‘We’re deeply not prepared for it’: Community groups step in as SNAP benefit cuts take hold

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

On a hot September morning, a handful of elders moved between tables of fresh fruits and vegetables on the Korean Resource Center’s back patio, picking up groceries as trot music played in the background.

Some sat together, chatting as they waited for a raffle. Organizers gave away bags of rice, containers of kimchi and other staple groceries in the Koreatown community.

It was the second “Sijang,” Korean for market, a mutual-aid food distribution program launched by KRC over the summer.

Sijang and other community efforts like it come as businesses and residents adjust to changes in CalFresh, California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Stricter eligibility requirements and changes to how benefit are provided took effect Oct. 1, adding to the challenges facing low-income families across the country.

In Los Angeles County, about 1.5 million people receive CalFresh benefits, while another 320,000 are eligible but aren’t enrolled, according to the latest available data.

As more residents struggle to afford food, community markets like Sijang can help connect them with groceries.

“Groceries are commonly an item that is cut and people historically rely on community and social networks like churches and charity and grassroots mutual aid programs, where social welfare program and public institutions fail,” said Danny Park, who spearheads the program.

Sijang is organized in partnership with Polo’s Pantry and the Hollywood Food Coalition. The next marketplace is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23. KRC says no one will be turned away.

Park said it grew out of the center’s work with residents and conversations with members and staff experiencing economic hardship.

“In our pilot day of Sijang … close to 50 people from family to seniors were lined up before we opened our doors, a sight that is not uncommon in Koreatown and Los Angeles,” Park said.

Bags of groceries at the Korean Resource Center during its Sijang mutual-aid and community marketplace event on Sept. 18.

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Hanna Kang

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The LA Local

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KRC’s work has given the organization a close look at the financial pressures facing residents. In 2025, the center helped 4,286 people enroll in public assistance programs, including EBT, General Relief and Medicaid, Park said. Staff handled an average of 18 enrollments each day.

Food insecurity remains widespread across Los Angeles County. A USC Dornsife study published in December found that 24% of county households experienced food insecurity last year.

KRC staff sometimes help elderly residents take cans and bottles to recycling centers to earn money, Park said.

One neighborhood over in Pico Union, With Love Market & Café is also trying to help residents afford food. But the changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, have hit the business hard, said Anna Cho-Son, the market’s community programs director.

Most of With Love’s customers use EBT, she said, and the market has seen a decline in EBT users since the changes took effect.  The market has also lost contracts after some of its partner organizations lost funding.

The market is owned by 38 investors from the community and loses money on groceries, Cho-Son said. It has relied heavily on EBT spending, and the decline in customers using those benefits has compounded other financial challenges.

“We lose money on groceries, and so we were really relying on a lot of EBT dollars,” she said. “But obviously, people are not able to spend as much money as they were previously.”

Asked how the market is preparing for the full impact of the SNAP changes, Cho-Son said, “We’re deeply not prepared for it.”

With Love is trying to help customers stretch their grocery budgets through a produce incentive program called With More California. The program, which operates as a localized extension of California’s Market Match initiative, matches SNAP spending on California-grown produce, Cho-Son said, allowing customers to receive up to $40 worth of free produce a day.

Cho-Son said the market has been increasing outreach at schools and community colleges because many people who could benefit from these programs do not know they exist.

Customers who do use the program regularly return to buy produce, she said.

“I think the biggest and most important metric is that people come back, and they come back specifically for that program,” Cho-Son said.    

She added the market is also looking for ways to build a more sustainable local food system, rather than relying entirely on temporary grants and emergency food assistance.

“I think as we’re trying to do these emergency programs, we’re aware that food is obviously such an immediate need,” she said, “but in the long term, that’s not going to fix anything.”

The Korean Resource Center

With Love Market & Café