Emergency Response Updates
Strengthening SNAP Support
November 14, 2025
Dear Food Forward Community,
With the end of the federal shutdown, even as SNAP benefits have now been reinstated, federal reductions to the program will affect an estimated 4 million of the program’s 5.5 million participants in California alone, including seniors, working families, and children. Many SNAP-reliant households will continue to feel the strain of reduced benefits for months and years ahead, beginning now as we move into the holiday season. What comes next will place significant additional pressure on our hunger relief partners and the communities that rely on the strength of our collective work.
Our partnership with the YMCA of Greater LA and L.A. Care could not come at a more important time. In the past week alone, Food Forward doubled the number of YMCA distributions across the region and served 25 sites on top of our regular weekly distributions.
Even as reinstated SNAP benefits begin to trickle in, we expect demand for fresh fruits and vegetables to continue to spike as families navigate their slashed food budgets in real time.
Food Forward remains committed to supporting our community throughout this period of change by providing fresh produce at scale.
As these changes unfold, our community’s support that allows us to distribute enough food to help feed more than 300,000 people every day is more essential than ever before. Financial and produce donations, along with community engagement are what helps ensure that our fresh, healthy food reaches households during the unstable time that is still to come.
Together, we are expanding nutrition equity through access to fruits and vegetables, and building healthier communities.
With continued gratitude,
The Food Forward Team
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Food Forward Meeting the SNAP Crisis
October 31, 2025
Dear Food Forward Community,
More than 40 million people across the country now face deep uncertainty as the future of the nation’s most essential nutrition assistance program hangs in the balance. A historic federal move to halt funding for SNAP has left millions unsure whether they will continue to receive the support that helps them put food on the table.
The intentional suspension of programs like SNAP (known as CalFresh in California) and WIC means that 1.5 million LA-area families, seniors, students who depend on free school meals, and federal workers who are now without pay, will all lose access to the food assistance they rely on to survive.
For more than 12 percent of the U.S. population, this change will undoubtedly deepen food insecurity and further strain communities already under great stress.
Food Forward is answering this urgent call as a community.
As the fourth largest independent food distribution organization in the nation, our challenge has never been clearer: to widen the produce pipeline and as quickly as we can, to make sure that healthy, free food reaches those that need it most. Every orange, tomato, and head of lettuce we recover represents more than nourishment. They represent urgency, dignity and survival.
Starting Monday, Food Forward, in partnership with the YMCA of Greater LA and with support from L.A. Care, is rapidly scaling up to meet the anticipated surge in need. As long-standing partners, we are increasing our distribution of produce to YMCA’s network from 13 to 29 locations across Los Angeles County. Together, we will be mobilizing resources and teams to ensure fresh food reaches the communities most impacted. This new scale is in addition to our ongoing distributions of well over five and a half million servings of fresh fruits and vegetables each week.
Our work has always been about people. We know this is only the beginning of what will be needed, but we’re reminded that our collective efforts and interconnectedness, whether through gleaning or giving, have immense power. Power to feed, to connect, and to bring hope at a time when it is most needed.
Thank you for being part of the Food Forward community. Together, we are not just responding to this crisis. We are continuing to lay the foundation for a stronger, more equitable food system that nurtures every generation and where food is seen as a human right.
With gratitude,
The Food Forward Team
