SNAP disruption deepens L.A. food insecurity crisis

A strange scene unfolded at the Adams/Vermont farmers market near USC last week.

- BY TYRONE BEASON

A VOLUNTEER takes a moment at a food drive last week in the City of Industry.

(GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times)

The pomegranates, squash and apples were in season, pink guavas were so ripe you could smell their heady scent from a distance, and nutrient-packed yams were ready for the holidays.

But with federal funding in limbo for the 1.5 million people in Los Angeles County who depend on food aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP — the church parking lot hosting the market was largely devoid of customers.

Even though the market accepts payments through CalFresh, the state’s SNAP program, hardly anyone was lined up when the gates opened. Vendors mostly idled at their produce stands.

As thousands across Southern California lined up at food banks to collect free food, and the fight over delivering the federal allotments sows uncertainty, fewer people receiving aid seemed to be spending money at outdoor markets such as this one.

"So far we're doing 50% of what we'd normally do — or less,” said Michael Bach, who works with Hunger Action, a food-relief nonprofit that partners with farmers markets across the Greater L.A. area, offering “Market Match” deals to customers paying with CalFresh debit cards.

The deal allows shoppers to buy up to $30 worth of fruit produce for only $15. Skimming a ledger on her table, Bach's colleague Estrellita Echor noted that only a handful of shoppers had taken advantage of the offer.

All week at farmers markets where workers were stationed, the absence was just as glaring, she said. “I was at Pomona on Saturday — we only had six transactions the whole day,” she said. “Zero at La Mirada.”