From the California Association of Food Banks:
California losing one-third of meals in food safety net when Pandemic-related food-aid ends.
On March 26, CalFresh recipients received their last Emergency Allotment, which had provided a critical boost to their benefits throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The end of these Emergency Allotments means a $500 million cut to food assistance statewide — each month. Many households, including single older adults, are beginning to face the unbelievable cliff from $281 a month to just $23, the current minimum benefit allotment.
The Emergency Allotments’ abrupt end, combined with the skyrocketing cost of food, has caused a dramatic and unprecedented benefits cliff.
Additionally, Pandemic EBT benefits — which provide funds for low income families to buy groceries for 4.2 million children — is ending after this summer. We are grateful for the newly authorized Summer EBT program for families that will begin in 2024, as announced in December, but it will not offset the huge gap caused by the end of CalFresh Emergency Allotments and P-EBT. Food banks alone will not be able to make up for the nearly 3.1 billion meals that will be lost within California’s food safety net, and we are urging Congress and California leaders to take critical action.
