San Francisco’s mayor wants to centralize the city’s fight against food insecurity under a single new office.
The push comes as San Francisco works to address rising food insecurity made worse by cuts by the Republican-controlled Congress last year to food assistance programs like CalFresh. This program is California’s implementation of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and provides monthly food benefits to low-income individuals and families.
Mayor Daniel Lurie introduced the legislation on Tuesday that would fold together services now scattered across multiple city departments and includes an advisory council with seats for residents who have experienced food insecurity themselves.
The proposal would establish the Office of Food Security Coordination within San Francisco’s Human Services Agency, which the city said already administers more than 70% of its food-related program funding. The office would coordinate strategy across departments, reduce duplication and build a network of government, nonprofit and philanthropic support.
“Our administration is working to make sure families can put down roots in San Francisco, and that work starts with putting food on the table,” said Lurie in a statement.
The mayor’s office has already taken steps to backfill federal cuts, including coordinating funding to cover CalFresh benefits for 112,000 residents during the 2025 shutdown of the federal government that threatened SNAP access, and budgeting $34 million to help residents keep their CalFresh benefits and enrollment in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program for low-income residents.
“Our administration is working to make sure families can put down roots in San Francisco, and that work starts with putting food on the table.”
Mayor Daniel Lurie
In a letter to Human Services Agency executive director Trent Rhorer, the mayor’s office outlined the details of the proposal and said the proposed Food Security Council would serve as an advisory body. It would advise the mayor’s office and city departments on food security strategy and policy but would not weigh in on specific funding allocations or contracts, which remain with departments under existing procurement processes.
The 15-member council would be co-chaired by a representative from the new office and a community-based organization representative. Membership would also include five community-based organization seats, five city department or public entity seats, and three seats reserved for community members who participate in food security programs or are otherwise at risk of food insecurity.
The mayor’s office said it will aim to appoint members reflecting the demographic and geographic groups facing the highest rates of food insecurity, including neighborhoods such as the Tenderloin, Chinatown and Bayview-Hunters Point.
“Healthy diets lead to healthy hearts,” Daniel Tsai, San Francisco Department of Public Health director, said in a statement. “Establishing an Office of Food Security Coordination will strengthen our collective ability to address food insecurity, align programs, and improve outcomes for communities most affected.”