CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF FOOD BANKS

Research & public policycafb research and public policy work leads the fight to eradicate food insecurity in california by researching hunger in its communities, advancing legislative and budget initiatives, and conducting administrative advocacy at the state and federal levels to strengthen charitable nutrition safety nets.in 2024, our advocacy & policy team advocated for robust investments in food banks and public benefit adequacy improvements. Specifically, the (continued on schedule o)organization worked to increase state baseline funding for the calfood program which enables food banks to purchase california grown and manufactured foods, protecting funding for a calfresh minimum nutrition benefit pilot program to raise the calfresh monthly benefit to $60 from the current minimum of $23, and worked with the state to ensure robust implementation for the new sunbucks, summer lunch program.cafb research and strategic initiatives continued its work to deepen our understanding of food insecurity in california, including convening a community advisory board to inform the organization on barriers to accessing charitable food. We also released a mixed-methods report on the impact of emergency allotments in california, and an updated analysis and dashboard on the expansion of calfresh benefits to ssi recipients. In addition, the department continued to provide relevant time-sensitive research and data through several new dashboards to track economic indicators in california related to food security, and a suite of resources to inform the expansion of medically supportive food and nutrition programs among member food banks..

Communications & member engagementcafb is committed to increasing the understanding of hunger and its social and health-related impacts. Our work includes uplifting the essential work of food banks, educating the public about barriers to accessing food, calfresh, and other public nutrition benefits, and policy priorities to end hunger in california permanently. The organization provides direct support and resources to its member food banks through training, technical assistance, communications toolkits, and ad hoc support. Its member engagement programs aim to increase the resilience and capacity of its member food banks through webinars and in-person convening, as well as discipline-specific, cross-network discussion groups and cohorts to share best practices and find innovative solutions to challenges faced by food banks across the state.