The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the country’s largest anti-hunger program. SNAP benefits are 100 percent federally funded and help families and individuals put food on the table by paying for a minimally adequate diet. Research shows that SNAP yields important long-term benefits in terms of participants’ economic self-sufficiency, health, and educational attainment, especially for children.

In California, SNAP — known as CalFresh — serves a particularly vulnerable population. The fact sheet included information on food insecurity found in the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). On average, almost 4.3 million Californians received CalFresh assistance each month during the 2016 federal fiscal year. Over half of these participants were children, and another 7.2 percent were either people with disabilities or adults age 60 or older. Of younger adults without disabilities who receive CalFresh benefits, more than half lived with children.