Fresh Ideas for CalFresh is nearly three-year project (2019-2022) documenting the experiences of over 400 food-insecure Angelenos across the county navigating public benefit programs like CalFresh. In fact, there are over 600,000 Los Angeles County residents who are eligible for CalFresh, but are not enrolled. Not having access to food impacts the health and well-being of families. The report finds the top reasons preventing Angelenos from applying to CalFresh include: misinformation, linguistic barriers, complex application process, lack of psychological safety, and not having access to quality grocery stores. This report offers a new window of opportunity for CalFresh program staff and systems of care providers to meet the needs, conditions, culture, and language of CalFresh-eligible clients. It also offers an opportunity for folks in food access work beyond California to get a sense of the barriers that stand in the way of accessing nutrition incentives for many food insecure people, and insight into some of the reasons that those who might benefit food access resources created by farm direct sites may not be able to benefit from them.

This website contains links to download the report, as well as one-page reports on key takeaways, and videos on local businesses working to increase food access across LA’s neighborhoods.