In April 2023, the County of San Diego’s Community Health and Statistics Unit provided a data presentation on Food Insecurity at the South Region Community Leadership Team Meeting (SRCLTM). It was revealed that in 2021, 27.5 percent of the population was living below 200% FPL in the South Region. In that same SRCLTM, the San Diego Hunger Coalition provided a data presentation on food insecurity that highlighted that 22% of the population (726,000 people) in San Diego County were nutrition insecure and that individuals and families throughout the county continue to struggle with affording enough healthy food. Additionally, the South Region had the highest percentage of unemployment among the HHSA Regions in 2016 and 2021. The South Region also had the highest percentage of adults 25 years and older without a high school diploma and the lowest percentage with a bachelor’s degree or higher than any other region in the county. Food insecurity is a major issue in South Region where the insecurity rate is higher than the county average, especially among children and older adults. See below for population indicators of interest.

The South Region Community Leadership Team implements the Baldrige Communities of Excellence (COE) framework. The Food Insecurity Work Group is working to improve food security in the South Region by collaborating with stakeholders and promoting funding opportunities and resources. Members of the Food Insecurity Work Group created and continuously work collectively to implement objectives, goals, and activities that focus on improving access to food in the South Region. Activities include supporting food insecurity initiatives and projects, such as seeking grant funding for collaboration efforts for the establishment of a South Region cold food facility. Additionally, the Food Insecurity Work Group holds a space at its monthly meetings to promote resources, food recovery systems and SB1383 (California's short-lived climate reduction law diverts food from landfills, aiming to enhance the ability to recover and distribute food that would otherwise go to waste).  

*Note: These do not represent all partners to the South Region Community Leadership Team. Only those partners actively involved in advancing this priority are listed here. There are many other important partners to other CEP priorities and South Region activities.

All Peoples Church, American Heart Association, Chula Vista Community Collaborative, District 1 Office of Chair Vargas, First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, Friendships for Hope, FUUSD South Bay Food Pantry, Health Care Without Harm, I Love to Glean, Institute for Public Strategies, Life Acts/Life Christian Center, Lord’s Harvest, MAAC Project, Molina Healthcare, Mundo Gardens, North County Food Policy Council, Olivewood Gardens, Operations Promise, San Diego Food Bank, San Diego Hunger Coalition, San Ysidro Health, SBCS, SunCoast, Scripps Mercy Hospital, The Rock Church, UCSD Center for Community Health, US for Warriors Foundation, among others