Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that California is launching a new initiative to get food from farmers and ranchers to food banks in need.
Farmers are experiencing a big decline in demand while restaurants have closed or switched to take-out only during the coronavirus outbreak and state stay-at-home order.
Food banks, meanwhile, have seen a surge in demand as the public health crisis has left millions of Californians out of work.
“We want to address that mismatch,” Newsom said during his daily briefing. "We want to address that supply and demand. that is the announcement today, to work with the ranchers, to work with the farmers and to connect them with the food banks and jumpstarts the capacity to deliver nutritious food."
Newsom said the goal is to provide 21 million pounds of fresh produce and other commodities to food banks on a monthly basis. The farmers will also get a tax credit for providing the food.
