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Health Commission adopts food-security resolution endorsing Task Force recommendations
Summary
The San Francisco Health Commission unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the Food Security Task Force’s 2018 Assessment and its recommendations, after presentations from DPH staff and public commenters who urged action on CalFresh, screening and referrals, and neighborhood food access.
The San Francisco Health Commission on Jan. 8 adopted a resolution endorsing the Food Security Task Force’s 2018 Assessment of Food Security in San Francisco and its recommendations, committing the department to follow-up on screening, referrals and district-level data.
Dr. Jones, who presented the assessment, told commissioners the report has been released publicly and that staff are following up with members of the Board of Supervisors on district data. "We finalized and released the report electronically," Jones said, and the task force has added six new members to strengthen recommendations on policy, funding and programs.
Public commenters urged immediate action. Gina Lan of the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium said food insecurity "rose to one of the primary concerns" in this year’s community health needs assessment. Veronica Shepherd, speaking for Bayview and low‑income residents, said the report will help residents who are "very hungry" and make it easier to connect people to food.
Commissioners asked about the federal shutdown’s effect on CalFresh (SNAP) benefits and were told the USDA had said benefits were funded through February but future allocations were uncertain; staff summarized an internal impact analysis that estimated possible Medi‑Cal/CalFresh disenrollments between 15% and 35% in a high‑level scenario. Commissioners and staff agreed to continue outreach about benefit continuity and to share the impact analysis with supervisors and other city offices.
The resolution — introduced earlier and updated to incorporate commissioners’ requested amendments — was moved, seconded and adopted by voice vote. The commission will forward the endorsed recommendations to the Department of Public Health for implementation planning and follow‑up reporting to the commission.
The adoption follows public interest reporting in local outlets and a planned Board of Supervisors hearing to review district data and the task force’s recommendations.
