CalFresh benefits ending, raising concerns for families struggling to buy food

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV): The emergency allotments of CalFresh snap benefits are over. It'll affect millions of people like Claudia Torres, who has a family of five, and has relied on the CalFresh snap benefits for a year.

Now that the federal government has opted to end these emergency allotments that helped millions of families -- especially low-income families. Many people like Torres, are a bit disappointed.

"I'm a bit disappointed because we will no longer have help, especially because we have a family and our income is not a lot," said Torres. "It's a bit complicated and disappointing."

Claudia and her family would receive $95 a month. It would help her buy groceries, but now she says that it could now impact what groceries she buys since everything is so expensive.

"Eggs are expensive and milk," said Torres. "I have small children and it's a bit hard because I'm buying expensive food products."

With the snap food benefits ending today, Monterey County Food Bank CEO, Melissa Kendrick, thinks that they will continue to see an influx of people.

“The truth of the matter is, our numbers have never gone down from the beginning of the pandemic.” said Kendrick.

The Monterey County Food Bank also has a food truck, as well as their produce truck, to provide food to schools, churches, farm-working communities, and to anyone who needs food.

Each month, the Monterey County Food Bank serves 160,000 people.