During the government shutdown, L.A. Care Health Plan, Food Forward, and the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles mobilized to provide food aid to Angelenos. Two weeks before President Donald Trump signed off on a funding bill into law, Rhode Island District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. filed an order on November 7, 2025 for the Trump administration to fund the SNAP program. Rather than providing an emergency fund, the Justice Department filed an appeal against the lower court’s ruling, and the Supreme Court temporarily blocked approximately $4 billion of SNAP food aid.
In late October, L.A. Care Health Plan allocated $5.4 million for food assistance and coordinated with Food Forward and the YMCA to provide immediate help. At least 14 L.A. Care and Blue Shield Promise community resource centers distributed grocery store gift cards.
“They give these [gift cards] to community members for food assistance, as class participation incentives and incentives for completing new member orientation,” said Francisco Oaxaca, Chief of Communications and Community Relations for L.A. Care Health Plan. He added that, due to the urgent response to provide food assistance, a total of 25,000 gift cards were distributed to community members, including non-members.
At the Montebello-Commerce YMCA, families and seniors collected fresh produce during the YMCA’s weekly FeedLA distribution. “An observation that affirmed the relevance and timeliness of our response was seeing many participants arriving hours before our weekly events to ensure they received produce,” shared John Loussararian, Senior Executive Director at YMCA’s Montebello. “We restarted our produce distribution events Friday, November 7th, in response to the heightened need due to the government shutdown.” As many as 100 people waited in line that Friday, doubling the following week.
“Several YMCA centers reported that community members were thrilled with the quality and variety of produce. In several instances, people coming out of the centers saw the distribution in action, spontaneously put on gloves, and joined volunteers in helping move produce down the line,” said Nkemdilim Nwosu, Food Forward’s Director of Communications.
Every Wednesday at the Pasadena-Sierra Madre YMCA, volunteers and workers set up tables with rows of boxes stocked with fresh produce. Local East Pasadena resident Henry Casea, who has a family of five, attends Food Distributions regularly. “The food they give me here is very beneficial. Vegetables and food are expensive at the market, and it helps me out,” said Casea.
At the Farmers Market in Little Tokyo, Food Access Marketing Assistant Jay Lee attends to walk-ins at the information booth, swiping their EBT cards to receive market dollars (a minimum of $20) to spend on farm-grown vegetables, fruits, and other goods. On occasion, Lee assists with translating in Korean to connect community members with resources and has developed relationships with regular attendees. Over the summer, Lee started receiving CalFresh benefits, placing him among the many SNAP recipients who felt uncertainty during the government lockdown.
“I remember, in this first couple of weeks, I was really paying attention to how much I was spending and making sure that I at least had enough to go into December,” said Lee.
In LA, one in four people experience food insecurity and lack access to nutritional food options, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and proteins. According to a study at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, “Nutrition insecurity — marked by limited access to healthy, nutritious food — was found to be 4% higher than food insecurity, affecting 27%–29% of Angelenos.” Among the most affected in this category are low-income households, with Asian residents ranking highest (35%) in nutrition insecurity. The study found that food insecurity rates among Black (31%) and Hispanic (32%) individuals are now three times higher than those among white residents (11%). LA County has the highest national average food insecurity (14%) and above pre-pandemic levels.
Since 2019, Food Forward has provided high-quality fruits and vegetables to communities struggling with nutrition insecurity. In response to the SNAP delays, Food Forward’s volunteers and staff members formulated a plan to coordinate with YMCA sites. “The timeline was extremely compressed,” said Amir Zambrano, Managing Director of Food Forward’s Wholesale Recovery Program. “We had roughly a week to expand from 12 pre-existing sites to 24, effectively doubling our footprint. In addition to adding new locations, we also increased the frequency of distributions at several existing sites.”
Nworsu explained that, during the first two weeks of November’s government shutdown, “Food Forward increased weekly produce distribution by an extra 2.4 million servings, or 600,000 pounds of produce to meet the sudden increase in need.”
Now that SNAP benefits have been reinstated, there is looming concern over H.R.1, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” will negatively affect CalFresh recipients. As stated in the bill, the SNAP program budget will be reduced by approximately $200 billion over the next ten years, including Eligibility Restrictions, Benefit limitations, and Expanded Work Requirements. To combat food insecurity, Food Forward will continue to ensure fresh produce is made accessible to low-income families, seniors, veterans, former foster youth, and people experiencing homelessness. “We plan to continue scaling produce delivery and recovery, strengthen partnerships with community agencies and health-aligned organizations,” said Nwosu.
During L.A. Care’s November ‘Month of Action,’ community resource centers operated 11 regularly scheduled food pantry events. Food Forward and YMCA will continue servicing all of LA County residents. “Our mission remains, as need intensifies, to get healthy, high-quality fruits and vegetables to the communities that need them most, regardless of policy changes,” reassures Nwosu. Volunteer opportunities and donation drives at distribution sites near you can be found here.
