California Divide
Food banks struggle to meet basic needs of LA County residents
Nonprofits distribute 80 million pounds of food in Los Angeles County per year, helping low-income people survive.
economic inequality
California Divide
Getting food stamps to poor Californians is surprisingly difficult
Pressure is increasing on counties to sign up more people for food stamps in a state with one of the nation’s lowest participation rates. But greater enrollment may require more money or more state intervention.
California Divide
In Santa Cruz, a clandestine food bank draws hundreds of farmworkers
Farmworker families worried about immigration raids get food and household goods from a clandestine food bank.
California Divide
“We’re not going to be able to survive:” Why Californians could bear the brunt of Trump food stamp cuts
A Trump administration proposal would cut food stamps to 3.1 million Americans—largely working families with high housing, childcare and medical costs. That could hit hard in California, a state where both the cost of living and the minimum wage are on the rise.
California Divide
California’s struggle to get food stamps to the hungry
California, which has the nation's highest poverty rate, ranks near the bottom for participation in its food stamp program, CalFresh.
California Divide
California’s child poverty hits coastal Bay Area
More than 27 percent of children in Santa Cruz county live in poverty, the second-highest rate in California. Wages are lower than they are on the other "side of the hill" in the high-cost Bay Area.