CalFresh pilot program that makes healthy food affordable needs stable funding | Opinion

The Golden State is an agricultural powerhouse, but millions of people are struggling to afford their groceries. Even worse, grocery prices are expected to increase even more under President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, making it harder for everyone to feed their families. While a Republican-led Congress and White House slashes investments for those in poverty, we must act with urgency to protect and expand our social safety nets.

The state’s largest food assistance program, CalFresh (federally known as SNAP and formerly known as food stamps), helps over 5 million Californians buy food every month. For many, however, the maximum CalFresh benefits — $536 monthly for a two-person household; $975 for a four-person household — aren’t enough to cover their grocery costs. Roughly one in five families in California were food insecure in September of 2024. The looming potential for a recession, caused by recent poor decisions in Washington, increases the possibility that even more families will soon find themselves living in precarity.

California has an opportunity to make healthy food more affordable for hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of months.

We have a tested, successful and popular program that is ready to support families across the state. The CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Electronic Benefits Transfer Pilot Project builds on the existing CalFresh program by providing up to $60 in extra food benefits for CalFresh recipients. It has served as a model for initiatives in states like Colorado, Rhode Island and Washington.

We simply cannot leave this program unfunded. We’ve seen its potential in putting real dollars back in families’ pockets.

For the second time in just 12 months, the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Pilot ran out of funding, forcing the California Department of Social Services to pause it earlier this year. But the program has shown us the path of efficiently and effectively expanding healthy food initiatives, and we are fighting to revive this program.

The way it works is simple: When someone buys fresh fruits and vegetables at one of the 90 participating grocery stores with their CalFresh benefits, they receive an instant rebate that matches, penny-for-penny, the amount of produce they purchased — up to $60 per month.

This program reduces hunger by helping people afford their groceries. It improves nutrition and health, and it has the added benefit of supporting California’s farmers. Plus, it’s incredibly popular. More than 94% of participants reported that they want to see the program expand. Since the program launched in 2023, over 90,000 CalFresh families have earned a total of over $10.5 million in rebates.

At a time of tight state budgets, the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Pilot delivers assistance directly to people who need it with minimal overhead. More than 98 cents of every dollar the state puts toward the program ends up in someone’s pocket. This is the kind of program we must prioritize to help people weather economic hardships.

A $63 million investment from the state would allow it to run for a year and modestly increase the number of participating grocery stores. That level of funding would double the number of households able to earn fruit and vegetable supplemental benefits to 111,000 families monthly across the state. It would also move the program one step closer toward where we ultimately want it to be: a permanent supplement to the state’s CalFresh assistance available at grocery stores and other food retailers.

By committing to this proven and scalable solution, the Legislature and governor have the opportunity to make healthy food more affordable for Californians.