Holiday meals volition beryllium unusually costly this year, with nutrient prices successful the San Francisco country up 10% from past year, according to October information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the aforesaid time, enrollment for the state’s largest nutrient assistance programme is astatine an all-time high.
More Bay Area residents volition beryllium relying connected fiscal assistance from CalFresh — California’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — this vacation play than successful erstwhile years. September information shows enrollment reached implicit 600,000 radical successful Bay Area counties, a astir 50% summation from September 2019.
Toward the opening of the pandemic, the authorities made CalFresh much generous, which is 1 of the reasons wherefore galore much radical signed up to person nutrient assistance. As of January 2022, the mean subordinate receives an average of $262 successful monthly nutrient assistance, according to a study from the Public Policy Institute of California. This is an summation from $141 successful monthly payments successful 2019. CalFresh expects to proceed paying retired unusually ample allotments arsenic agelong arsenic the state remains successful a authorities of nationalist wellness emergency.
Still, the public’s request for nutrient assistance has not fto up, according to Meg Davidson, manager of argumentation and advocacy astatine the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, which provides nutrient to low-income households and helps radical motion up for CalFresh benefits.
Whether it was spikes successful COVID-19 cases, radical losing their jobs, ostentation oregon accrued nutrient prices, Davidson said addressing the request for nutrient assistance passim the pandemic has been similar a “game of Whac-a-Mole — arsenic soon arsenic 1 happening ended, different happening came backmost up.”
“We've been astatine historical levels of request that we've been addressing since the opening of the pandemic,” Davidson said. “It's not lone that it hasn't abated, we're really seeing much radical — that's crossed each of our programs, not conscionable our CalFresh outreach.”
The interaction of inflated nutrient prices is being felt by families and nutrient banks alike. The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank estimates that this year’s vacation paper volition outgo the enactment 35% much than past twelvemonth owed to inflation.
CalFresh information rates roseate successful each Bay Area region from 2019 to 2022. San Francisco saw the highest percent summation among the 9 counties with a 56% summation successful enrollment from September 2019 to September 2022. Contra Costa County followed with a 52% increase.
A erstwhile Chronicle investigation showed that wealthier California counties person had the largest increases successful CalFresh participants since the commencement of the pandemic, mostly due to the fact that those counties had the lowest information rates to statesman with.
As the system slows, ostentation is felt peculiarly powerfully among radical of colour and lower-paid workers, according to Abimael Chavez-Hernandez, an economical justness researcher astatine the San Francisco-based deliberation vessel SPUR. Chavez-Hernandez points retired successful a recent report that Black and brownish Bay Area residents were deed peculiarly hard during the pandemic by occupation losses and are peculiarly apt to beryllium nutrient insecure.
Chavez-Hernandez thinks that adjacent the accrued CalFresh payments mightiness not beryllium capable to adequately assistance these struggling households. “The yearly adjustments for ostentation were made, but the caller increases successful nutrient prices, particularly since April 2021, person made that hard to support up with,” Chavez-Hernandez said.
Adriana Rezal is simply a San Francisco Chronicle unit writer. Email: adriana.rezal@sfchronicle.com
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