‘It’s kind of horrible’: Free meals in San Jose lose millions of pandemic relief funding

Funding for food insecurity programs in San Jose has been severely cut, after losing COVID-19-era dollars.

Martha’s Kitchen and Loaves and Fishes Family Kitchen — two of San Jose’s largest food distributors serving tens of thousands of meals to residents each week — are being forced to rollback services, after millions in pandemic relief grants were not renewed in the city’s 2023-24 budget.  Significant cuts have already affected interim housing sites, food kitchens and recovery centers, despite a reported increase in demand.