USDA reports one in six households at risk of hunger
For Immediate Release: September 4, 2014
Contact: Celia Cole, 512-590-0659 or ccole@tfbn.org
Austin, Texas – A U.S. Department of Agriculture report released yesterday showed that food insecurity among Texas households remained high despite the economic recovery. In the years 2011-2013, eighteen percent of Texas households (one in six) were found to have experienced hunger or engaged in coping mechanisms to avoid it.
Texas was one of just eight states confirmed to have more food insecurity than the nation as a whole during this period. In raw numbers, 1.7 million Texas households were food insecure, more than any other state except California. The state’s food insecurity rate was statistically unchanged from the prior three-year period.
“What these data tell us is that low-income Texans continue to stumble on the road to economic recovery, despite the progress we have made as a state and nation,” said Celia Cole, CEO of the Texas Food Bank Network. “Clearly the rising tide is not lifting every boat.”
The Texas state legislature, which will convene in January, will have opportunities to address food insecurity in partnership with the food banks.
“We feed those who must stand in line at food pantries in order to make ends meet. But we also want to work with our partners in business, philanthropy and government to shorten that line,” said Cole. “We need to do more to connect people to jobs with a pathway out of poverty, as well as to resources that can help them address the health consequences of hunger. By linking our hunger relief efforts with other assistance we can improve the health and economic stability of these families and break the cycle of poverty. We call this feeding with impact.”
The Texas Food Bank Network provides a unified voice among food banks in support of their common mission to end hunger in Texas.