Partnering to provide food assistance
The County of Los Angeles and community leaders will participate in a special ceremony to open a resource fair to launch activities for a month-long campaign to encourage eligible low-income residents to apply for CalFresh Program food assistance. CalFresh is California’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. CalFresh Awareness Month is an annual countywide effort to ensure the well-being of thousands of low-income individuals and families by increasing their food-buying power.
This week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors introduced a motion in support of this countywide effort between local government agencies and community organizations to encourage eligible low-income households and individuals in the county to apply for the CalFresh Program, California Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Recent data from the L.A. County Dept. of Public Health’s L.A. County Health Survey (LACHS) reveals that hardworking households and individuals continue to struggle with putting food on the table. Food insecurity, defined as the lack of consistent access to enough food to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, impacts communities of color in the county the most. In 2023, approximately 35.8% of Latinx adults, and 34.7% of Black adults, all reported living in nutritionally insecure households.
“The campaign is a unique opportunity to highlight the collaboration between government and community-based agencies. In L.A. County, food insecurity is a serious public health issue,” Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn wrote in their joint motion in support of the outreach in May. “It negatively impacts the cognitive, physical, and emotional development of children, putting them, as well as adults, at greater risk for obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses.”
