This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.
[Update: Thu., Nov. 6, 2025, 1:50pm] A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP this month, the New York Times reports. In his second legal rebuke of the administration, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island gave the government until Friday to make the SNAP payments after his original order last week to quickly restart payments for SNAP was not followed.
[Original Story] At an elementary school in Santa Barbara on Tuesday afternoon, volunteers stood in front of a long line of folding tables stacked with food: bags of chicken and cartons of eggs, paper bags laden with dry goods like cereal, peanut butter and canned fruit, beside other bags of fresh produce. Giggling children wiggled and played as the volunteers handed the food to adults. The space is a monthly distribution site for the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, a local nonprofit.
Foodbank, along with other organizations in the area, is ramping up its efforts to feed people as tens of thousands in Santa Barbara County wait to see if they will receive any of their SNAP benefits in November. Last Saturday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not release the federal money that funds the largest food assistance program in the country. Two federal judges have said the USDA needs to use a contingency fund to pay SNAP benefits, and the Trump administration has said it will pay half of the benefit. But no clear plan on when or how this will occur is in place, and President Trump said on Tuesday that he won’t distribute the benefits.
In Santa Barbara County, about 1 in every 7 people receive SNAP benefits, called CalFresh in California, according to data from Santa Barbara County’s Department of Social Services. Those benefits help people – about 40 percent of them children – have enough food to eat. They pencil out to about $313 a month on average, depending on the size of the household.
Many people in the county are working to fill the gap the lack of SNAP benefits creates. Here are a few organizations where people can get access to healthy food. For folk who want to help, these organizations take food and monetary donations, and may have volunteer opportunities.
Foodbank of S.B. County: The Foodbank (foodbanksbc.org) provides fresh produce and groceries to people through 55 different distribution sites around the county, from churches to schools to other nonprofit locations. The Foodbank purchases food, sources it from local farmers, receives it through donations, and gains it as part of federal programs. Recipients can register with the Foodbank to pick up groceries or prepared meals; the Foodbank says you don’t need to provide much information, just your name and number for internal distribution purposes, and they can record anonymous visits for people in need. In its last fiscal year, the organization said it served about 209,000 people, and worked with 2000 volunteers.
Nutrition and education are a big part of the Foodbank’s goals, especially in the organization’s Healthy School Pantries. The Foodbank said it wants people to know how to cook the food they receive. Some of the nutrition education programming onsite has been paused to prioritize giving food more quickly, but fliers and recipes are still available. The organization said it saw a drop-off of people coming to pick up food in June and July; that came after reports of ICE deportations impacted local communities. That number is slowly growing again, and the Foodbank is working to make pickup as safe as possible.
Veggie Rescue: The nonprofit Veggie Rescue (veggierescue.org) “rescues” food that would otherwise go to waste and distributes it to people in need. In a press release, Veggie Rescue said that so far this year, the organization has already delivered over 500,000 pounds of rescued food to more than 65 nonprofit partners. They drive three refrigerated vehicles, transporting food within 24 hours for free.
Now, Veggie Rescue is looking for more partners — farmers and ranchers, yes, but also people with fruit trees or gardens where volunteers can harvest. People with home gardens and extra produce can drop off donations, too.
Route One Farmers Market: On October 30, Route One Farmers Market (routeonefarmersmarket.org) in Lompoc announced its “Help a Neighbor” program. Route One Farmers Market is a nonprofit that aims to increase food access for the community, in part by accepting EBT benefits at the farmers’ market. Route One said the freeze on the benefits could devastate people in the community. Along with people living near the poverty level, many folks in the Lompoc area are employed by the federal government and are not getting paychecks due to the government shutdown. Farmers, too, will see a loss in sales if people cannot use EBT benefits to buy their food at the farmers’ market.
People can donate to the “Help a Neighbor” program, and Route One will allocate that funding for local sales. The organization has already raised $2,000.
Organic Soup Kitchen: Organic Soup Kitchen (organicsoupkitchen.org) provides nutritious and hearty soups for low-income people recovering from chronic illness or disease. The nonprofit says it feeds over 800 people a week. The soups are designed by nutritionists and chefs. People recovering from illness who do not qualify as low income can buy the soups; that money goes to help the nonprofit continue to serve people, it said.
Organic Soup Kitchen is asking for donations, as they said that many people they serve rely on SNAP benefits. The soup kitchen also had volunteer opportunities.
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