Why this matters
400,000 San Diegans will miss November food benefits.
No federal food benefits from SNAP will go out Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed in a notice posted on its website.
SNAP, also known as CalFresh in California, distributes funding to help people with low incomes buy groceries. About 400,000 San Diegans in 240,000 households receive CalFresh benefits, which were worth $75 million in June, the last month of available data.
The November interruptions to SNAP benefits are just the beginning of tough times for the program. The Republican spending package known as the Big, Beautiful Bill tightened eligibility and shifted substantial costs from the federal government to the states. Those changes, starting as early as next year, could cause many people to lose benefits long term.
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 amid deadlocked negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, who insist Republicans agree to extend tax credits that made Obamacare health care premiums more affordable. It is now the second longest shutdown ever.
Congressional Democrats have urged USDA to use about $5 billion in contingency funds to keep the program running through November, falling short of the roughly $9 billion needed to cover benefits. But according to media reports, a USDA memo says the agency won’t tap contingency funds that are reserved for emergencies.
“Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program,” the USDA notice said. “Bottom line, the well has run dry,” it continued.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he will deploy the National Guard to help support food banks as they did during the pandemic. The state will fast track paying out $80 million in quarterly reimbursement funds to food banks.
In June, the most recent data available, CalFresh provided over 60% of all food assistance in San Diego County, according to San Diego Hunger Coalition research. “We cannot fill this gap alone,” the coalition wrote in a statement responding to the benefits cut.
The San Diego Food Bank was already seeing an uptick in demand before the announcement, partially because San Diego’s high number of federal workers aren’t receiving paychecks. Over the weekend, they had 10 times the average daily applications for food bank ID cards. Last month they saw increases in demand from nonprofit partners as well as increased demand at their locations in Miramar and Vista.
The San Diego Food Bank estimates the increase in demand will cost the nonprofit $500,000 from its emergency fund.
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“Since the federal government shutdown began, we have already seen an increase in demand,” said San Diego Food Bank Communications Director Arika Daniels, adding, “We expect this demand to grow significantly in the coming weeks as the CalFresh disruption takes effect.”
“If the shutdown continues or demand significantly increases, we will need the community’s support to help replenish the fund,” she said.
San Diego County began notifying SNAP benefit recipients last week. Food distribution sites across the county can be found here.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
