Representatives of the Hunger Free Campus Program asked for an increase in funding from the California Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, aiming to expand programs that currently allow students with food insecurity to have access to food on campus.
Ruben Canedo, UC Berkeley Basic Needs Security Committee chair, was in Sacramento on Wednesday for multiple legislative meetings; he was also in Sacramento on Tuesday, when he advocated for a funding increase. The Hunger Free Campus Program, included in the Budget Act of 2017, provided the UC system and the California State University system with $2.5 million through the state’s general fund, and the community college system with $2.5 million through Proposition 98 funds, to support the elimination of food insecurity on campuses.
“We (hope to have) showed how essential the funding is,” Canedo said. “The Hunger Free Campus funding was targeted for … emergency food, CalFresh, infrastructure and staffing.”