With food insecurity getting worse, Second Harvest turns to community for help with solutions

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Last fall, food assistance temporarily dried up for nearly 35,000 Santa Cruz County residents as a result of a federal government shutdown. Now, Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County is turning to community members to find solutions to continue helping families in need. 

Second Harvest CEO Erica Padilla-Chavez said the delays in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) last year activated the community in a unique way more than even most disaster responses. 

“This had more to do with a policy shift and less to do with a climate or weather disaster,” she said. 

Food aid for about 42 million Americans nationwide had been delayed due to the government shutdown, ultimately leading to a surge in community support. 

In Santa Cruz, county officials declared a local emergency for food insecurity for the first time and donated $500,000 to Second Harvest to support its food assistance services. 

Other local governments and philanthropic organizations also pledged financial support. Additionally, volunteer shifts at Second Harvest’s Watsonville warehouse doubled to keep up with the demand. 

But the need for food assistance hasn’t slowed down — and it’s probably even more in demand due to the increasing cost of goods, said Padilla-Chavez. 

With that experience as a backdrop, Second Harvest is hosting its first symposium on food insecurity on Friday, May 15, to hear from community members and leaders on ways it can support people in need, but also understand the shifting state of food insecurity in Santa Cruz County. 

The idea for the upcoming event at Cabrillo College came from a conversation Padilla-Chavez had with a group of volunteers asking what more they could do to help, she said. 

“They approached me, on the heels of their volunteerism with us, to say, ‘Hey, how can we help?’” she said. “Because we’re now understanding how important this program is to the community, and what are we going to do if people can’t keep their benefits? How are we going to respond?”

Approximately 1 in 3 Santa Cruz County residents experiences food insecurity, Padilla-Chavez said. During the delays in food assistance, the food bank served nearly 90,000 people, and in March, it served nearly 81,000. 

Padilla-Chavez added there’s still a distrust of food assistance programs following the shutdown among community members, who feel that they could be paused again. “It’s causing people to think about planning ahead, and perhaps leading to people coming to our food bank, just in case,” she said. 

The symposium will feature multiple workshops that highlight food insecurity in relation to health, housing, education and senior living, with experts in those fields, said Padilla-Chavez. The topics were selected based on feedback from community members. 

During these workshops, Padilla-Chavez said attendees can share their ideas to address food insecurity in the community. 

“I always say that the best ideas are out there, and sometimes it’s just creating the space to be able to listen to those great ideas and give some life to them,” she said. 

Padilla-Chavez told Lookout that she’s hopeful some of the ideas attendees share gain traction. This is only the beginning of a conversation with the community at large, she said. 

There’ll also be a workshop dedicated to understanding the changes to CalFresh, California’s version of the federal nutrition program, following the approval of the Republican budget reconciliation bill last summer. For example, starting June 1, people will need to provide proof of employment from their employer or a training program to continue to receive benefits. 

Anyonewho signs up for CalFresh after June 1 will be monitored to ensure they meet those requirements, Padilla-Chavez said. Those who are already enrolled will face similar requirements. 

The overall goal of the symposium, said Padilla-Chavez, is for attendees to leave with a common understanding of the food insecurity issue in the county, and also to be energized about finding ways to address it. 

“I hope this is not a one-and-done, because even if we have a conversation, the conversation alone is not the solution. That’s just the beginning,” Padilla-Chavez said.   

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