California Association of Food Banks

Food distribution in 2022, the organization partnered with public agencies and private philanthropy to supply more than 240 million pounds of Food to Food Banks. This included more than 229.5 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables and 10.8 million pounds of quality proteins and pantry essentials to keep Food Banks stocked during the unprecedented hunger crisis. The organization's farm to family operation is the nation's most extensive charitable Food recovery program working with a network of over 240 agricultural partners throughout the state. In 2022, the organization completed a study that identified the opportunity to move 30% more produce and highly nutritious proteins to Food Banks serving California's rural and remote communities. A pilot project will launch in 2023 in support of this opportunity.

Public policythe organization's advocacy team leads the fight to eradicate Food insecurity and hunger in California, advancing legislative and budget initiatives and conducting administrative advocacy at the state and federal levels to prioritize equity in strengthening the public and charitable nutrition safety nets. The organization advocates robust investments in Food Banks and public benefits adequacy and improvements. In 2022 advocacy efforts focused on securing an increase in the amount of funding available for Food Banks to purchase California grown and manufactured foods from $8 million annually to $120 million over a three-year period to help address the sustained demand for Food at the state's Food Banks; and advocating passage of anti-hunger legislation that seeks to change policies which systematically perpetuate hunger in black, latin, and indigenous communities.

Calfresh and public benefits outreach programs calfresh is California's name for snap (formerly "Food stamps"), recognized as one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in the nation. The organization's calfresh outreach program supports over 50 community partners throughout the state in their efforts to enroll eligible californians, help them keep their benefits, and educate the outreach and stakeholder community. In 2022, the organization expanded its outreach efforts to include disaster calfresh and pandemic ebt. Activities included training and programmatic support, providing updates on policies impacting calfresh access and eligibility, and working with stakeholders to improve language access by translating and reviewing materials.

Communicationthe organizatoin is committed to raising public and stakeholder communities' understanding of hunger and its health and social impacts. This includes lifting up essential work of Food Banks and educating the public about Food access issues,calfresh and other public nutrition benefits, and policy priorities to permanently end hunger in california.member engagementthe organization provides direct support and resources to its member Food Banks through training, technical assistance, advocacy toolkits, and securing capacity-building grants and resources. In 2022 the Association hosted its first statewide conference post pandemic which brought together over 400 Food bank team members and anti-hunger advocates for learning, best practice sharing and a time of reflection to sustain the work of the Food Banks in California. The organization continues to increase its offering of virtual member programs to increase the resilience and capacity of its members by hosting professional development webinars and discipline-specific cross-network communities of practice to share best practices and find innovative solutions to challenges faced by Food Banks across the state.