Executive Director George Manalo-LeClair honors the legacy of former San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in the San Jose Mercury News

Prior to serving as Mayor of San Francisco, then state senator George Moscone recognized the importance of good nutrition to student health, well-being, and academic success by introducing SB 120 which guaranteed that all low-income students would receive one nutritious school meal a day. Exactly 40 years ago, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 120 establishing that expectation as California law. Today, the name of the small state supplement to federal school lunch funding still pays homage to this visionary: the Moscone nickel.

California can build on Moscone's legacy by expanding that commitment to include funding for school breakfast, and extending the mandate to charter schools.  On this 40th anniversary of starting the meals program in California, let's commit to giving all students access to the nutritious meals they need to be successful in school and in life.

Read the full op-ed. PDF

Questions? Please contact George Manalo-LeClair at 510-433-1122 ext 103

Last week, USDA released new food insecurity data for California and the nation at large. While estimates of food insecurity and very low food security in California improved from 2009-11 to 2012-14, rates are still higher than pre-recession estimates of 2002-04. The latest data show that more than thirteen percent of all households in California face food insecurity. That is, more than 1.8 million households in California do not have consistent access to enough food.

Though the decrease in food insecurity is promising - as are recent improvements in the reach of federal nutrition programs, such as CalFresh -- more work remains to be done. We are working to advance policies that will increase access to nutritious, affordable food. Visit our state legislative agenda , state administrative agenda , and federal priorities pages to learn more. Join us for the 2015 CalFresh Forum to discuss strategies that will increase the positive impacts of CalFresh.

Questions? Please contact Tia Shimada at 510-433-1122 ext 109