As the federal government shutdown stretches into its third week, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is stocking up to meet a spike in demand for food assistance.
State officials have warned that benefits for CalFresh — California’s version of the federally-funded SNAP program — will likely be disrupted for the month of November if the shutdown lasts through this week. The program provides food assistance for more than 1.5 million people in L.A. County, the majority of whom are children and seniors.
“It’s a type of disaster — one that actually we can kind of see coming at us, unlike the wildfires that occurred earlier in the year and the pandemic,” said Michael Flood, CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which works with about 600 organizations to distribute food throughout the county…