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Senate Budget Leaders Seek to Prioritize Food4All

On May 11, the Senate Budget Subcommittee #3 on Health and Human Services heard the Food4All budget request for the second time this session. Nourish California was asked to provide testimony in support of funding Food4All in the 2021-22 state budget. Jared Call, Senior Advocate, shared findings from our recent research study about the experiences of Californians during the pandemic. Those findings showed an urgent need to provide additional food assistance to households who couldn’t meet their basic needs, especially undocumented immigrants who are shut out of CalFresh.

Jared thanked the Subcommittee for considering the Food4All proposal, which would modernize the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to provide state-funded nutrition benefits to all Californians ineligible for CalFresh solely due to their immigration status. He also noted that Food4All is a matter of equity in addition to being sound policy.

"Research shows that in addition to dramatically reducing hunger, access to CalFresh improves overall health outcomes and academic achievement. It also reduces health care costs and improves economic output over a participant’s lifetime. [Food4All] would permanently address the immigrant exclusion in the state’s nutrition safety net and be a major step forward toward a future where all Californians have the food they need." — Jared Call, Senior Advocate

Subcommittee Chair Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Modesto) was vocally supportive during her comments. She noted that good nutrition supports positive long-lasting outcomes, including higher academic achievement and reduced health care costs.

We'd like to thank the many organizations and individuals who submitted public comments to the Subcommittee in support of Food4All. Your voices and advocacy matter and are making a difference. Thank you.