Image by kuarmungadd. OPINION – California produces nearly half the nation’s fruits and vegetables. Yet this holiday season, more than one in five California households face food insecurity. Among households with children, it’s one in four.
Image by AnnaStills. OPINION – When outside resources become scarce, individuals within social communities can work together to provide support for our own. It is easiest to help our folk if we have developed close relationships within our community.
Photo by The Image Party via ShutterstockOPINION – In many historically redlined and low-income communities, full-service grocery stores are rare. In these neighborhoods, farmers’ markets supported by the California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP) can serve as a vital source of affordable fruits and vegetables for
A 3-year-old child with a cardboard sign. (Photo: Discha-AS, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Blanca was seven months pregnant when her husband’s sciatica rendered him unable to work. The pain in his back was so intense he couldn’t stand upright. They had no medical insurance and could not qualify for unemployment or disability. For months they survived off savings until there was nothing left. Their food budget dwindled to $2, “maybe $3, or sometimes nothing at all,”
San Gabriel DamOPINION: Sacramento, for example, experienced the driest year since they began measuring rainfall in 1878. Conditions are so dry that some cities in the Central Valley are already imposing water rationing orders and more are expected to follow. According to the U.S. Drought Monitoring System, approximately 85% of the state is suffering from severe drought, and the snow pack is so meager in some places, there is simply no snow to measure.