Follow breaking news, action alerts, and commentary by the Nourish California team.
Published on Aug 9, 2021
Each year, Mathematica Policy Research and USDA publish the “Reaching Those in Need” report with estimates of the percentage of eligible persons, by state, who participated in SNAP (CalFresh in California). This year’s report also includes the most recent data on SNAP/CalFresh participation rates among seniors age 60 and over. It shows that California has made some improvement in reaching eligible seniors with CalFresh, but that more needs to be done to better connect older Californians with nutrition assistance.
This year could be a big year for child nutrition. But to bring forward large-scale change to the Child and Adult Care Food Program we need your help. Join the CACFP Kid Ambassador Campaign, led by our partners at the CACFP Roundtable and National CACFP Forum and together we can lift up the voices of CACFP kids and influence policy change.
A new report from Urban Institute found "three in 10 adults in California immigrant families with low incomes reported avoiding public benefit programs or other assistance in 2020 because of green card or other immigration concerns." This included key safety net programs intended to help Californians who've fallen on hard times like CalFresh, Medi-Cal, and emergency programs like Pandemic EBT (P-EBT).
Right now, Congress is focused on passing a bipartisan infrastructure package. But soon they will turn their attention beyond roads and bridges to many additional investments we care about, including funding to disrupt poverty.
Over the next several weeks — as budget resolutions and legislation are being written — members of congress need to hear from you that funding for nutrition must be included in the budget reconciliation. This is a tremendous opportunity to advance the transformative changes we all care about.
