As new tariffs go into effect, Democratic Rep. Mike Levin says he’s worried about working families who are already struggling with the high cost of living.
“It wasn't that long ago that we had the campaign and everybody was focused on lowering costs. At least that's what the promise was — that people were going to try to lower the cost of food, lower the costs across the board,” Levin said in an interview. “But this is exactly the opposite of what we're seeing.”
Levin said he’s also concerned about potential cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
“My wife and I have a 12-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter that are in a Title I public school,” he said. “Both of them have plenty of friends, during COVID in particular, that really relied on SNAP, CalFresh. Their families get good nutritious food through that program, and we need that program to thrive.”
On Thursday, Levin toured Feeding San Diego’s warehouse. The organization is bracing for a greater need for food assistance as it faces federal cuts of its own.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has already cut two programs that allowed schools and food banks to source food from local farmers. Feeding San Diego received more than $1 million through the Local Food Purchase Assistance program.
“We work with 24 farms, one as small as four acres, others up to 300 acres,” said CEO Bob Kamensky.
He said that funding has helped many of those farms stay in business.
“They may not be there in another couple of years,” he said. “They have to grow knowing they're going to have a market to get it to.”
Last week, Levin and other California Democrats sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asking her to reconsider ending those programs and freezing Emergency Food Assistance Program funds.
“As of the writing of this letter, we are aware that food banks across the state have had over 300 food loads paused or cancelled across the network of 49 food banks for distribution to eligible individuals and households within 58 counties,” they wrote.
Beyond the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, Feeding San Diego doesn’t rely much on federal funding. But if SNAP funding is cut and the cost of imported goods goes up, Kamensky said, the number of people who need help could grow.
“Those neighbors in our communities are going to have to look for an alternate source to help cover that hunger gap,” he said. “We’re already saturated.”
He said Feeding San Diego will rely more heavily on private donors in order to meet the demand.
