(From Press Release) – Legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would ensure low-income college students have reliable access to nutritious food through the Cal Fresh program cleared the Senate Human Services Committee today.
“Getting a college education shouldn’t mean going hungry,” Sen. Dodd said. “My bill responds to what has become an increasing problem on college campuses today by making it easier for students of modest means to get food through public assistance.”
The inability to afford food – or food insecurity — is a top concern among college students. A recent Government Accountability Office report shows a third of all college student are struggling to afford food and basic nutrition. It recommends the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service take steps to enroll people in federal food assistance programs.
Senate Bill 173 addresses the problem on a state level by removing barriers to students to get subsidies under Cal Fresh, in part by streamlining the application process. More than 50,000 California 
college students could be enrolled in food assistance thanks to the senator’s legislation.
The California Welfare Directors Association, the County of Yolo, student groups and area food banks support the bill. It moves next to Senate Appropriations.
“This bill will help reduce hunger among college students and enable them to focus on their studies rather than where their next meal will come from,” said Cathy Senderling-McDonald, deputy executive director of the California Welfare Directors Association.
“Students shouldn’t be forced to make the heartbreaking choice between getting an education and eating,” Sen. Dodd said. “Hunger is a serious problem on college campuses across the state and my bill takes an important step toward putting food on the table.”
“Food insecurity is a growing crisis on our college campuses,” said Don Saylor, chairman of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors. “This bill will help combat student hunger by ensuring students have the necessary documentation to verify their potential eligibility to receive federally funded Cal Fresh benefits.”
Why fund K12 education when you can get headlines for proposing idiotic new programs?
What’s wrong with the proposal? And how would you propose the much larger problem of education funding?
1. Food welfare.
2. Keep giving more and more and more and more tax money, once you give enough taxes, “problem solved”.
What’s wrong with food welfare? People need to eat
> People need to eat
And the government needs to provide money for food for people to eat . . .
Teamsters 2010 is infamous for all their claims of food insecurity. Here is a photo of the hungry local 2010 members.
https://dailybruin.com/images/2017/03/web.ns_.teamstersCXcontract.EG_-640×425.jpg
Malnutrition trigger warning!
Jim and Alan – you guys are clowns. It’s hard to take your comments seriously. You make a joke out of stuff that’s a serious problem and serious challenge for many students. I agree – we shouldn’t address hinder when the California system of education is severely underfunded. (Sarcasm). We should swing instead for unattainable goals. Got it. Just goes to show you – with age does not always come wisdom.
Just goes to show: with youth comes personal insults rather than intelligent counter-arguments. Well, CR’s ‘youth’ anyhow.
Much as I would like to claim to be the funniest guy on the site that honor goes to the last “food insecurity” article David did. In it some UCD student claims to be “food insecure” because he has food at home but nothing to eat on campus for lunch.
“insecure” whatever is a modern term meant to invoke unease when there is no evidence of a problem or to wildly overstate a problem. In many ways it is the new “at risk”.
I can show you many kids who have not learned anywhere near their potential. Show me a single UCD student surrendering malnutrition.
Much as I would like to claim to be the funniest guy on the site that honor goes to the last “food insecurity” article David did. In it some UCD student claims to be “food insecure” because he has food at home but nothing to eat on campus for lunch.
“insecure” whatever is a modern term meant to invoke unease when there is no evidence of a problem or to wildly overstate a problem. In many ways it is the new “at risk”.
I can show you many kids who have not learned anywhere near their potential. Show me a single UCD student suffering malnutrition…
“Show me a single UCD student suffering malnutrition…”
You are aware that you’ve now shifted the term. The issue of food security is not synonymous with malnutrition. So your perception that there is a lack of malnutrition has very little to do with the issue of food security.
“You are aware that you’ve now shifted the term” Because “food insecurity” does not actually mean anything. It’s a term that was chosen to engender the concept of hunger but without actually meaning it. I’ve pointed out several instances of “food insecurity” including the UCD student who cannot figure out how to pack a lunch and the morbidly obese union worker with a total comp of over $100K. Both these people are asking for more tax more to overcome their “insecurity”.
Let’s fund K12 properly before diverting money to the above.
It’s a matter of priorities. K12 is severely underfunded in this state and more important than all the newly discovered “insecurities”.
Here is the principle, no funding for new programs until K12 is funded to the top quartile in the 50 states.
It’s a matter of differentiating between small pieces of legislation and massive change that would need to occur to properly fund K-12 education. The former needs the work of a local legislator, the latter needs it to be the center-piece of the governor’s tenure and you can see that the priority of the governor lies with housing at this time. So there you have it.
And Dodd will chase any headline. The most media promiscuous member of the senate and that is saying a lot.
However any amount should go to K12 rather than complete BS like student food insecurity. For example tell that guy in your last article to pack a lunch.
Dodd’s really not as much of a headline chaser as most.
It’s fricken’ press release. Everyone sends them out. You just read his more because you’re in his district.
I wonder if any of those who are ‘food insecure’ are also ‘iphone insecure’ ?
Like – “I have an iPhone, but I’m really afraid someday I may not be able to afford it”
Wait! There’s a government program for that! Or there SHOULD BE.
You don’t need an iPhone to survive, Alan.
My point exactly!
Not an iphone but “Obamaphones” are available