The Imminent Threat of Mass Food Insecurity and the Importance of Voting ‘Yes’ For Proposition 50 in California

Photo Credits (Reuters & Mother Jones) https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/long-lines-at-food-banks-across-us-idUSRTX7EHU2/ https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/04/these-photos-show-the-staggering-food-bank-lines-across-america/

By Malik Washington, Destination Freedom Media Group

Right now in America, hunger is being engineered through political maneuvering and economic cruelty. The USDA’s new work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility are not some bureaucratic tweak. These are shackles designed to force struggling human beings into hoops of humiliation just to eat. Starting November 2025, every state will be forced to enforce these tightened requirements, even while the ongoing government shutdown threatens to leave millions without benefits at all. This isn’t just about policy. This is about survival.

SNAP & CALFRESH: NEW RULES EFFECTIVE NOV. 1, 2025

I want community members in the State of California to know exactly what the new eligibility requirements and exemptions will be as of November 1, 2025:

Starting November 1, 2025, if you are an adult aged 18–64, physically and mentally able to work, and you do not have a child under age 14 in your household, you fall into the “able‑bodied adult without dependents” (ABAWD) category and must meet a minimum of 80 hours per month of work, training, or approved volunteer/community service to keep full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) / CalFresh benefits beyond three months in any 36‑month period.

If you don’t meet that 80‑hour requirement (or unless you qualify for an exemption), your SNAP benefits can be limited to only three months in a three‑year span.

Exemptions (you don’t have to meet the 80‑hour rule) include:

            • Being pregnant.

            • Having a medically documented physical or mental disability that prevents

               you  from working.

            • Caring for a child under 14 in the household (note: changed from under 18).

            • Being a member of a federally recognized tribe (Indian, Urban Indian,

              California Indian).

Removed or narrowed exemptions:

            • Previously exempt groups such as veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and youth exiting foster care (aged 18‑24) are no longer automatically exempt under the new rules.

Summary:

If you fall into the ABAWD category under these updated rules, you’ll need to show each month that you’ve done the equivalent of about 20 hours per week of approved activity (work, training, or volunteering) to keep benefits beyond three months within 36 months. If you believe you qualify for an exemption, you’ll need to provide documentation and engage with your state SNAP/CalFresh agency to claim it.

Millions nationwide could lose access to food by November 2025 if this government shutdown persists. California is staring at a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. The cruelty of Washington’s food cuts makes it clear why Californians must vote **YES on Proposition 50**. Prop 50 is a declaration that we refuse to let children, elders, and working folks go hungry while politicians argue over power.

https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=50&year=2025

HUNGER IS NOT A POLITICAL FOOTBALL. HUNGER IS VIOLENCE.

Here in San Francisco and across the Bay Area, community organizations are stepping up where government refuses. Nueva Vida, GLIDE, The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, Nuestra Causa, Us4Us Bay Area, Mission Neighborhood Center, and countless small but mighty neighborhood groups are fighting daily against food insecurity. These nonprofits cannot carry the full weight of failed federal leadership. They need donations. They need volunteers. They need us.

The bittersweet irony is that these harsh new SNAP constraints may increase the number of people available to volunteer, because many will be required to engage in an approved work or service program to retain food benefits. So local nonprofits might see more hands in the food line while seeing fewer dollars to purchase that food. Volunteers without food is the ultimate contradiction. We must support them regardless.

I personally volunteer at food programs operated by The Laurel Avenue Church of Christ in East Palo Alto and the Bayview Church of Christ located in the Bayview neighborhood in San Francisco. I can bear witness to the large number of community members who are suffering from food insecurity. More volunteers and donations are needed to help preserve these much-needed programs. I am impressed with the dedication and consistency of the program volunteers who remind me of the sisters and brothers of the Original Black Panther Party. More than ever, now is the time to rekindle the fire and the spirit of the Panthers and the Brown Berets.

This fight is not new. California has seen the face of government neglect before. When the Original Black Panther Party created the Free Breakfast Program in Oakland, they weren’t just feeding children. They were feeding a revolution. They exposed the hypocrisy of the richest nation in the world, letting children starve before school. The U.S. government labeled them a threat because feeding the people is a threat to the powerful. The Brown Berets organized in the same spirit throughout the Chicano Movement, providing survival programs, medical support, and a fierce defense of community dignity.

Quote from Capital & Main article:

“The Brown Berets helped create East Los Angeles’ first free health clinic in 1969. Arellanes was the clinic’s first director. The clinic provided basic services like medical exams, prenatal care and prescriptions for medications and eventually became AltaMed, one of the largest nonprofit, community health providers for low-income Latinos in Southern California.”  

Today, as hunger again becomes weaponized, we must look to their example. Mutual aid is not charity. Mutual aid is justice in motion.

Local leaders are stepping up, reminding us that solidarity is our strength. In the Mission District, Nuestra Causa continues to hold the line for Latino families and essential workers who cannot afford another crisis. I interviewed Jon Jacobo, the Organizing Director of Nuestra Causa, about the critical need to support grassroots organizations rooted in our neighborhoods that address food insecurity and other serious issues that affect our community members. 

This is Jon Jacobo of Nuestra Causa with Gloria, one of the longest-serving and most respected street vendors in the Mission District (www.NuestraCausa.org)

Mr. Jacobo had this to say:

“Hunger has only grown under the cruelty of this current administration.  But instead of despair, we organize.  We come together as a community to find a way to solve complex problems.  We seek to bring nourishment and dignity to our people when the government fails us.  What we are doing isn’t charity, it’s defense.  We refuse to be neutral on this runaway train, and for us in California, Proposition 50 has become our line in the sand and a vehicle to push back against the pain the administration is producing here in our neighborhoods.”

The stakes could not be higher. Food insecurity leads directly to housing insecurity. Families choosing between meals and rent fall into a cycle that is almost impossible to break. Children who go hungry struggle in school. Workers who are malnourished cannot keep jobs. Seniors become sick and isolated. Hunger is the first domino that topples lives.

Voting “YES” on Proposition 50 is not optional. It is a moral obligation. It is a stand against a government that refuses to feed its people while demanding they perform economic miracles just to stay alive. It is a tribute to the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets, and every community warrior who made sure our people ate even when the state wished they would disappear.

Please be aware that “election monitors” will be at polling places this November 4^th.

The government may try to tighten the screws. We are tightening our unity. The food line is growing. The question is who will stand with the people in it. History is watching California.

As always, we end this article with a music video.  Please listen and watch: 

Shakira, Fuerza Regida – El Jefe (Official Video)

Malik Washington is a freelance journalist and Director at Destination: Freedom and Destination Freedom Media Group.  For over 13 years, Malik has been a published journalist and news reporter focusing on criminal justice issues, conditions of confinement in jails and prisons, as well as hot-button political issues.  You can reach him via email: mwashington@destination-freedom.org or call him at (719) 715-9592. 

Suggestions or leads on stories are always welcome.

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