Jackie Krentzman is a Bay Area-based writer and editor.    

For three straight years, demand for food at Rancho Cordova’s biggest food bank has increased dramatically, growing from roughly 240 families per week to about 1,500 families last year. Carrie Johnson knew she needed to find new ways to increase the food bank’s stretched capacity.

Drawing inspiration from a community grocery store in Ballard, Washington, she developed the Rancho Cordova Community Food Hub, a food bank unlike any other in the state. The 6,600-square-foot building designed like a grocery store.

“What do you and I do when we need food? We go to a grocery store,” says Johnson, the hub’s executive director. “You and I get that privilege, so why shouldn’t people who are facing food insecurity have that same opportunity?”

Even though the hub is serving more people, the store is more cost-effective than the organization’s previous food bank because of improved storage, product placement, and distribution. Families can choose items based on their needs instead of picking from prepackaged allotments, which cuts down on waste.

Johnson says the store — which welcomed its first shoppers in August — wouldn’t exist without Rancho Cordova’s funding and technical support. The city committed $2.2 million over five years to support the hub’s operations.

“It was an easy decision for our policymakers to support the food hub,” says City Manager Micah Runner. “Food is a basic need, and to support an organization that provides food to people in a way that fosters dignity captures the essence of our city’s spirit.”

According to Johnson, that long-term investment gave the organization the stability and flexibility it needed to direct funding toward the construction project. “From what I’ve heard from my peers, this is not typical for a city, and it has made a huge difference,” she says.

Rancho Cordova is just one of many California cities trying to find local solutions to skyrocketing grocery bills, made worse by federal cuts and changes to CalFresh. The Cal Budget & Policy Center and The Urban Institute estimate that cuts to CalFresh alone will reduce or eliminate food support for 3 million California households.

“We already have the highest poverty rate among all states,” says Nishi Nair, a California Budget & Policy Center policy analyst. “And the cuts are only going to exacerbate these poverty rates and force people to make impossible decisions, like paying their rent this month or putting food on the table for their families.”

Will Pettener says that he’s seen a significant uptick in residents seeking food assistance in the 1½ years he has worked as San Fernando’s assistant to the city manager. City staff estimate that at least 10% of the community was already using CalFresh before federal cutbacks. The impact has been particularly hard on immigrants without permanent legal status.

According to Nair, as of April 1, tens of thousands of immigrants likely lost access to CalFresh due to the federal changes. That estimate is likely an undercount, as many immigrants voluntarily disenrolled from the program due to uncertain federal immigration policies.

“I’ve heard from both our staff and our food distribution partners that when they have announced food distribution opportunities, especially right after federal immigration activities, there were families in line crying because they were so nervous just being out in public,” Pettener says. “But they had no choice. They needed groceries.”

He says that fear expressed by the community is one of the reasons why the city quickly launched the San Fernando Together Initiative. The collaborative program brings together the city, community-based organizations, and regional partners to connect hundreds of families with essential resources and services, including one-time financial assistance and food distribution.

“The city council wanted to make sure residents felt like they were safe and could receive the services they needed, starting with food,” Pettener says.

“Honestly, we’re looking at every avenue we can.”

For many cities, tackling food insecurity is a relatively new challenge, as counties typically manage such programs. David Rabindranath, Redlands’ homeless solutions coordinator, anecdotally notes that an increasing number of his city’s residents are experiencing hunger. Steve Pinckney, director of operations for the local Salvation Army, says it has handed out 25% more food boxes over the last 18 months than usual. Rabindranath says the city realized that it did not have the resources to provide direct aid. (The city’s now defunct food gift card program relied on pandemic-era relief funds.)

The city convened a task force of nonprofits and faith-based organizations to find new ways to help residents. The group made five recommendations: Provide short-term financial assistance, transportation to and from food distribution sites, refrigeration facilities, and reusable boxes and tote bags. The fifth recommendation? Improve coordination among the various agencies providing food resources.

“The fact that the city would even consider such a task force says a lot,” Pinckney says. “In fact, the city came to us, with ‘How can we help you?’”

Rabindranath says the city is prioritizing working with the chamber of commerce and local businesses to provide the tote bags, as well as improving coordination between agencies and sharing information with residents. The city is also exploring new ways to secure food aid.

“Redlands sits in a big citrus-growing region, and we are trying to see if we can identify grants for local farmers to offset the fresh fruit and vegetables they can donate to our food organizations,” he says. “Honestly, we’re looking at every avenue we can.”

Nair says that while cities generally aren’t responsible for distributing CalFresh benefits, providing information on changes to food assistance programs does more than reduce food insecurity. For example, CalFresh eligibility can determine eligibility for certain public utility programs. “Cities and counties,” she says, “help people figure out how to make sense of the policy and what they may be able to do.”

City officials say that they will continue to find new ways to prevent people from having to choose between food, housing, or healthcare. “We’re going to continue to make sure that we’re communicating with the state and county to see if they have additional potential resources,” says San Fernando’s Pettener. “And we will continue to be open-minded and not be content just with our current partners or resources, but always be looking to find more ways to find additional funding to ensure that residents in our city don’t go hungry.”