Every week, food banks across California use data to figure out where hunger is growing and which neighborhoods need more resources. That data shapes how we get food to families in need. When it disappears, the families don’t — we just lose the ability to see them.
Last October, the federal government eliminated the USDA’s annual Hunger Survey — a critical tool the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and food banks across the state use to measure and mitigate hunger. Futhermore, funding for the food insecurity screener in the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is also in jeopardy due to unstable funding. Without these tools, food banks and policymakers lose sight of who needs help and where. The Count Hunger Act, AB 1734, would restore California’s ability to track where hunger exists, so communities and lawmakers can act on it.
AB 1734 heads to the Assembly Committee on Higher Education on Wednesday, April 14 at 1:30 PM. If passed by the Legislators and sign by the Governor, AB 1734 would fund the CHIS food screener study conducted by UCLA for a two-year pilot and expand the survey’s measurement of hunger from 200% of the Federal Poverty Level to 400%. In the Bay Area, a family of four earning $128,000 — twice the 200% FPL benchmark — can still struggle to put food on the table — and right now, the state has no reliable way to count them.
Our Food Bank is nonpartisan, but we advocate for policies and programs aligned with our mission — eliminating hunger and its root causes. We know we can’t address hunger and its root causes without reliable information on where hunger is in our communities.
Hunger doesn’t go away if you don’t count it.
Submit a Public Comment
You can support AB 1734 by submitting a comment through the Assembly’s online portal. You don’t have to wait until April 14 — any time this week works. Phone comments are not accepted.
Below is a sample letter. Personalize the bracketed fields, copy it, and paste it into the portal.
Sample Letter (Please place on letterhead)— Copy and Paste into the Portal
Hello Assemblymember___________,
My name is ______________ (please insert your title and organization). I’m reaching out to share my support of the Count Hunger Act, AB 1734. This bill relates to restoring funding for the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) food screener study conducted by UCLA, which is in jeopardy because of unstable funding. AB 1734 would also expand the survey from 200% FPL to 400% FPL to better understand hunger in CA.
Why this matters:
In October 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) discontinued its annual hunger survey, the largest and most consistent dataset on food insecurity in the country, and the backbone of Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap. The uncertainty of CHIS funding and the discontinuation of the national service will leave a significant gap in data on food insecurity.
The CHIS study, unique to California, has been a valuable supplement alongside the CPS-FSS. Conducted annually by UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research, CHIS also measures food security and can reach several Asian and Latine subpopulations that the USDA survey cannot. It also enabled analysis of the relationships between food security and health or social conditions, as well as comparisons of counties and regions within the state.
This study is vital for addressing hunger based on scope and data-driven information.
The ask:
Please support these efforts with an Aye vote!
Thank you.
In Community,
Name Title | Organization
Public Comment Portal: https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates
Portal Guidance: https://abgt.assembly.ca.gov/hearings
Questions? Email Marchon Tatmon at mtatmon@sfmfoodbank.org.
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