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Tag: food aid

  • The federal SNAP-funding mess has made L.A.’s food-insecurity crisis clearer than ever

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    A strange scene unfolded at the Adams/Vermont farmers market near USC last week.

    The pomegranates, squash and apples were in season, pink guavas were so ripe you could smell their heady scent from a distance, and nutrient-packed yams were ready for the holidays.

    But with federal funding in limbo for the 1.5 million people in Los Angeles County who depend on food aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP — the church parking lot hosting the market was largely devoid of customers.

    Even though the market accepts payments through CalFresh, the state’s SNAP program, hardly anyone was lined up when gates opened. Vendors mostly idled alone at their produce stands.

    A line of cars stretches more than a mile as people wait to receive a box of free food provided by the L.A. Food Bank in the City of Industry on Wednesday.

    (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

    As thousands across Southern California lined up at food banks to collect free food, and the fight over delivering the federal allotments sowing uncertainty, fewer people receiving aid seemed to be spending money at outdoor markets like this one.

    “So far we’re doing 50% of what we’d normally do — or less,” said Michael Bach, who works with Hunger Action, a food-relief nonprofit that partners with farmers markets across the greater L.A. area, offering “Market Match” deals to customers paying with CalFresh debit cards.

    The deal allows shoppers to buy up to $30 worth of fruit produce for only $15. Skimming a ledger on her table, Bach’s colleague Estrellita Echor noted that only a handful of shoppers had taken advantage of the offer.

    All week at farmers markets where workers were stationed, the absence was just as glaring, she said. “I was at Pomona on Saturday — we only had six transactions the whole day,” she said. “Zero at La Mirada.”

    CalFresh customers looking to double their money on purchases were largely missing at the downtown L.A. market the next day, Echor said.

    A volunteer loads up a box of free food for a family at a drive-through food distribution site in the City of Industry.

    A volunteer loads up a box of free food for a family at a drive-through food distribution site in the City of Industry.

    (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

    “This program usually pulls in lots of people, but they are either holding on to what little they have left or they just don’t have anything on their cards,” she said.

    The disruption in aid comes as a result of the Trump administration’s decision to deliver only partial SNAP payments to states during the ongoing federal government shutdown, skirting court order to restart funds for November. On Friday night, Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily blocked the order pending a ruling on the matter by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

    But by then, CalFresh had already started loading 100% of November’s allotments onto users’ debit cards. Even with that reprieve for food-aid recipients in California, lack of access to food is a persistent problem in L.A., said Kayla de la Haye, director of the Institute for Food System Equity at USC.

    A study published by her team last year found that 25% of residents in L.A. County — or about 832,000 people — experienced food insecurity, and that among low-income residents, the rate was even higher, 41%. The researchers also found that 29% of county residents experienced nutrition insecurity, meaning they lacked options for getting healthy, nutritious food.

    Those figures marked a slight improvement compared to data from 2023, when the end of pandemic-era boosts to state, county and nonprofit aid programs — combined with rising inflation — caused hunger rates to spike just as they did at the start of the pandemic in 2020, de la Haye said.

    “That was a big wake-up call — we had 1 in 3 folks in 2020 be food insecure,” de la Haye said. “We had huge lines at food pantries.”

    But while the USC study shows the immediate delivery of food assistance through government programs and nonprofits quickly can cut food insecurity rates in an emergency, the researchers discovered many vulnerable Angelenos are not participating in food assistance programs.

    Despite the county making strides to enroll more eligible families over the last decade, de la Haye said, only 29% of food insecure households in L.A. County were enrolled in CalFresh, and just 9% in WIC, the federal nutrition program for women, infants and children.

    De la Haye said participants in her focus groups shared a mix of reasons why they didn’t enroll: Many didn’t know they qualified, while others said they felt too ashamed to apply for aid, were intimidated by the paperwork involved or feared disclosing their immigration status. Some said they didn’t apply because they earned slightly more than the cutoff amounts for eligibility.

    Even many of those those receiving aid struggled: 39% of CalFresh recipients were found to lack an affordable source for food and 45% faced nutrition insecurity.

    De la Haye said hunger and problems accessing healthy food have serious short- and long-term health effects — contributing to higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity, as well greater levels of stress, anxiety and depression in adults and children. What’s more, she said, when people feel unsure about their finances, highly perishable items such as fresh, healthy food are often the first things sacrificed because they can be more expensive.

    The USC study also revealed stark racial disparities: 31% of Black residents and 32% of Latinos experienced food insecurity, compared to 11% of white residents and 14% of Asians.

    De la Haye said her team is analyzing data from this year they will publish in December. That analysis will look at investments L.A. County has made in food system over the last two years, including the allocation of $20 million of federal funding to 80 community organizations working on everything from urban farming to food pantries, and the recent creation of the county’s Office of Food Systems to address challenges to food availability and increase the consumption of healthy foods.

    “These things that disrupt people’s ability to get food, including and especially cuts to this key program that is so essential to 1.5 million people in the county — we don’t weather those storms very well,” de la Haye said. “People are just living on the precipice.”

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    Tyrone Beason

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  • As SNAP benefits lapse, thousands show up to Southern California food banks

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    On Saturday morning, Genaro Alfonzo pulled up to the Kia Forum in Inglewood wearing his Dodgers hat and jersey, with a flag for his Boys in Blue flapping from a Toyota pickup truck.

    But the morning after his beloved Dodgers won Game 6 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Alfonzo was not happy. It was nearly 11 a.m., and the 70-year-old had not yet eaten.

    “Just this,” he said, tearing up as he held up a blue plastic coffee cup, half empty. “I’m not working. My wife’s not working — there’s no work. The market is expensive.”

    Alfonzo was among thousands of people who showed up to a drive-through food distribution event Saturday at the Kia Forum put on by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank on the first day of a lapse in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

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    It was the first day of the month — the first day of a pause in federal food assistance for millions of low-income Americans, including 5.5 million Californians, because of the government shutdown that began Oct. 1.

    On Friday, two federal judges, in separate rulings, ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to begin using more than $5 billion in contingency funds for SNAP during the government shutdown. But they gave the agency until Monday to figure out how to do so.

    Although the orders were a win for people who rely on SNAP, they did not mean that recipients would be spared a lapse in food aid. Over the weekend, state and local food banks scrambled to prepare for a deluge of need.

    People pick up food distributed by Noel Community Organization

    People pick up food distributed by Noel Community Organization at the Lily of the Valley Church of God In Christ Saturday in Long Beach.

    (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

    California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta — whose office helped bring about a lawsuit by a coalition of Democrat-led states against the Trump administration over the food aid cutoff — said Thursday that a ruling in the states’ favor would not mean SNAP funds would immediately be loaded onto CalFresh and other benefit cards.

    “Our best estimates are that [SNAP benefit] cards could be loaded and used in about a week,” he said, adding that “there could be about a week where people are hungry and need food.” For new program applicants, he said, the delay could be even longer.

    On Saturday, amid gray skies and fog, scores of volunteers for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank gathered outside the Forum to serve Angelenos looking to stock their shelves and refrigerators for what could become the longest shutdown since 2018, when the government was shut down for 35 days.

    Volunteers disbursed food containers for about 5,000 vehicles, according to the food bank. Each offering had items for about 40 meals, with whole grains, fresh produce, tortillas, canned tuna, yogurt and frozen chicken.

    “This is what large-scale disaster relief looks like,” said Michael Flood, chief executive of the food bank. “It’s about getting as much as possible out to as many people as possible — safely and in a short time.”

    Fueled by bins of snacks — chips, oranges and bottled water — many volunteers expressed enthusiasm for the long day ahead.

    “I’m just happy to be here — it’s a great opportunity to help people,” said Jordan Diaz, 35.

    Ron Del Rio, 54, said he was happy to help but angry about the circumstances.

    “It’s frustrating and heartbreaking to see people who are hungry,” he said. “It’s just so unsettling that it has to be this way. Why are there 5,000 cars coming through here in a country that is so rich?”

    Norma White gives Dario Medina a free haircut

    Norma White gives Dario Medina a free haircut as people wait to pick up food distributed by Noel Community Organization at the Lily of the Valley Church of God In Christ Saturday in Long Beach.

    (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

    About 600,000 SNAP recipients live in Los Angeles, according to Mayor Karen Bass, who said in a statement Friday that “no one in Los Angeles should have to worry about putting food on the table because of circumstances beyond their control.”

    For volunteer Diane Jackson, 72, loading up cars with boxes of fresh produce hit close to home. Her son had been in line to receive food earlier that morning.

    “He has 7 children!” she said. “He made sure to come out here. I’m so glad they’re here — it feels good.”

    Volunteers were greeted with fist bumps, air kisses and shouted thank yous.

    As she waited in line, Maxx Bush, 79, who lives near the Forum, said she was angry because people’s incomes are not increasing, even as groceries, housing, insurance, medication, gasoline and other necessities are becoming more expensive.

    “Our elected officials are letting us down because we vote and put these people in office, and they tend to get a personal vendetta going with each other and forget about the main thing, which is the people.”

    In their opposition to states’ request for a temporary restraining order requiring the disbursement of contingency funds, attorneys for the USDA argued that the $5.25 billion is reserved “in the event of natural disasters and other uncontrollable catastrophes” and could cause more disruptions later. The emergency funds will not cover the roughly $9 billion required for all November benefits, according to the USDA.

    Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom activated the National Guard to help package food and directed $80 million to food banks to stock up. More than 63% of SNAP recipients in California are children or elderly people, Newsom’s office said.

    “I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. “It is already delayed enough due to the Democrats keeping the Government closed … it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding.”

    On Saturday, Bonta snapped back.

    “The Trump Admin CHOSE to withhold food assistance from people in need. They CHOSE to let people go hungry and now are only changing their tune thanks to lawsuits,” Bonta said on X. “It should have never gotten this far in the first place.”

    Two people leave a food distribution site Saturday in Long Beach.

    Two people leave a food distribution site Saturday in Long Beach.

    (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

    Around noon on Saturday, the parking lot at the Forum was a cacophony of sound: car engines rumbling, car stereos blasting music, fire engines blaring in the distance, children shrieking, airplanes roaring en route to nearby LAX.

    Rayvone Douthard, 51, picked up food in a white Nissan truck with his windows down and stereo blaring a cover by the band Tierra of the 1967 song “Together.” Douthard, a DJ who wore a brightly colored tie-dye T-shirt, said he received federal food aid and was concerned about the delay in funding.

    “It’s not right,” he said. “Donald Trump needs to stop what he’s doing. Everyone needs food.”

    Then he turned his music up again.

    “But I feel positive about this,” he said, gesturing at the bustling parking lot. “Everybody working together. Like the song says!”

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    Deborah Vankin, Jasmine Mendez

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  • Judges order USDA to restart SNAP funding, but hungry families won’t get immediate relief

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    Two federal judges told the U.S. Department of Agriculture in separate rulings Friday that it must begin using billions of dollars in contingency funding to provide federal food assistance to poor American families despite the federal shutdown, but gave the agency until Monday to decide how to do so.

    Both Obama-appointed judges rejected Trump administration arguments that more than $5 billion in USDA contingency funds could not legally be tapped to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for nearly 42 million people — about 1 in 8 Americans — while the federal government remains closed. But both also left unclear how exactly the relief should be provided, or when it will arrive for millions of families set to lose benefits starting Saturday.

    The two rulings came almost simultaneously Friday.

    In Massachusetts, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani stopped short of granting California and a coalition of 24 other Democrat-led states a temporary restraining order they had requested. But she ruled that the states were likely to succeed in their arguments that the USDA’s total shutoff of SNAP benefits — despite having billions in emergency contingency funds on hand — was unlawful.

    Talwani gave USDA until Monday to tell her whether they would authorize “only reduced SNAP benefits” using the contingency funding — which would not cover the total $8.5 billion to $9 billion needed for all November benefits, according to the USDA — or would authorize “full SNAP benefits using both the Contingency Funds and additional available funds.”

    Separately, in Rhode Island, U.S. District Judge John McConnell granted a temporary restraining order requested by nonprofit organizations, ruling from the bench that SNAP must be funded with at least the contingency funds “as soon as possible,” and requesting an update on progress by Monday.

    California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta — whose office helped bring the states’ lawsuit — praised the decisions of the two courts, saying SNAP benefits “provide an essential hunger safety net” to 5.5 million Californians. “Simply put, the stakes could not be higher.”

    Skye Perryman, president and chief executive of Democracy Forward, which represented the nonprofit groups, said the ruling in that case “affirms what both the law and basic decency require” and “protects millions of families, seniors, and veterans from being used as leverage in a political fight.”

    The White House referred questions about the ruling to the Office of Management and Budget, which did not respond to a request for comment. It was not clear if the administration would appeal the rulings.

    While the orders were a win for states and the nation’s SNAP recipients, they do not mean that all those recipients will be spared a lapse in their food aid, state officials stressed. State and local food banks continued scrambling to prepare for a deluge of need starting Saturday.

    Asked Thursday if a ruling in the states’ favor would mean SNAP funds would be immediately loaded onto CalFresh and other benefits cards, Bonta said “the answer is no, unfortunately.”

    “Our best estimates are that [SNAP benefit] cards could be loaded and used in about a week,” he said, calling that lag “problematic.”

    “There could be about a week where people are hungry and need food,” he said. For new applicants to the program, he said, it could take even longer.

    The rulings came as the now monthlong shutdown continued Friday with no immediate end in sight.

    It also came after President Trump called Thursday for the Senate to end the shutdown by first ending the filibuster, a longstanding rule that requires 60 votes to overcome objections to legislation. The rule has traditionally been favored by lawmakers as a means of blocking particularly partisan measures, and is currently being used by Democrats to resist the will of the current 53-seat Republican majority.

    Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Chief Executive Michael Flood, standing alongside Bonta as members of the California National Guard worked behind them stuffing food boxes Thursday, said his organization was preparing for massive weekend lines, similar to those seen during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “This is a disaster type of situation,” Flood said.

    “5.5 million Californians, 1.5 million children and adults in L.A. County alone, will be left high and dry — illegally so, unnecessarily so, in a way that is morally bankrupt,” Bonta said.

    Bonta blamed the shutdown on Trump and his administration, and said the USDA broke the law by not tapping its contingency funds to continue payments.

    Bonta said SNAP benefits have never been disrupted during previous federal government shutdowns, and should never have been disrupted during this shutdown, either.

    “That was avoidable,” he said. “Trump created this problem.”

    The Trump administration has blamed the shutdown and the looming disruption to SNAP benefits entirely on Democrats in Congress, who have blocked short-term spending measures to restart the government and fund SNAP. Democrats are holding out to pressure Republicans into rescinding massive cuts to subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health insurance.

    Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, previously told The Times that Democrats should be the ones getting asked “when the shutdown will end,” because “they are the ones who have decided to shut down the government so they can use working Americans and SNAP benefits as ‘leverage’ to pursue their radical left wing agenda.”

    “Americans are suffering because of Democrats,” Jackson said.

    In their opposition to the states’ request for a temporary restraining order requiring the disbursement of funds, attorneys for the USDA argued that using emergency funds to cover November SNAP benefits would deplete funds meant to provide “critical support in the event of natural disasters and other uncontrollable catastrophes,” and could actually cause more disruption to benefits down the line.

    They wrote that SNAP requires between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month, and the USDA’s contingency fund has only about $5.25 billion, meaning it could not fully fund November benefits even if it did release contingency funding. Meanwhile, “a partial payment has never been made — and for good reason,” because it would force every state to recalculate benefits for recipients and then recalibrate their systems to provide the new amounts, they wrote.

    That “would take weeks, if it can be done at all,” and would then have to be undone in order to issue December benefits at normal levels, assuming the shutdown would have lifted by then, they wrote.

    Simply pausing the benefits to immediately be reissued whenever the shutdown ends is the smarter and less disruptive course of action, they argued.

    In addition to suing the administration, California and its leaders have been rushing to ensure that hungry families have something to eat in coming days. Gov. Gavin Newsom directed $80 million to food banks to stock up on provisions, and activated the National Guard to help package food for those who need it.

    Counties have also been working to offset the need, including by directing additional funding to food banks and other resource centers and asking partners in the private sector to assist.

    Dozens of organizations in California have written to Newsom calling on him to use state funds to fully cover the missing federal benefits, in order to prevent “a crisis of unthinkable magnitude,” but Newsom has suggested that is not possible given the scale of funding withheld.

    SNAP served about 41.7 million people in 2024, at an annual cost of nearly $100 billion, according to the USDA. Children and older people accounted for more than 63% of California recipients.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Kevin Rector

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  • Democratic-led states sue Trump administration to keep SNAP food assistance funds flowing

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    A coalition of 25 Democratic-run states sued the Trump administration Tuesday to prevent billions of dollars of cuts to federal food assistance that are set to kick in this weekend.Democratic attorneys general and governors from 25 states and Washington, D.C., claimed in the lawsuit that the Trump administration was threatening “illegal” cuts to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program for 42 million Americans, “cannot simply suspend all benefits indefinitely, while refusing to spend funds from available appropriations for SNAP benefits for eligible households,” the lawsuit claims.The Trump administration has argued it does not have the power to use that pot of existing money — known as its contingency fund — to cover the SNAP program beyond Saturday, because of the federal government shutdown.”The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists,” officials in the Department of Agriculture wrote in a memo last week.The risk of tens of millions of Americans losing food aid has triggered intense anxiety across Washington, as the government shutdown nears the one-month mark.Top lawmakers from both parties acknowledge it would be the most significant impact of the shutdown to date, with House Speaker Mike Johnson privately warning his GOP members on a call Tuesday that the pain was about to spike for everyday Americans.Senate Democrats have now voted 13 times to block a GOP funding bill because it does not include their separate demands on extending health care subsidies. But GOP leaders have refused to negotiate on the subsidies until the government reopens, leaving both parties in a bitter stalemate with no clear way out.Democrats have been unflinching in their stance, despite the looming Saturday deadline for the food aid. They argue that President Donald Trump has sought to “weaponize” the food assistance program, intentionally choosing not to fund the aid to pressure Democrats to yield.Fight over food aidShortly after the lawsuit was filed Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CNN that there isn’t enough contingency funding to cover SNAP benefits for November, which she said would cost about $9.2 billion.”As of today, that $9.2 billion, we don’t even have close to that in contingency funding,” Rollins said. “We’ve got to get this government open.”She added that “all it takes is a yes on a continuing resolution to keep the government going, and to send that (SNAP) money out to the states.”A so-called clean continuing resolution would extend government funding at current levels. But congressional Democrats have opposed that because Republicans haven’t agreed to negotiate on the expiring health care subsidies.The White House referred CNN to the Office of Management and Budget for comment on the lawsuit. An OMB spokesperson said in a statement that “Democrats chose to shut down the government knowing full well that SNAP would soon run out of funds. It doesn’t have to be this way, and it’s sad they are using the families who rely on it as pawns.”Democratic attorney general: ‘This is wrong’The Democratic-run states filed the lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court. Court records indicate the case was randomly assigned to District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee who was confirmed in a bipartisan and unanimous Senate vote in 2014.Congress approved $6 billion for a “SNAP-specific contingency fund” in the spending bill that averted a shutdown in March, the lawsuit notes. The lawsuit also points out that, as recently as September, the USDA website identified these funds as part of its plan to keep the food stamp payments flowing in case of a government shutdown.North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, accused the Trump administration of using SNAP benefits “to play shutdown politics” at a news conference Tuesday announcing his support for the lawsuit.”The truth is the department has the money,” Jackson said, adding, “They are looking to ratchet up the pain in an already painful moment. This is wrong, and it’s against the law.”

    A coalition of 25 Democratic-run states sued the Trump administration Tuesday to prevent billions of dollars of cuts to federal food assistance that are set to kick in this weekend.

    Democratic attorneys general and governors from 25 states and Washington, D.C., claimed in the lawsuit that the Trump administration was threatening “illegal” cuts to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program for 42 million Americans, “cannot simply suspend all benefits indefinitely, while refusing to spend funds from available appropriations for SNAP benefits for eligible households,” the lawsuit claims.

    The Trump administration has argued it does not have the power to use that pot of existing money — known as its contingency fund — to cover the SNAP program beyond Saturday, because of the federal government shutdown.

    “The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists,” officials in the Department of Agriculture wrote in a memo last week.

    The risk of tens of millions of Americans losing food aid has triggered intense anxiety across Washington, as the government shutdown nears the one-month mark.

    Top lawmakers from both parties acknowledge it would be the most significant impact of the shutdown to date, with House Speaker Mike Johnson privately warning his GOP members on a call Tuesday that the pain was about to spike for everyday Americans.

    Senate Democrats have now voted 13 times to block a GOP funding bill because it does not include their separate demands on extending health care subsidies. But GOP leaders have refused to negotiate on the subsidies until the government reopens, leaving both parties in a bitter stalemate with no clear way out.

    Democrats have been unflinching in their stance, despite the looming Saturday deadline for the food aid. They argue that President Donald Trump has sought to “weaponize” the food assistance program, intentionally choosing not to fund the aid to pressure Democrats to yield.

    Fight over food aid

    Shortly after the lawsuit was filed Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CNN that there isn’t enough contingency funding to cover SNAP benefits for November, which she said would cost about $9.2 billion.

    “As of today, that $9.2 billion, we don’t even have close to that in contingency funding,” Rollins said. “We’ve got to get this government open.”

    She added that “all it takes is a yes on a continuing resolution to keep the government going, and to send that (SNAP) money out to the states.”

    A so-called clean continuing resolution would extend government funding at current levels. But congressional Democrats have opposed that because Republicans haven’t agreed to negotiate on the expiring health care subsidies.

    The White House referred CNN to the Office of Management and Budget for comment on the lawsuit. An OMB spokesperson said in a statement that “Democrats chose to shut down the government knowing full well that SNAP would soon run out of funds. It doesn’t have to be this way, and it’s sad they are using the families who rely on it as pawns.”

    Democratic attorney general: ‘This is wrong’

    The Democratic-run states filed the lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court. Court records indicate the case was randomly assigned to District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee who was confirmed in a bipartisan and unanimous Senate vote in 2014.

    Congress approved $6 billion for a “SNAP-specific contingency fund” in the spending bill that averted a shutdown in March, the lawsuit notes. The lawsuit also points out that, as recently as September, the USDA website identified these funds as part of its plan to keep the food stamp payments flowing in case of a government shutdown.

    North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, accused the Trump administration of using SNAP benefits “to play shutdown politics” at a news conference Tuesday announcing his support for the lawsuit.

    “The truth is the department has the money,” Jackson said, adding, “They are looking to ratchet up the pain in an already painful moment. This is wrong, and it’s against the law.”

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  • Trump administration won’t tap contingency fund to keep food aid flowing, memo says

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    By KEVIN FREKING

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is rejecting the idea of using roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep food aid flowing into November amid the government shutdown, according to a Department of Agriculture memo that surfaced Friday. States temporarily covering the cost of benefits next month will not be reimbursed, the memo says.

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    Associated Press

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  • Cindy McCain suffers a mild stroke and will take leave from World Food Program while recovering

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    Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain and head of the U.N. World Food Program, suffered a mild stroke this week and is said to be recovering “well,” according to a press release Thursday from the humanitarian organization. The statement said McCain, 71, is expected to make a “full recovery” and will be traveling from Rome, where the WFP is based, to Arizona to focus on her recuperation. She will return to her post after her doctors have cleared her in four to six weeks. “I want to thank the medical staff in Italy for the excellent treatment I received,” said McCain. “My recovery is progressing well thanks to their outstanding care.”McCain was appointed in March 2023 to lead the world’s largest humanitarian organization after serving as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. agencies for food and agriculture under former President Joe Biden. McCain broke with Republicans when she endorsed Biden for president in 2020, making her a key surrogate for the Democrat after now-President Donald Trump spent years criticizing her husband and his military service. She has since become the face of the World Food Program, one of the few U.N. agencies that has received bipartisan support for its efforts to help nearly 150 million people confronting conflicts, disasters, and impacts of climate change this year. McCain and the WFP have been in the spotlight as the agency has sought to respond to the humanitarian crises caused by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Israel’s offensive inside the Gaza Strip. In late August, after visiting Gaza, McCain told The Associated Press it was “very evident” that there isn’t enough food in the Palestinian territory. She said she had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the urgent need for more aid.Her comments came a week after the world’s leading authority on food crises said the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it was likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.”I personally met mothers and children who were starving in Gaza,” she said. “It is real and it is happening now,”An advocate for children, McCain has served on the board of directors for Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing facial deformities for children around the world, visiting India, Morocco, and Vietnam, the joint announcement said.McCain succeeded David Beasley, a former South Carolina governor who had led WFP through challenging times, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beasley was at the helm when the World Food Program was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, in part for being “a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.”Carl Skau, the deputy executive director of WFP, is expected to oversee the organization’s day-to-day operations until McCain’s return. In the statement Thursday, McCain said she has “full confidence” in her leadership team’s ability” to stay laser-focused on delivering urgently needed food assistance to the more than 100 million people WFP is working to serve across 87 countries.”She added, “The fight against hunger has never been more critical, and I am incredibly proud of the work our teams do every day. I look forward to being back in the field soon — alongside WFP teams — pushing back against famine and supporting communities in need.”

    NEW YORK —

    Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain and head of the U.N. World Food Program, suffered a mild stroke this week and is said to be recovering “well,” according to a press release Thursday from the humanitarian organization.

    The statement said McCain, 71, is expected to make a “full recovery” and will be traveling from Rome, where the WFP is based, to Arizona to focus on her recuperation. She will return to her post after her doctors have cleared her in four to six weeks.

    “I want to thank the medical staff in Italy for the excellent treatment I received,” said McCain. “My recovery is progressing well thanks to their outstanding care.”

    McCain was appointed in March 2023 to lead the world’s largest humanitarian organization after serving as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. agencies for food and agriculture under former President Joe Biden. McCain broke with Republicans when she endorsed Biden for president in 2020, making her a key surrogate for the Democrat after now-President Donald Trump spent years criticizing her husband and his military service.

    She has since become the face of the World Food Program, one of the few U.N. agencies that has received bipartisan support for its efforts to help nearly 150 million people confronting conflicts, disasters, and impacts of climate change this year. McCain and the WFP have been in the spotlight as the agency has sought to respond to the humanitarian crises caused by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Israel’s offensive inside the Gaza Strip.

    In late August, after visiting Gaza, McCain told The Associated Press it was “very evident” that there isn’t enough food in the Palestinian territory. She said she had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the urgent need for more aid.

    Her comments came a week after the world’s leading authority on food crises said the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it was likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

    “I personally met mothers and children who were starving in Gaza,” she said. “It is real and it is happening now,”

    An advocate for children, McCain has served on the board of directors for Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing facial deformities for children around the world, visiting India, Morocco, and Vietnam, the joint announcement said.

    McCain succeeded David Beasley, a former South Carolina governor who had led WFP through challenging times, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beasley was at the helm when the World Food Program was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, in part for being “a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.”

    Carl Skau, the deputy executive director of WFP, is expected to oversee the organization’s day-to-day operations until McCain’s return.

    In the statement Thursday, McCain said she has “full confidence” in her leadership team’s ability” to stay laser-focused on delivering urgently needed food assistance to the more than 100 million people WFP is working to serve across 87 countries.”

    She added, “The fight against hunger has never been more critical, and I am incredibly proud of the work our teams do every day. I look forward to being back in the field soon — alongside WFP teams — pushing back against famine and supporting communities in need.”

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