Kamlager-Dove, Local Organizations Highlight the Detrimental Impact of Federal Funding Freeze on Food Access in LA

LOS ANGELES, CA—Today, Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) held a press conference with local organizations to highlight the harmful effects of Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze on food access in Los Angeles, where one in four residents already struggle with food insecurity. A livestream of the press conference is available here.

Rep. Kamlager-Dove was joined by LA Unified School Board Member Sherlett Hendy Newbill and leaders from several organizations, including the Lundquist WIC South LA Health Project, All Peoples Community Center, Project Angel Food, and Food Access LA. Each of these organizations runs a food assistance program that would be severely impacted if Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze were to be implemented.

“With each stroke of Trump’s sharpie, we are witnessing in real time a President and Administration hellbent on exhausting us with their chaos, confusion, and cruelty— all to distract us from the fact that they have yet to reduce the cost of eggs,” said Rep. Kamlager-Dove. “At a time when one in four Angelenos are food insecure and 62% of our children rely on free school meals, it is unconscionable that Donald Trump would try to cut vital funding for food programs that prevent starvation. While he may not worry about missing meals, my constituents do—that’s why I will continue to speak the truth about the human impact of these reckless policies. Lives are at stake.”

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, 25 percent of households are food insecure, which is higher than the national average of 14 percent," said Sherlett Hendy Newbill, Board Member for District 1 of Los Angeles Unified School District. "Through California’s Universal Meal Program all LAUSD students can receive breakfast and lunch at no cost.  LAUSD’s Café LA serves over half a million meals to students each day.  This federal funding freeze will have detrimental impacts on our students as food insecurity results in increased absences and tardiness and poorer cognitive functioning.

"WIC serves nearly 7 million mothers, pregnant women, and children who depend on the program for essential services like nutritious food, breastfeeding support, infant formula, nutrition education, and healthcare referrals. Nearly half of all infants born in the U.S. are served by WIC, a critical pillar of support for moms, babies, and young children for over 50 years,” said Marisela Montoya, Executive Director of the Lundquist WIC program. “I am entrusted with the enormous responsibility of safeguarding the most vulnerable, serving 63,000 individuals monthly in South Los Angeles. While we are grateful that the Administration reversed the harmful funding freeze, the uncertainty surrounding WIC's future could have been avoided altogether. Families deserve stability, not confusion about whether they can access the health and nutrition services they rely on. WIC benefits are a lifeline for millions of families, and any disruption to these services would be devastating for the families we serve and the broader community. Disrupting WIC would have far-reaching consequences, from impacting local economies to rising healthcare costs."

“The administration’s executive order could strip away $1.2 million — 9% of Project Angel Food’s total budget — by halting crucial federal funding for people living with HIV/AIDS, heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure, all forms of cancer, etc,” said Richard Ayoub, CEO of Project Angel Food. “In spite of this, Project Angel Food is determined no one will miss a meal - for life, for love, for as long as it takes.” 

“Whether funding is paused, reduced, or eliminated entirely, the impact will be devastating, " said Brandy Muñiz, Executive Director of All Peoples Community Center. “Thousands of residents in South LA—including children, seniors, working families, and individuals who simply have a need food—will go hungry.”

“Interrupting federally supported programs that complement SNAP, like those offering nutrition education, resources for accessing fresh produce, or incentives for local food purchasing, will trigger a ripple effect of negative health outcomes and destabilize local and farm economies,” said Jennifer Grissom, Executive Director of Food Access LA. These consequences will be felt universally, regardless of socio-economic status, with long-term impacts on community well-being.”

"With recent events, we've seen the importance of supporting our local food systems," said Samantha Watson, a farmer at Sunrise Organic Farm. "If we are going to freeze the funding that supports them, we are no longer discussing just food insecurity for the few, but for the many."

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