If additional funding is not provided in the FY 24-25 budget, the program will run out of funds this summer and tens of thousands of Californians across the state will have less money to put food on their tables. [...] In 2023, the California Department of Social Services went live with the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Program3, which provides CalFresh households with up to $60/month in additional food assistance when they buy fresh fruits and vegetables with their CalFresh benefits. [...] This $21 million request was calculated by taking the amount of fruit and vegetable supplemental benefits CalFresh participants earned in December (the first month of full-scale pilot operations) and assuming that, in the future, the average monthly “burn rate” for the program would be 50% more than that. [...] The other participating grocery retailers saw the total amount of fruit and vegetable supplemental benefits earned by customers at their store increase by nearly 50% in their first few months of participating in the program. [...] Applying that same history at other retailers to this large grocer, whose transactions make up the vast majority of supplemental benefits now provided in the program, led to the calculation that follows: [December 2023 Monthly Burn Rate] x (additional 50%) x 12 months = $21,000,000 [$1,169,000] * (1.5) * 12 = $21,042,000 As the pilot provides additional data in the coming months, SPUR will be able.
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