Food Stamp Information Line

1-877-847-3663 (FOOD)

The Food Stamp Information Line is a statewide toll-free phone number offering callers information about how to apply for food stamps in their county. This pilot information line was launched in March 2006. It results from a partnership between the California Department of Social Services, the California Department of Health Services, California Nutrition Network for Healthy, Active Living, the California Association of Food Banks and partner organizations, Professional Exchange Services Corporation, various 211 organizations and county food stamp offices. For more information about the Food Stamp Information Line, contact us.

Statistical Information

Below, you can access detailed statistics about the calls received by the Food Stamp Information Line for each month. The data is shown in PDF format to make it easy to download. If you'd like to convert to Excel, you can simply copy and paste into an Excel document. If you see an error, please let us know by filling out our website correction form.

2008: Summary Data

January	February	March	April	May	June
July	August	September	October	November	December

2007: Summary Data

2006: Summary Data

County Information Line Survey

To help us to keep the Food Stamp Information Line up to date, providing accurate referrals to the appropriate county offices, we offer counties the opportunity to update where the calls are transferred and what information is given to callers from their counties. Information provided through this survey is also used to update information on this website. To fill out the Information Line Survey for your county, click here now.

For a copy of California's Food Stamp Outreach Pre-screening Protocol for hotline services, click here now.

USDA Media Campaigns

The Information Line offers a one stop destination for people interested in food stamps and for this reason it is the number used on the US Department of Agriculture media campaigns. Below is some information about these USDA campaigns and samples of the television clips.

2008 USDA Television Campaign: September 20-October 20

The USDA is placing paid public service announcements in the Los Angeles, San Diego and Central Valley media markets. For a more information about these bi-lingual (English/Spanis) adds, click here.

2007 USDA Television Campaign: September 20-October 20

The USDA placed paid public service announcements in the Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Cruz media markets. For a more information about these bi-lingual (English/Spanis) adds, click here.

2006 USDA Television Campaign: September 20-October 20

The USDA paid for short public service announcement on the television stations listed below. This resulted in over 53,000 calls to the Information Line.

Los Angeles Media Market KMEX 1-877-847-FOOD

San Diego Media Market KBNT, KDTF 1-877-847-FOOD

2006 USDA Radio Campaign: March 1 - July 30

The USDA paid for short public service announcements on the radio stations listed below. These ads resulted in approximately 7,800 calls to the Information Line.

Monterey Media Market Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito and parts of Southern Santa Clara County KGO-AM KMEL-FM KPIG-FM KPRC-FM KSOL-FM KWAV-FM 1-877-847-3663

San Diego Media Market San Diego and Imperial KFMB-AM KLNV-FM KOGO-AM KSON-FM KYXY-FM 1-877-847-3663

San Francisco Media Market Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Francisco and parts of surrounding counties KCBS-AM KGO-AM KMEL-FM KOIT-FM KSOL-FM 1-877-847-3663

For more information about USDA public service annoncements, consider visiting the USDA website. This site has many useful tools to help you place your own PSA or use one that the USDA has created.