Food Share provided assistance to 267,000 individuals in Ventura County during the recent fiscal year (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023), which is more than 25% of the local population. Several factors are causing an escalation in food insecurity in our county. Data from RentData.org shows the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura area is 86% more expensive than the average in California. Rent for a two-bedroom apartment is an average of $2,218 per month, rising by 15.34% from the previous year.
Furthermore, two important programs — the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency payments — that helped alleviate hunger in the past three years have come to an end. Cuts to emergency payments, including to CalFresh, have led to a reduction in food support for five million people statewide. On average, each CalFresh participant has lost $82 per month, resulting in meager benefits of around $6 per person daily. For certain individuals, like older adults receiving the minimum benefit, assistance has decreased from $281 to $23 per month. Despite low unemployment rates, other factors like heavy rainfall in the first half of 2023 left many farm workers jobless for months. This has created a loss of income that thousands are still struggling to overcome.
See How Hunger Impacts Your Local Community
For more information on how to partner with Food Share please contact: Jennifer Caldwell at jcaldwell@foodshare.com or (805)983-7100 x129
All data is for calendar year Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022
*The estimated value at full retail price of the distributed food
**Food Share distributed a total of 19 million pounds of food in 2022
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