The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is preparing to increase its food stores in preparation for additional customers, as news comes that CalFresh benefits will not be issued for November.
Laurel Alcantar, the director of marketing for the Foodbank, said the organization is increasing its stores 10% to 15% ahead of the cuts to CalFresh, also known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and food stamps.
“We currently have 55,000 people who depend on SNAP benefits to help purchase their supplemental food,” Alcantar said, adding that the Foodbank is increasing food at certain distribution sites and high-need areas.
SNAP benefits are being withheld, starting next month, for the first time in the program’s 60-year history as part of the federal government shutdown. The government announced this week that benefits for November would not be issued on the first of the month.
As the new month approaches, Alcantar said she is hearing concern from Santa Barbara County residents who rely on their benefits to make ends meet. Despite misconceptions about people in the program, she said most recipients work full- or part-time jobs to support their families.
More than 40% of recipients are children, she said, and older adults and children make up more than half of all the benefits.
“There are a lot of people who don’t know what they’re going to do, how they’re going to feed their families, and we are already having more inquiries about how people can get food, where they can get food,” she said.
Alcantar added that people who do not get their benefits most likely will have to make hard choices about whether to prioritize rent, medicine or food. The Foodbank already has heard about parents who are skipping meals for their children, as well as older adults who are avoiding meals.
“It is a very serious situation, and we’re talking about 55,000 people in our county who are relying on that,” she said.
Alcantar said the extra food resources are being purchased with funds that were released by the State of California through a program called CalFood.
Although the Foodbank has access to additional resources, Alcantar said many food banks were already planning to use those funds for the rest of the year, especially after shipments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were stopped.
One way the Foodbank has worked to offset the loss is by establishing its Farm to Food Bank program, which works with local farms to establish sources of food. Alcantar called the program a “win-win” because it provides the bank with food while also allowing it to invest in the local economy.
Because of the program, she said the best way for the public to help is to provide monetary donations. The Foodbank’s program allows it to turn $1 into $5 worth of food.
The Foodbank also accepts donations of canned food and other non-perishable food, which can be dropped off in receptacles at the organization’s two warehouses — at 82 Coromar Drive in Goleta and at 490 W. Foster Road in Santa Maria.
Fresh produce and larger donations can be dropped off at the two warehouses between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
