26 October 2021, Sanger, California - In this interview, Melissa Hurtado serving in the California State Senate shared few takeaways from her experience so far. She knows firsthand the importance of food and agriculture, and has advocated for issues that often go unheard in rich countries –such as access to clean water, right to food and poverty, inequalities or health care in rural communities.

 Valuing young development and youth engagement

It is remarkable that you are the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate. Although today 1.8 billion young people live in the world—they are the largest generation of youth in history-, often their voices are not heard. What is needed to foster the realization of their human rights and enable them to act as agents of change, particularly in the agri-food systems?

Melissa Hurtado: The millennial generation, and the generations thereafter, have already and will continue to face some of the greatest challenges known to mankind—they are the present and the future. In order to encourage young people to act as agents of change, we have to start by listening to them—many young people have very well thought-out opinions and solutions, but are not taken seriously because of their age. At times, I certainly have felt this way as a young legislator.  If we start listening to what they have to say, as well as including them in our decision-making process, we will see many feel empowered and start to act as agents of change. It is also important they are provided with the tools and resources to expand their current understanding and to appreciate what they disagree with. Our reach to youth has to expand beyond rural communities across the world. Many youth that reside in agricultural regions understand, and to a certain extent, engage positively in the agri-food system. Highlighting the relationship between young people and agri-food systems, as well as the consequences of failing to move towards sustainability, will help bolster interest and spark innovation. Much of that also has to be embedded in the education system. We have to provide resources to students to encourage research and innovation at a younger age. The younger generation has the most to lose in a system that fails to provide and be sustainable.

The double burden of malnutrition in high-income countries

Although California is home to immense wealth, many people suffer from food insecurity. This is not a unique case, but a growing reality in many high income societies where, paradoxically, both obesity and hunger are increasing. What initiatives have been put in place in California to tackle hunger and malnutrition, and which measures have been adopted to improve their implementation?

MH: Although California is the greatest food-producing state in the country, about 10 million of California’s children and adults face food insecurity, according to the California Association of Food Banks. California is also the one of the largest exporters of food around the world--with a total of 21,707 agricultural products exported to places as far as Australia and the United Arab Emirates. They also report that, on average, one out of every four Californians does not know where their next meal will come from. Black and Latino families with children experience even greater levels of hunger.

California’s largest food assistance program is CalFresh, which is funded entirely through the United States federal SNAP program.  Through CalFresh, qualified low-income individual are provided special debit-like cards.  These cards are used in grocery stores and farmers markets to purchase authorized food products.

The CalFresh Program helps to improve the health and well-being of qualified households and individuals by providing them a means to meet their nutritional needs. CalFresh provides benefits to supplement household food budgets when individuals and families cannot afford enough to eat. By providing access to a nutritious, affordable diet, CalFresh benefits support productivity, promote health, and help prevent hunger.

Within CalFresh, California operates a growing program that incentivizes the purchase of California grown fruits and vegetables. If someone is using their Cal-Fresh card at participating farmers markets or grocery stores and they make a California-grown produce purchase, they can earn an extra dollar for every one dollar of produce purchased. They can spend those extra dollars on the same shopping trip or future shopping trips to purchase any eligible food.

Another program that California has created is the Office of Farm to Fork; it’s a project of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which is committed to reducing food insecurity and helping all Californians access healthy and nutritious California-grown food. The California Office of Farm to Fork connects individual consumers, school districts, and others directly with California’s farmers and ranchers, and provides information and other resources.

I believe that food is a human right and, for more and more Californians, it is becoming harder to obtain. A large portion of California’s undocumented immigrants are the farmworkers who harvest fruits and vegetables all over California, yet research suggests they struggle to feed their own families. Although they were declared essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, farmworkers are reportedly experiencing food insecurity at higher rates than other populations.

Here in California, we have taken important steps to recognize that immigrants, including our undocumented neighbors, are a vital part of our communities and our economy. California operates a state-funded food assistance program to provide food benefits to qualified non-citizens that do not meet federal eligibility because of their immigration status. The qualification requirements for these benefits, however, limit who has access. I know California can do better. That’s why I introduced the Food for All or “Comida Para Todos” Act, which will help provide food security to low-income families and help lift them out of poverty, regardless of their immigration status. The California State Budget included funding to begin the implementation of the Food4All proposal. This expansion would help meet the nutrition needs for those who, due to their immigration status alone, do not qualify for other California food programs.    

Additionally, this year California became the first state in the nation to announce it would offer free school meals to all students, regardless of family income. The state program is set to begin in the 2022-23 school year because the U.S. Department of Agriculture has already committed to paying for school meals for all students through the 2021-22 school year. As the first state in the nation to adopt universal school meals, California is giving kids an opportunity to grow up healthy and not have to worry where their next meal is coming from.

While this is a great first step, there is much more we should do. We must understand what the diets of our most vulnerable communities primarily consist of. I introduced legislation this year that would have done just that--shed light on our regional food systems, and provide data on how we can improve the sustainability and equity of those systems. Further research is also needed for scientists to understand the relationships between agriculture, livestock, diseases and humans. It is through this data collection that we will have a much more comprehensive picture of how people are impacted when their food systems are affected and will help us get a head start on addressing those impacts.

Sitting everyone around the table, including the most vulnerable groups

Recently, California has been hit by heatwaves, and access to drinking water keeps being a major issue. In order to face these challenges, you are advocating to develop policies that are supported by a broad coalition of actors. What are the key elements to ensure their engagement and succeed in this participatory multi-stakeholder approach?

MH: This summer, California’s Central Valley saw our communities experience heatwaves as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit. These heatwaves occurred as families and farmers also faced power and water outages. Poor water management and a failure to invest in infrastructure has created water scarcity for California’s most impoverished communities.

Creating coalitions for change in California is one of the greatest challenges we face due to the state’s regional and economic diversity. We have affluent regions on the coast, such as Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, but also rural, impoverished and working-class inland communities, like the one I represent in the Central Valley.

In my district, we grow, pick and ship the food that the coastal, more economically prosperous regions depend on and enjoy. But the physical and cultural distance from my home district to the coast makes it difficult for us to come together for change. This is a challenge I have faced in working to fund much needed repairs for water conveyance infrastructure throughout the state. The challenge is showing urban Californians why it matters to them that our farmers are running out of water; why it matters that the workers who pick the crops don’t have access to clean drinking water; why it matters that agricultural workers are more vulnerable to diseases that pass from animals to humans. These are all climate-related challenges to some degree, but while most coastal Californians believe in climate change and want to take action – they don’t yet fully understand the effect our changing climate has on our food supply, and perhaps only will when it affects their pocketbooks or their grocery stores.

They see climate change as an issue of tomorrow, while the poorest communities in California, and those throughout the world, are already experiencing it. Consumers are beginning to see the price of groceries increase and goods that used to be plentiful[mr2] --now difficult to find. Ultimately, people will notice when climate change affects them directly. The challenge for the policymaker is how to use this new awareness to take action. That’s our next step. It’s what I have been trying to do in how I have discussed the need to fund our water conveyance infrastructure. It is also, in part, why I have created a Select Committee on Human security to focus on the comprehensive impacts that the environment, labor, food insecurity, and health access have on Californians.

Empowerment the most vulnerable and making their voices be heard

Access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and affordable food is particularly a painful story for the most vulnerable groups, like low-income households and migrant communities. In the aftermath of the pandemic COVID-19, many have remained in need of food assistance. Which steps have been taken in California to empower these groups and strengthen their agency?

MH: During the COVID-19 pandemic, building on federal guidance and support, California stepped up to expand access to food assistance through the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program, CalFresh and the Great Plates program. Following a dramatic upsurge in the use of food banks, California also activated the National Guard to assist with distribution.

Traditionally, to qualify for WIC, an applicant must have an annual household income below 185 percent of the US poverty income and be deemed to have nutritional risk. People may also qualify if they have recently lost a job. Eligibility was expanded during the pandemic to include those unable to work due to COVID-19. This expansion in eligibility remains in effect today.

For CalFresh, there is typically a minimum and maximum amount of benefits a person or family can receive based on their household size. Based on income and expenses, local CalFresh offices determine exactly how benefits will be distributed. To address the increase in food insecurity during the pandemic, everyone received the maximum benefit for their household size. This adjustment is also still ongoing.

The Great Plates program was created for residents ages 65 or older, who were 60-64 and were diagnosed or exposed to COVID-19, were considered high risk, or were otherwise considered to be eligible. It allowed California’s older adults access to three free, restaurant-quality meals a day through a home delivery program and kept restaurants a float at time when they were struggling most. As the economy has re-opened and vaccines have been distributed, this program was discontinued.

In an acknowledgement of the ongoing food insecurity that people in California continue to face, the State Budget this year prioritized combatting food insecurity. The budget requires that starting next year all schools offer two free meals to any child requesting them, regardless of income eligibility. It also provides approximately $6 million to support outreach to college students at public universities in California that are made newly eligible for CalFresh by age or enrollment. An additional $5 million is provided to extend assistance to individuals seeking food assistance, regardless of immigration status, and establishes the intention to formally extend targeted food assistance benefits in the future. And perhaps, most importantly, the budget provides $110 million to California Food banks to meet current and future and ongoing demand. 

Food systems transformation is at the heart of the international debate

There is no denying that food systems are giving rise to a host of social, health and environmental concerns, among others. How can policy-makers contribute to transform the way we engage with and think about the entire food systems, from the first seed to the last spoonful?

MH: The key to changing how we think about food systems is to help policymakers understand what goes into ensuring people have food on their tables. Too often, food systems are taken for granted, when in reality, a monumental effort goes into the process – from planting to the table. Combating this lack of understanding is the first step in transforming how we interact with our food systems. By doing this, we can ensure awareness around these social, health, and environmental concerns become a priority for all of our policymakers.

Farmworkers, like those I represent, play a crucial role in these food systems. The best way for our policymakers to enact meaningful change is to support and uplift our farmworkers. Policymakers should be committed to supporting policies that highlight farmworker contributions towards our global food systems. Policies that are vital to support farmworkers include ensuring that migrant workers have access to flexible, quality childcare that meets their needs. Many farmworkers are at risk of losing employment due to land fallowing and climate change, and by establishing a basic income that will support them in situations beyond their control, we can ensure our farmworkers are able to survive and don’t go hungry.  I have worked in California to address both of these needs. We must continue to explore policies that make meaningful changes and make affordable food more accessible, so we can strengthen our food systems and position them for long-term success.

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Melissa Hurtado is a member of the California State Senate. She represents Senate District 14, which is located in the Central Valley and includes the counties of Fresno, Bakersfield, Kings and Tulare. The District has a majority population Latinos, is key to the State’s agricultural production, and is largely comprised of rural communities.

Senator Melissa Hurtado was born to immigrant parents and grew up in the Central Valley. After earning her degree from California State University, Sacramento, she returned to the Valley. Senator Hurtado served on the Sanger City Council from 2016 until her election to the State Senate in 2018.

She was appointed Co-Chair of the Council of State Government's Economic and Workforce Health Subcommittee in 2021, Chairwoman of the Senate Human Services Committee, Vice Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Human Security.