FILE - CalFresh recipients will no longer receive emergency allocations starting in April 2023. In this March 27, 2020, file photo, a worker, wearing a protective mask against the coronavirus, stocks produce before the opening of Gus's Community Market in San Francisco.
Ben Margot/Associated PressNearly 3 million California households are bracing for a massive cut in CalFresh benefits next month as the federal government stops emergency funding for food stamps that was launched during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. CalFresh recipients who were receiving $281 a month are expected to get as low as $23 a month beginning in April.
CalFresh is the state’s federally-funded food benefit program that helps low-income households purchase groceries. Benefits vary based on household income, size and other relevant expenses, according to the California Department of Social Services.
Since March 2020, CalFresh recipients have received an additional emergency allotment of at least $95 per month in addition to their regular benefits, a spokesperson from the Social Services department told SFGATE.
This temporary increase in benefits was authorized by Congress as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the department said.
These emergency funds will end this month, because of a congressional spending bill passed in December. The last financial distribution will be in March 2023.
Food banks across the state are anxiously preparing for what’s expected to be a significant increase in food-insecure households after benefits are slashed.
Meg Davidson, policy and advocacy director at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank told SFGATE that even before these cuts, the local pantry is seeing more than double the number of people it saw before the pandemic.
“It seems like a lot of our local elected officials and then just the general population are acting like the pandemic is over and therefore the economic fallout is over,” she said. “That's just not what we're seeing everyday at our pantries.”
Becky Silvia, government relations director at the California Association of Food Banks told SFGATE that food banks across the state have sustained this “elevated demand” for the past three years.
“[That increase] is obviously an impact of the COVID-19 economic crisis, folks losing their jobs, struggling to make ends meet,” she said.
In addition to the increasingly busy food banks, the CalFresh deduction comes at a time of record-high food inflation: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Sept. 15, 2022 that food prices increased by 8.3% for the 12 months ending August 2022. This is the largest spike since March 1979, according to the bureau’s report.
Silvia said it’s going to be difficult for a one or two person household to make due with the expected benefits of $23 per month.
“You might be able to purchase a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs. . . and that that's your benefit for the month,” she said. “It’s not going to be enough for people.”
Silvia said members of the state’s food bank association and other advocates are working on a proposal to raise the CalFresh benefits to a minimum of $50 per household.
Silvia said she recommends CalFresh recipients make sure their income information is accurate in order to receive the maximum amount of benefits.
She also said funding and donations to local food banks would be helpful as the demand and operational expenses continue to increase. Those with questions about their CalFresh benefits are encouraged to call 211.