No child should ever have to go to bed hungry, and yet this is a reality for too many families in Santa Barbara County. Despite its many assets and year-round agricultural production one in four individuals experience food insecurity in our County and demand for food assistance is growing exponentially. No group is more impacted than our children; 16.7% of children in Santa Barbara County were food insecure in 2017.
The cost of hunger and food insecurity is real and measurable. It impacts our community’s wellness, our healthcare system, our children’s educational attainment, and the ability for people to be strong and productive members of society.
Our principal role in food security at the Santa Barbara Foundation is to mobilize resources to invest in organizations that are meeting the immediate needs of our residents and working towards food system change to ensure long-term solutions to hunger in our County. Additionally, our position allows us to understand and communicate both hyper-local and countywide trends, gaps in financial and administrative resources, and opportunities for collaboration.
If you are interested in contributing to the solutions, we welcome your partnership and appreciate your support.
Make a Gift Food Community Grant Program
SBF 2021 Grantees Explore SBF’s 2021 Annual Report: Mobilizing Collective Resources Through the Foundation’s discretionary dollars, we are able to provide support for organizations that work with our more vulnerable […]
BY KARA SHOEMAKER | September 2, 2021 While Santa Barbara County is among the country’s top agricultural producers, not everyone who lives here has access to fresh local food. This […]
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