Due to the federal government shutdown, as of Nov. 1 the distribution of the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as SNAP, has been halted leaving many Mt. SAC students vulnerable to food insecurity.
As the largest state in the union, California will feel the brunt of these cuts. Citizens in every congressional district in the state have a percentage of its residents who participate in the program designed to mitigate hunger of the impoverished and working poor. Known as CalFresh in California, the level of participation ranges from 5.3% in Silicon Valley to almost 29% in the Central Valley. CalBudgetcenter.org shows that during 2024, the citizens of California utilized almost $12.5 billion in CalFresh benefits. The data also goes on to show how much higher the poverty rate would be in each congressional district without the CalFresh benefits.
For the Mt. SAC community where many students are struggling with basic needs such as food, housing and transportation, The Mountie Fresh Food Pantry will continue to help students who are facing food insecurity. The food pantry is closely associated with CalFresh so those students will be impacted.
Rigo Estrada, manager of Basic Needs Resources at Mt. SAC, said “We will be adding days to the pantry schedule during November as well as purchasing additional food for distribution. For students who are severely impacted, we can distribute a limited number of vouchers to local grocery stores.” Estrada went on to encourage students to visit the Mountie Nav app for guidance. Basic Needs Resources is the umbrella organization managing the pantry as well as supporting students with the necessities that help them succeed during their time here.
Food resources do exist in the local community outside of SNAP benefits. Below are some links to various resources that are available to those experiencing food anxiety. The LA Food Bank website is particularly good as it gives you tools to navigate where these food banks are as well as their hours of operation.
Emergency Food Assistance Program(EFAP)
While federal judges ordered the Trump administration to use emergency funds to keep SNAP going, Trump posted that he will continue to withhold funds until the shutdown is over.
While there is a federal legislative impasse over the distribution of SNAP benefits, assistance will be on hold. Mt. SAC and the surrounding community are prepared to fill in the gap to alleviate the impact on struggling students.
