Governor Gavin Newsom has added $30 million in one-time funding for the CalFood general fund for food banks in the 2026-2027 budget proposal. This is up from the $8 million that was originally proposed in the budget.
Prior to the additional funding, the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) came to Bakersfield in early May to partner with the Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) Food Bank to advocate for more funding. CAFB said in a statement that they are still advocating for more funding.
“CAFB looks forward to working with the Legislature and administration to ensure $60M ongoing and $50M one-time in funding for CalFood is included in the final 2026 budget,” they said in a statement.
Kelly Lowery, Program Administrator with the CAPK Food Bank, stated that while the $30 million in one-time funding is appreciated, it still falls short of what is needed.
“While we appreciate the inclusion of $30 million in one-time funding for California’s 44 food banks in the May Revision, it falls woefully short of what is needed and represents a significant cut from last year’s budget,” said Lowery. “At the same time, changes from the federal government are set to disenroll thousands of Californians from CalFresh, increasing demand on a charitable food system that is already stretched beyond capacity.”
The final budget still needs to be passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor this summer.