SANGER, CA – Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) today announced that she will participate in the United Nations “Virtual Parliamentary Dialogues: Food Security and Nutrition in the Time of COVID-19,” as well as the “United Nations Food Systems Summit.”

“As a representative of the Central Valley, the region which produces the most food in the world, food security is constantly on the forefront of my mind,” said Senator Hurtado. “Food scarcity is not a concept that exists in some foreign far away land. Food scarcity threatens all nations and all people. California has led the fight against food insecurity globally, and despite our challenges, is committed to ending hunger here in our state, across the nation and around the world.  This is a unique opportunity and I am honored to collaborate, engage, and take action towards a sustainable food system.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is hosting a follow up virtual series to the Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition held in 2018. The 2018 Summit Against Hunger and Malnutrition served to support capacity-building activities for parliamentarians and strengthen the political dialogue surrounding programs being developed in each region.

This year’s “Food Security and Nutrition in the Time of COVID-19” will address the impacts the virus has had on food and agriculture, including the needs of vulnerable populations, ways to maintain global food trade, ways to keep national supply chains moving, and how to secure the right to food.

Senator Hurtado introduced Senate Bill 108 in the 2021 Legislative Session, which would have declared it to be state policy that individuals have the right to sufficient, safe, and healthy food. This bill was ultimately held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Her bill, Senate Bill 464—Comida Para Todos— works towards providing greater food security to low-income immigrant workers by expanding eligibility for state funded nutrition benefits to anyone ineligible for CalFresh due solely to their immigration status. This bill is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee awaiting further action. In line with this work, Senator Hurtado advocated for the inclusion of $5 million in the State Budget to prepare for the expansion of food benefits for undocumented immigrants.

Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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