EL CAJON’S SEARCH FOR FOOD

Currently, 435,000

individuals in San Diego

County are classified as

food insecure, including

more than 160,000

children. These are often

hard working adults,

children and seniors who

cannot make ends meet

and are forced to go

without food for several

meals, days or extended

periods of time.

-Feeding America

Special Interest Points

Food Security

Demographics

How People are Searching

When people are searching

Services provided in El Cajon

Being food secure means having access to adequate food supply year- round

in order to thrive as a healthy human being. Being food insecure means that

individuals experience periods of reduced quality, variety or desirability of diets

at some points of the month. This includes reports of disrupted eating patterns

and reduced food intake (USDA, 2015). In fact, 435,560 people in the San Die-

go County were food insecure in the year 2015 (Feeding America, n.d.). Unfor-

tunately, not everyone who is food insecure is eligible for federal programs.

This is where charitable responses to hunger, like El Cajon’s Crisis House, are

extremely helpful to families in their communities. Some factors to food insecu-

rity are linked to the demographics:

El Cajon Demographics and Statistics

Social Economic Status

Median household income: $45,957

Person in poverty: 25.8%

Immigrants

Foreign born persons: 29.6%*

Government Assistance

Total participants of CalFresh in

San Diego County: 291,188

Homelessness in El Cajon

Total homelessness: 711

*Data collected from the US Census, Kidsdata.org,

And Regional Taskforce on the Homeless San Diego

Food Insecurity and Health

With the lack of available healthy food, negative health outcomes such as ane-

mia, diabetes, heart disease and cognitive deficits in development can occur.

SNAP is an effort to reduce food insecurity which in turn will reduce health dis-

parities (Long-Term Benefits of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,

pg. 8). The graph below indicates the increasing number of CalFresh partici-

pants in the San Diego County (Kidsdata.org).

ElCajonResources.org April 2016

CalFresh Participation from kidsdata.org

How are People Searching? Using the internet is a reliable way that

people can find local resources, like food

pantries, or to find CalFresh applications

online. Finding food in El Cajon takes

nothing just a few keywords in a search

engine. To the right is one example of top

keywords people in search of free food

are using that take them to the El Cajon

Resources website.

El Cajon Resources Connecting People to Food

The El Cajon Resources website is a reference tool. The Food Resources

page provides links to local food pantries, summer lunch programs, CalFresh

Application assistance and nutrition classes. Of all the sessions that have

taken place on the El Cajon Resources website in the year 2015, the Food

Resources page was the most utilized. Pro-

vided are hours, addresses and links that

direct hungry people to food assistance pro-

grams available in the community. This re-

source to food is proving to be useful, as

77% of the sessions are new users and

23% of users have continued to refer back

to that specific page, reaching a total of

3,621 pageviews. The average time spent

on the Food Resources page is

00:01:40.Collectively, hours have been

spent looking for food online.

Traffic Types How are people reaching the

Food Resources page?

Organic searches are made

when a person uses a search

engine, like Google, and types in

“El Cajon Food banks.” 71.3% of

El Cajon Resources users reach

the Food Resources site this

way.

Direct searches are visitors

who reached the Food Re-

sources page by typing in the

exact link, or by clicking on a

bookmarked tab. 16.1% of re-

searchers get to the Food Re-

sources page directly.

Referral searches are made by

clicking on links from alternative

websites, such as school web-

sites, that provide the El Cajon

Food Resources link.

Collected from Google Analytics

EL CAJON’S FOOD SEARCH April 19, 2016

El Cajon Resources Providing a Service for Food Insecurity in El Cajon

ElCajonResources.org

When People Search

Day of the Month and Month of Year According to the White House Council of Economic Advisors, “research has found

that the current benefit levels are not sufficient to fill the gap between the families

resources and its need for food (Long-Term Benefits of Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program, pg. 3).” The same is evident in the El Cajon community, as

people are utilizing the Food Resources page primarily towards the end of the

month. Users of the Food Resources page access the page the most in January,

November and in April. Below is a time chart of pageviews over the year.

Downtown El Cajon Farmers Market Every Thursday from 3 to 7pm at Prescott

Promenade, located at 201 Main Street, the

City of El Cajon hosts a local farmers market.

Here, people can shop locally grown fruits

and vegetables, certified organic products

and other foods. The market accepts SNAP.

EL CAJON’S FOOD SEARCH April, 2016

El Cajon Resources Providing a Service for Food Insecurity in El Cajon

What is CalFresh? What was formally

known as the Food

Stamp Program in

California is now

CalFresh. CalFresh is

also known as Sup-

plemental Nutritional

Assistance Program

(SNAP)(USDAFNS,

2016).

This program pro-

vides monthly bene-

fits to low income

households in pur-

chasing adequate

food supplies to

maintain healthy

lives. The benefits

are distributed at the

beginning of each

month.

CalFresh is used to

buy bread, cereal,

fruit, meats, vegeta-

bles, dairy and more.

Families and

individuals must meet

various guidelines in

order to qualify such

as:

Most households

must have a total

gross monthly in-

come less than or

equal to 200% of the

federal poverty level.

Lawfully-present

immigrants who have

lived in the country

(in qualified status)

for five years (CDSS,

n.d.).

People are

searching

for food

primarily

towards the

end of the

month.

Contact Us

Give us a call for more information about our services and resources. Phone: Office: (619) 447-4380 Fax: (619) 447-5761 El Cajon Collaborative is located at Little House 131 Avocado Ave. El Cajon, CA 92020 Hours: Monday through Friday 9:00 am - 4:30 pm or by appointment Email: coordinator@elcajon collaborative.org Visit us online: elcajoncollaborative.org or elcajonresources.org

Food Services in El Cajon Provided are local food pantries and services. Feel free to call for your own food sup-

ply or if you would like to make donations. Note that each food pantry has individual

qualifications to attain food. Each location also has different scheduled times of distri-

bution. Visit www.ElCajonResources.org for details.

Bethlehem Food Pantry (619) 517-4364 737 Grant Ave. El Cajon, CA 92020

Children’s Choice Daycare 1465 E. Madison Ave. El Cajon, CA 92020

Crisis House (619) 444-1194 1034 N. Magnolia Ave. El Cajon, CA 92020

El Cajon Four Square Emergency Food Assistance Program 1012 E Bradley Ave. El Cajon, CA 92020

Foodhills Christian Fellowship 315 West Bradley El Cajon, CA 92021

Holy Trinity Catholic Church (619) 444-9425 405 Ballard St. El Cajon, CA 92019

Our Lady of Grace (619) 469-0133 2466 Navajo Rd. El Cajon, CA 92019

Salvation Army (619) 440-4683 1011 East Main St. El Cajon, CA 92021

EL CAJON’S FOOD SEARCH April 19, 2016

El Cajon Resources Providing a Service for Food Insecurity in El Cajon

California Department of Social Services. Eligibility and Issuance Requirements. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from http://www.calfresh.ca.gov/Pg841.htm#citizen

Kidsdata.org. CalFresh (Food Stamp) Participation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from http://www.kidsdata.org/topic/742/food-stamps/table#fmt=2261

Feeding America. Map the Meal Gap. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from http://feedingamericasd.org/hunger-research/map-the-meal-gap/

Regional Task Force on the Homeless San Diego. City Profile: City of El Cajon. (2015). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from http://www.rtfhsd.org/wp/wp-content/

uploads/2015/05/2015-City-Profile-El-Cajon-FINAL.pdf

US Census Bureau. QuickFacts: El Cajon City. (2015). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/dashboard/PST045214/0621712

US Department of Agriculture Economic Resource Service. Food Security in the U.S. Definitions of Food Security. (2015, September 8). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from

http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/definitions-of-food-security.aspx

US Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. CalFresh Home. (2016, March 21). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from http://www.calfresh.ca.gov/

Long-Term Benefits of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (2015).White House Council of Economic Advisors, 3-8. Retrieved May 3, 2016, from https://

www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cea

This document was

created by Jessica

Sanchez, Senior at SDSU,

Public Health intern at

Community Action, Service

& Advocacy (CASA)