Living ‘on the tattered edge’: Silicon Valley sees highest food stamp levels since 2014

IT’S A TALE of two worlds in Santa Clara County — one of affluence and one of survival, as thousands of residents struggle to put food on the table.

Participation in CalFresh is at its highest level in a decade. As of July, the federally funded food assistance program has more than 130,000 individuals receiving food stamps in the county, CalFresh Policy Implementation Specialist Michelle Demetrius said. Only 72,200 county residents received food stamps in 2019, the lowest point in the last 10 years and almost half of what the numbers are today, according to CalFresh data.