[1] Second Harvest of Silicon Valley began in 1974 as The Food Bank of Santa Clara County, a program of the now-defunct nonprofit organization Economic and Social Opportunities Inc.

In 1979, The Food Bank Inc. of Santa Clara County incorporated as a separate nonprofit organization and joined the Second Harvest system, now called Feeding America.

[8] After federal government subsidies to Second Harvest ended in 1984, The Food Bank and the smaller San Mateo County Food Bank relied solely on donations, and Catholic Charities of San Mateo County began administering the San Mateo County Food Bank.

[11] Second Harvest operates four distribution centers, including:[6][12] In 2021, Second Harvest announced a plan to consolidate food handling operations at its three San Jose facilities into a single 10.4-acre (4.2 ha) site in Alviso with 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of floor space.

[14] Most families it serves have working parents who experience food insecurity due to the San Francisco Bay Area's high cost of living amid the California housing shortage.