Food for People publishes The Humboldt County Hunger Action E-News for Humboldt County partners interested in local, statewide and national CalFresh and nutrition current events. Outreach staff read dozens upon dozens of articles about successes, challenges, upcoming legislation and advocacy opportunities impacting CalFresh, nutrition education, hunger and poverty. Sign up via the form at the bottom of this page.

USDA's September 4, 2024 Household Food Security Report highlights a startling hunger crisis in America. According to the report, 47.4 million people lived in households experiencing food insecurity last year, an increase of 3.2 million compared to 2022, and 13.5 million compared to 2021.

This was likely due to inflation and the end of critical COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts that provided temporary boosts to SNAP (CalFresh in California) benefits; allowed schools to offer school meals to all students at no charge; and expanded the Child Tax Credit. In addition:

* One in seven households (13.5%) in America struggled with hunger in 2023. In addition:

* 13.8 million children lived in households that experienced food insecurity, up 3.2% from 2022.

* 33.5% of households with income below 185% of the poverty threshold experienced food insecurity in 2023.

* A higher portion of households in urban areas (15.9%) and rural areas (15.4% experienced food insecurity compared to suburbs (11.7%).

* 34.7% of single-parent households headed by women experienced food insecurity.

* Rates of food insecurity were higher for Black (23.3%) and Latinx (21.9%) households, both more than double the rate of White non-Latinx households (9.9%). 

To learn more about research and data specfic to poverty and food insecurity in Humboldt County, visit some of California Center for Rural Policy's Food Access and Pantry Services Survey and Humboldt County Community Food Assessment.

The Alliance to Transform CalFresh contains a wealth of information about improving CalFresh participation in California, with resources and information on opportunities for advocating for improvements state-wide.

NourishCA has a great website if you're interested in legislative advocacy for fair access to nutritious, affordable food for all Californians. Their work focuses on policy advocacy, expertise, and research. Their CalFresh page will tell you everything you need to know about upcoming legislative advocacy priorities, recommendations for improving the applicant experience and links to their reports and data.

California Association of Food Banks (CAFB)shares their State Policy Agenda regarding CalFresh, nutrition and anti-hunger policy and their Hunger Legislation Tracker.

Food Research and Action Center has a ton of advocacy-oriented information about poverty-related hunger in the United States, including advocacy and policy strategies on the Farm Bill, school meals, and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program--or what CalFresh is known as at the federal level), including data, resources and publications.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a leading resource for data on SNAP and how legislative actions affect the program's participants and potential participants. Learn about some of the policy basics and introductory statistics, such as the percentage of SNAP participants that are in families with children, and how many SNAP participants are in households with seniors or people with disabilities, and go further with their many interesting analyses and reports.