The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Sept. 15 that households impacted by power outages due to a public safety power shut-off in California that occurred Aug. 30 through Aug. 31, 2023, could be eligible for replacement of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP/CalFresh benefits.

This is one of many recent steps USDA has taken to ensure California residents in need have food to eat.

Rather than require SNAP households to report food losses individually, USDA allowed the state of California to approve automatic mass replacements for residents of certain counties and zip codes who lost food because of the power outage.

USDA authorized the mass replacement of 25 percent of regular benefits for households that were issued in August 2023.

The waiver request applies to eight zip codes in the following five counties: Colusa, Glenn, Humboldt, Shasta, and Tehama. More details will be made available through the  California Department of Social Services.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of more than 16 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP.

Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being.

FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. FNS’s report, “Leveraging the White House Conference to Promote and Elevate Nutrition Security: The Role of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service,” highlights ways the agency will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Strategy, released in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022.

To learn more about FNS, visit www.fns.usda.gov and follow @USDANutrition.