On a recent weekday, Lupe Fernandez sat in her van in a parking lot at Oxnard’s College Park. More than 700 vehicles were parked in four long lines. They were waiting for the start of a weekly drive-through food distribution by Food Share Ventura County, Ventura County’s food bank.
Fernandez said for her family of six, the food she gets is sometimes the difference between them having a meal and going to bed hungry.
"You have to pick. Either buy food or pay for a bill. It's hard to pick."
Food Share helps feed about 250,000 people annually. But some people may lose the support. Federal and state funding cuts, along with policy changes, could leave some ineligible for the aid they currently receive.
"It's really a perfect storm in terms of federal cuts to the largest, most important food assistance program, SNAP, or CalFresh, in California, combined with other reduced federal support for food banks in the form of commodity shipments that have been delayed, or cancelled, which means less food from the USDA," said Jared Call, Director of Policy and Advocacy for the California Association of Food Banks.
"At the state level, there's been no commitment to fully fund the CalFood Program, which is what our California food banks rely on to purchase California-grown produce to help people," said Call. "On top of that, we have the general high cost of living in California, inflation, rising food costs, gas prices, and everything that's putting pressure on household budgets."
"On April 1, a new rule went into effect eliminating eligibility for 72,000 Californians who are humanitarian immigrants," continued Call. "These are refugees who came to this country with the promise of a better life, and now the federal government is turning its back on them when it comes to the most basic need, food. On June 1, we're going to see a rule change that will impact a much larger group of Californians. About 650,000 or more will probably lose eligibility. These are people who will be forced to prove to their county that they're either working, or volunteering in some qualifying activity, or meeting an allowable exemption."
With Ventura County’s Food Share helping one in four people living in the county with food insecurity, the cuts could be devastating.
"CalFood is very important to us," said Monica White, President and CEO of Food Share Ventura County. "It's about 35% of our total food purchase budget, and the food that we purchase is food we can't get from our local farmers, we can't get from the USDA, we don't get from retail, we don't get from people's backyards or food drives. It's the food we're packing together to give to our farmworkers, culturally important and relevant food. If that were to be decreased, which is what we are facing now, it's going to go from about a million dollars a year to $140,000. Something is going to have to give."
She added that what the organization does is essential for hundreds of thousands of people in crisis.
"I like to say we serve 250,000 individuals, and there are 250,000 reasons that lead somebody to a food line. It could be anything from a medical bill to their car broke down, or they lost their job. There are so many different reasons (that lead) someone to finally have to say they need help."
The state has helped fill some of the current gap. Call said the hope is that California will do much more.
"What we're trying to do from a policy perspective is to get the state to commit additional funding to the food bank network."
With high prices for food, gas, and rent, some families are already at the breaking point financially. But many food banks like Food Share are stretched thin, with little capacity to handle increased demand with shrinking resources.
After waiting patiently in line — some for hours — the weekly Wednesday afternoon food distribution in College Park got underway.
The vehicles pulled up to tents where trays of strawberries, boxes of pantry staples, and other items are arrayed. A small army of volunteers loads food into vehicles.
Mariano Morin said with five kids at home, this food is critical.
"Not everyone is a millionaire," said Marin. "You can't make it without help."
Lupe Martinez said she’s hoping to leave with enough food that she won’t have to make tough choices later this week.
"You pay for a utility bill, or you just go hungry," said Martinez. She added that even with Food Share's help, her family goes to bed hungry some nights.
What does she say to her kids?
"It'll be better tomorrow," said Martinez.
