Food Insecuity

While much of the attention of “hot labor summer” has been focused on workers in the private sector — such as hotel workers, delivery drivers and Hollywood screenwriters — employees in the public sector are also demanding better pay and working conditions. On Tuesday, thousands of city workers across Los Angeles, including staff at LAX […]

Medi-Cal and other programs are testing food prescriptions that advocates say could improve chronic conditions, lower health care costs and reduce hunger.

How bad is California hunger? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but is being reduced.

“A catastrophic hunger crisis.” That’s the dire warning from the California Association of Food Banks, after federal pandemic food aid ended earlier this spring.  But why does a state with so much food — California produces nearly half the country’s fruits and vegetables — and that spends so much on food aid have so many […]

In 2021, President Biden recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday and the state of California followed suit last year. But many state workers were on the job Monday, and the Legislature was in session. So what gives? The answer, in short, is that Juneteenth is not one of the 11 paid holidays that all state […]

A popular program doubles CalFresh benefits to buy fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets. It is among the California food benefit programs on the table in the budget negotiations between legislative leaders and Gov. Newsom.

As extra pandemic benefits end, food banks say that they're becoming long-term supermarkets for Californians facing food insecurity. Several bills to boost CalFresh are before the Legislature, but the state budget deficit may get in the way.

For nearly three years, an increase in federal aid has allowed California to issue higher-than-usual amounts in food stamps. That ends in April.

The EBT cards the state uses to deliver financial assistance to low-income residents lack security features common to credit and debit cards. California officials plan to upgrade. Meanwhile, they're paying millions to replace stolen money and food stamps.