That growing demand could soon collide with a major funding drop. In the Inland Empire — where food insecurity is already widespread — leaders warn that a key state program helping stock pantry shelves may be scaled back dramatically this summer.

    The program, known as CalFood, provides funding to food banks so they can purchase and distribute fresh, locally grown food. According to the California Association of Food Banks, hundreds of local pantries could see a sharp decline in available food if the program is reduced as proposed.

    “It’s a lifeline for farmers, food banks and families,” said Joanna Solor, interim CEO of Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino, speaking during a recent distribution event at a Riverside church. “It allows us to get food into the community and back into the hands of families who need it.”

    Under the state’s May budget revision, CalFood funding could be cut by roughly 90%, returning it to its longstanding $8 million baseline. Food bank leaders say that reduction would come at the worst possible time, as demand continues to rise.

    Advocates are pushing state officials to increase funding instead — calling for more than $100 million in the 2026–27 budget — arguing it is essential to prevent what they describe as a “hunger cliff.”

    State officials note that CalFood has historically operated at the $8 million level. H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the California Department of Finance, said the program also received a one-time $72 million boost this year, partly tied to federal funding disruptions. He added that a significant portion of that money — about $74.5 million as of January — remains unspent and available to food banks.

    Even so, local providers say the loss of ongoing funding would be significant. Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino, the region’s largest food bank, could see its CalFood allocation drop from $2.3 million to about $262,000 annually. According to Solor, that funding currently makes up as much as a quarter of the organization’s food supply.

    Those dollars are especially important for purchasing items that are rarely donated — including fresh produce, dairy, meat, and low-sodium foods.

    Solor estimates the proposed cuts could impact roughly 950,000 families across the Inland Empire. She said the effects would likely be visible almost immediately.

    “When federal benefits change or get reduced, more people turn to food banks,” she said. “We’re going to see higher demand, fewer healthy options, and shelves that don’t stay full for long.”

    The pressure comes on top of recent federal changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Last summer’s legislation reduced benefits for some households, and additional changes are still rolling out.

    In California, the program is administered as CalFresh. State officials say tens of thousands of residents — including certain humanitarian migrants such as refugees and asylum seekers — are expected to lose eligibility beginning in April.

    At the same time, a federally supported nutrition education program tied to SNAP is scheduled to end by June 30, according to public health officials and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    While food banks do not receive SNAP funding directly, they often absorb the fallout when benefits are reduced. That’s why organizations like Feeding America are asking lawmakers to approve $110 million in total support — including $60 million in ongoing funding and a $50 million one-time allocation to offset recent federal cuts.

    “Food banks are going to be the safety net for families losing those benefits,” said Rachel Bonilla, a spokesperson for Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino. “Without additional support, we simply won’t be able to meet the need.”

    Still, some advocates believe even that request may fall short. Stacia Hill Levenfeld, CEO of the California Association of Food Banks, said recent budget decisions and federal policy changes are worsening food insecurity across the state.

    Recent data from the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey shows about 22% of California households struggle with food insecurity. The rate is even higher among certain groups — including 43% of Black households and 31% of Latino households — and affects roughly one in four households with children. In the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario region, about 30% of families with children reported food insecurity.

    State estimates show nearly 2.3 million people across Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties rely on CalFresh benefits, including more than 347,000 in Riverside County alone.

    If CalFood funding is reduced, officials say more than half of Feeding America’s partner pantries — over 250 organizations across the region — could see a noticeable drop in available food.

    Among them is the Lighthouse of Hope Foundation, a Riverside-based nonprofit that organizes weekly food distributions. At a recent event held March 18 at the Christian Life Center, hundreds of families lined up around the block for groceries ranging from fresh produce to dry goods.

    Founder Donna Sautia said her organization has already distributed more than 100,000 pounds of food this year with help from Feeding America.

    “This program has been a blessing for so many families,” Sautia said. “People are struggling right now — benefits are being cut, costs are rising — and hunger doesn’t take a break.”

    Without that support, she said, many community groups would struggle to continue operating at the same level.

    “If we run out, I’ll do everything I can to fill the gap myself,” she said. “But the need is growing faster than what any one group can handle.”

    Sautia added that economic pressures — from rising gas prices to reduced benefits — are hitting families across the region. In some cases, fear tied to immigration enforcement is also keeping people from accessing resources.

    “It’s affecting everyone in different ways,” she said. “We’re just trying to make sure no one gets left behind.”

    For Riverside resident Veronica Garcia, food assistance programs have become essential. She recently attended a pantry distribution with her daughter and a neighbor after seeing the event advertised on social media.

    “Everything is so expensive right now,” Garcia said. “This helps us breathe a little. We want to give our families healthy meals, but it’s not always possible without help.”

    She added that continued funding for food programs is critical.

    “We’re really grateful these places exist,” she said. “They make a difference.”

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The number of monthly clients has risen to 310,000, more than double the number of people the food bank served before the pandemic, spokesperson Kevin Buffalino said. 

So it was a blow this month, he said, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture halted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds for food banks. Caught up in the freeze were 11 truckloads of food – 400,000 pounds – that the Sacramento food bank was expecting over the next few months. 

A total of 330 truckloads bound for food banks across the state has been suspended, according to the California Association of Food Banks, with no indication of when or if they’ll be delivered. The biggest potential hit is to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, where 90 expected truckloads are in limbo. 

The orders were promised during the Biden administration, which in December announced a bonus round of food orders on top of deliveries the USDA normally makes to food banks. 

The freeze of the bonus orders came as food banks brace for other cuts — both from a new Trump administration intent on reducing federal spending and from California’s own state budget deficit after several flush budget years in the pandemic. In Washington, Congress is also considering cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which sends about $1 billion a month to low-income Californians to buy groceries. 

But food programs are just one of many competing priorities the Democratic-dominated state Legislature will have to balance as California starts to get a picture of how federal cuts may affect the state and its $322 billion budget. California receives more than $314 billion in federal funds for food benefits, health coverage and other social services each year, while federal grants to nonprofits and private contracts total more than $81 billion.

Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer said it’s still too early to determine whether California can afford to make up the federal spending being cut.

Already, the food banks association is urging lawmakers not to reduce the state food assistance dollars, but they’ll be jockeying for attention amid a myriad of real and potential federal cuts in everything from higher education to rural road repairs, refugee resettlement services and the massive low-income health program Medicaid.

“These are Sophie’s choices,” said Assemblymember Gregg Hart, a Santa Barbara Democrat who chairs a budget subcommittee that’s evaluating potential federal funding shortfalls. “Every single thing that we could talk about has a federal funding connection that’s in jeopardy and the state just doesn’t have the money to backfill it.”

The demand for food has not slowed

When a persistent foot condition forced Antoinette Turner to retire early last fall from her longtime job on a hospital graveyard shift, she looked for ways to save. 

The 61-year-old was “rationing” her savings and accepting help from her son. For the first time in her life, she started going to the Sacramento food bank. 

On Tuesday morning in a Sacramento church parking lot, she made her way down an assembly line of grocery pallets as volunteers offered canned soup, peanut butter, beans, rice and frozen turkey breasts. Hundreds of people were expected, including retirees, disabled veterans and immigrant families from Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan who settled in the diverse Sacramento suburbs. 

“It’d be sad,” if the organization had to cut back, Turner said. “It makes my life easier.”

A confluence of cuts could force the food bank to do just that, Buffalino said.

Earlier in March, the USDA terminated a Biden-era grant program that gave food banks and tribal governments money to purchase food from local farmers. 

California food banks have gotten more than $80 million through the program since 2022, with some grants expected to last through mid-2026. They were expecting another $47 million in the program’s next round, before that was cut on March 7, said state Department of Social Services spokesperson Jason Montiel. 

It was unclear why the grant was canceled and the orders halted. USDA officials did not respond to queries sent to the agency’s press email seeking comment. Under Trump, federal agencies have moved to halt or cut grants in a quest to purge waste and spending on programs that don’t meet the administration’s ideological tests.

California, too, is slated to reduce food banks’ funding. For several years when the state had a record surplus, it devoted millions of additional dollars to a state program called CalFood that allows food banks to purchase from local farmers or food producers such as tortillerias. 

Those boosts gave food banks about $60 million a year through CalFood over the past three years; in the budget Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed for the fiscal year that starts in July, that funding would revert to $8 million. 

California food banks depend on aid

The federal and state food-purchasing funds have made up the majority of the $3.5 million the Sacramento food bank spends to buy food annually, Buffalino said. 

Purchased food makes up 40% of the groceries the food bank gives away; the rest is delivered by the USDA or recovered from supermarkets that can no longer sell it. 

With sharp reductions in both purchasing funds, Buffalino said the Sacramento food bank will either have to rely more heavily on private donations or cut back on how much it gives each recipient. 

Though demand at the food bank receded slightly as jobs started to recover from the pandemic, clients quickly came back because of inflation, Buffalino said. Food prices last year were nearly 24% higher than in 2020.

“It’s been a steady increase (in clients) over the past five years,” he said. 

Farmers, too, will be affected by the grants’ cancellation. 

The federal food-purchasing funds have allowed small farmers to buy new equipment, invest in greenhouses and expand their footprints to serve bulk buyers, said Megan Kenney of the North Coast Growers Association in Humboldt County. 

Kenney coordinates food orders between two regional food banks and about 40 farmers, all of whom plant fewer than 100 acres each. Over the winter, she and the farmers planned what they would plant based on food bank demand, expecting federal funds to back the purchases. 

“They were encouraged to do these sorts of things,” Kenney said. “If they have to make a larger investment into seeds or labor without getting to see a return, they could really see that impact.”

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Kendall Nunamaker and her family of five in Kennewick, Washington, faced impossible math this month: How to pay for gas, groceries and the mortgage with inflation driving up prices?

Like many other working families, the Nunamakers are grappling with the 8.3% inflation in the consumer price index in April announced Wednesday — slowing slightly from the March figure which was the largest year-over-year increase since 1981, according to the Labor Department. The national average gas price reached a record high Wednesday of $4.40 a gallon. And global food prices are climbing after shortages caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine and other supply chain problems.

Food banks across America say those economic conditions are intensifying demand for their support at a time when their labor and distribution costs are climbing and donations are slowing. The problem has grown to the point where last week President Joe Biden called for a Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in September, the first since 1969.

For many families like the Nunamakers, food insecurity became a painful surprise.

“There’s no reason us as a couple and a family should be struggling so hard,” Nunamaker said. “We make decent money.”

She works three days a week at a home décor store for $15.25 an hour; her husband, Nick, works a full-time union job as a paratransit driver at $27 an hour. Though they receive some money from a state nutrition program for young children that their two youngest qualify for, they still spent $360 on groceries last week.

Because of inflated prices, those groceries didn’t go far enough to feed everyone. And the family still lacked money to pay other household bills, leaving Nunamaker wondering how she would stretch their next paychecks to cover those bills and their mortgage this month.

In the past, to bridge the gap, the family sold off possessions like VR headsets and firearms.

“At some point,” Nunamaker said, “we’re not going to have anything because we would have sold everything.”

So Nunamaker and her husband visited two local food banks for the first time last week.

The pandemic forced roughly 60 million Americans to seek help for food insecurity, according to Feeding America. At the end of 2021, as hiring boomed, demand for food banks returned to regular levels. But the relief was short-lived.

“In the last few months, with this increase in inflationary pressures, we’re seeing 95% of our 200 member food banks saying that they have seen either leveling or an increase in need,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America.

In the area along the Columbia River where Nunamaker lives, the number of clients seeking food aid at a church pantry jumped 40% between December and March, according to Eric Williams, director of community partnerships at Second Harvest, an organization that works to supply local pantries with food.

He said his organization must make more happen with less because its suppliers are subject to the same cost increases. The price that Second Harvest pays for obtaining donated produce has risen from about 6 cents a pound a year ago to about 10 or 11 cents a pound now, Williams said.

Some of Feeding America’s food pantry partners have closed because of dwindling donations and higher costs for receiving and delivering food. Others have less food on their shelves even though they have higher demand.

“Our network emphasizes access and equity,” Babineaux-Fontenot said. “So we are working extra hard to reach people who have the deepest food insecurity rates. Well, how far out can we go when gas prices are high? We have data that shows that race and place are significant indicators of whether or not you will be food insecure and how deeply you will be food insecure.”

Because of inflation and a reduction in aid, a food bank that serves three counties in Ohio — also called Second Harvest — is facing a drop in the amount of food it’s able to provide.

“Compared to last year at this time, we’re about 50% down in what we have received in the past in federal food donations and then about 20% down from food drives in our collection of food at the grocery stores,” Executive Director Tyra Jackson said. “All of that combined is truly having an impact on our budget because we’re needing to purchase more food outright.”

The struggles of families are heightened by the fact that government benefits that were increased during the pandemic like food stamps or unemployment insurance have stopped or will end shortly.

“Our work is always important,” Babineaux-Fontenot said. “It’s increasingly important when we have all of these headwinds.”

Williams, of Spokane, extended gratitude to the donors and volunteers that keep his organization running, some of whom worked more than 100 shifts last year. He said it can be difficult to witness first hand the scale of the food insecurity in his community when helping with distributions at a mobile food bank.

“You see the need and you just go, ‘Oh God, oh my God,’ ” Williams said. “But then as you hand somebody a box of food and they drive off: ‘Yeah, we were able to help,’ which is heart-wrenching on one hand and heartwarming on the other.”

Because it upsets her so much, Nunamaker said, she hasn’t discussed her family’s struggles with her three children, age 2, 4 and 7, or her network of friends and relatives. She said the food banks helped her family last week.

“People should know that just because you have to go to a food bank or you have to seek assistance, that doesn’t make you any less of a parent or a person,” she said. “Because everybody needs help sometimes.”

___

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