevalent and will strain food banks already facing a surge in demand.
Driving the news: The state plans to send National Guard members and volunteers to assist food banks around the state, Newsom's office announced Wednesday. They'll be serving and distributing free meals, like they did during the pandemic, not acting as law enforcement.
- Newsom said he's also expediting about $80 million in state funding for food banks to increase their supply.
- He warned earlier this week that CalFresh benefits would be delayed in November if the federal government didn't reopen and provide additional funding.
Between the lines: Residents needing immediate food assistance can get free meals from Project Open Hand and San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, which are preparing for heightened demand.
- Those organizations were already been in overdrive before the shutdown, serving thousands of low-income families, seniors, veterans, those with disabilities and federal employees going without paychecks.
By the numbers: Nearly 5.5 million Californians — or 14% of the state — were enrolled in CalFresh as of March and are at risk of losing benefits in November, per federal data.
- More than 63% of California's SNAP participants are children or seniors.
- In San Francisco, about 110,000 residents receive CalFresh benefits.
- All CalFresh recipients will be affected if the shutdown extends past Thursday, per Newsom's office.
Zoom in: The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank currently serves about 36,000 families a week, a capacity expected to rise as the shutdown continues.
- Executive director Tanis Crosby, who learned of the National Guard deployment Wednesday morning, said she "looks forward to receiving more information" from state and local officials on what support it will bring.
- "We are already in a state of hunger crisis — the government shutdown is worsening it," she told Axios. "Hunger should be something that is solved through policy, not created by policy."
The big picture: SNAP is the nation's largest domestic food-assistance program. The Trump administration warned state agencies earlier this month that there would be "insufficient funds" to pay for full benefits for 42 million people next month.
- On top of the funding lapse, state agencies were already gearing up for sweeping Nov. 1 changes to SNAP, including expanded work requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.