\u201cWe are an industry that brings in billions of dollars in every surrounding county around us, yet, millions of dollars of food goes to waste every year,\u201d said Chef Xef Zubia. \u201cFresno being the breadbasket of the world, it doesn’t make any sense that people are food insecure here.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of President Donald Trump\u2019s \u2018One Big Beautiful Bill<\/a>,\u2019 signed into law in July 2025, large cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as CalFresh in California, have made it much harder for many families to eat.<\/p>\n The California Budget and Policy Center estimates<\/a> that cuts to CalFresh could cost the state between $2.3 billion and $5.1 billion annually, put roughly one million Californians<\/a> at risk of losing food assistance entirely, and reduce benefits for the roughly three million households<\/a> who rely on the program.<\/p>\n More than 237,000 people in Fresno County received CalFresh benefits as of July, according to the state\u2019s CalFresh dashboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n With SNAP cuts taking effect, Fresno communities are finding new ways to put food on the table, from grassroots food distributions to meals organized by gurdwaras.<\/p>\n Bringing food to Fresno without shame<\/p>\n My Homies Kitchen, Zubia said, tries to provide food that does not make people feel ashamed for needing it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey call it food deserts, it’s really a food apartheid because systemically they created this problem,\u201d Zubia said. \u201cThere is actual redlining that\u2019s happened in Fresno<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n That history is part of why Zubia sees food distribution not simply as charity, but as a responsibility to the community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe offer this food, but with more kindness,\u201d Zubia said. \u201cWe’re not out there trying to [get] exposure for just doing the bare minimum. More people should be doing this. They should be doing more.\u201d<\/p>\n At My Homies Kitchen, food distribution takes place every Saturday. The organization receives a shipment of food on Wednesdays from the Central California Food Bank<\/a>, when volunteers stock its shelves and refrigerators. By Saturday morning, people begin lining up around 7 a.m., with distribution starting around 10 a.m.<\/p>\n When the group gets more food than it can distribute on Saturday, Zubia said it may hold an additional distribution during the week. The organization also receives food from local farmers, including Rancho de Rodney<\/a>, a locally-based nonprofit farm.<\/p>\n My Homies Kitchen also delivers food to elderly residents in the area, particularly because of the heat and the difficulty of carrying groceries home.<\/p>\n The demand for the distributions has grown, particularly following cuts to CalFresh benefits<\/a>, Zubia said. The organization has been distributing food for years, beginning with distributions near Fresno\u2019s Roosevelt neighborhood before moving to the west side.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the need is there,\u201d Zubia said. \u201cThere’s so much people that are in need.\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes, however, the food available does not necessarily match what Zubia would prefer to distribute. Food from the food bank can include sugary or processed items, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as much as I don’t like giving it out, it brings the people a little bit of joy,\u201d Zubia said.<\/p>\n For Zubia, that reality underscores the contradiction at the center of Fresno\u2019s food system.<\/p>\n Zubia has been involved in food distribution for nearly six years. They began the work during the pandemic with Fresno Barrios Unidos before eventually becoming its director and later branching off to establish My Homies Kitchen.<\/p>\n The organization has since become part of what Zubia describes as a broader ecosystem of people who come together around food.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at our place, it’s alive,\u201d Zubia said. \u201cWe have an actual ecosystem of people that enjoy going there because we offer them food without shame.\u201d<\/p>\n Zubia said addressing food insecurity requires more than expanding individual food distributions, however. They see the problem as connected to larger systems involving agriculture, race, economics and political power in Fresno.<\/p>\n \u201cAg is bigger than tax. Let’s face facts,\u201d Zubia said. \u201cThis is California. We grow so much produce, and it is the biggest industry. That’s what makes California’s economy so lucrative.\u201d<\/p>\n Prableen Kaur, executive director of the Khalsa Foundation<\/a>, helps provide food distribution at gurdwaras, specifically Guru Nanak Parkash Gurdwara<\/a> and the Sikh Institute<\/a>, with volunteers from the Khalsa Foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the morning, Kaur said, food is served after religious services and can remain available throughout the day<\/a>. A new meal is prepared in the evening. The meals are vegetarian, and dishes include chapati and aloo gobi as typical offerings.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don’t have to be following the religion,\u201d Kaur said. \u201cYou don’t have to be of the color, you don’t have to be the race. If you’re having financial struggles, you know that you can go get a free meal in the evening and could take your kids there during the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Kaur said the need for that kind of assistance has become particularly important as Punjabi families face financial pressures, including problems in the trucking industry<\/a> and the broader job market. SNAP cuts have also impacted many families who come in for food.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody’s having it, so it takes away that anxiety or that taboo of being scared that someone’s going to find out that I am actually in financial crisis,\u201d Kaur said.<\/p>\n But Kaur also described changes in how some gurdwaras operate. As a child, Kaur remembers gurdwaras being open at all hours. Now, some, including the Sikh Institute, close their gates at night due to theft and other security concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n As food insecurity grows, Kaur said simply knowing where to go and that they can enter without having to explain their circumstances, can be the first step.<\/p>\n \u201cYou’ll find a lot of people really like the message of free food and removing the barriers of someone not having access to food,\u201d Kaur said. \u201cThat was from Guru Nanak, our first founder, that everybody deserves to have food.\u201d<\/p>\n It started with one orange tree<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fresnoland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_5009-1024x683.jpg\")
A Offer Kindness volunteer giving grapes during a distribution on August 30 on E Beechwood Ave. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fresnoland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_5024-1024x683.jpg\")
A mother and two children who received free grapes during a Offer Kindness distribution on August 30. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n