With pandemic-era programs ending, No Kid Hungry Texas polled 1,000 Texans and found large percentages of people struggling with food insecurity.
Parents and rural Texans are struggling particularly hard, with 40% of parents and 44% of rural respondents having experienced one or more symptoms of food insecurity, such as skipping a meal or running out of food.
Many middle-income households are seeking charitable food assistance for the first time, with two-thirds of those with annual incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 saying they’d worry about their ability to afford groceries if faced with the loss of just two weeks’ income, a news release said.
The poll also showed that Texans overwhelmingly want lawmakers to take action, with 90% agreeing that addressing childhood hunger should be a top priority for the state’s elected officials, and nearly all (95%) agreeing it should be a bipartisan issue.
Mia Medina, program manager for No Kid Hungry Texas, said the poll was conducted in January.
“It’s gotten harder for families to afford groceries and many families are facing hunger as a result, even middle income and working families …,” said Medina, who grew up in Big Spring. “Some of the more interesting data points that we found was that about 73 percent, so three quarters of Texas adults are having a hard time affording groceries compared to early January 2022.”
“The rising cost of food and other essentials like utilities, clothing, rent and gas are the most frequently cited reasons that made it harder to put food on the table,” Medina added.
At the start of the pandemic, many families were accessing food banks for the first time in their lives.
“And especially now that we have record inflation and expiration of pandemic-era relief programs like free school meals for all and additional SNAP benefits each month, now that those are ending we know that families are really suffering,” Medina said.
Parents and rural Texans are struggling particularly hard. About 40 percent of parents and 44 percent of rural respondents in the poll experienced one or more indicators of food insecurity in the past year. Twenty-six percent of parents and 24 percent of rural Texans worried that their household would not have enough to eat.
“One Tarrant County respondent shared, ‘I can barely afford to feed my 5-year-old daughter three meals a day, so I go without so she can eat and I’m at a threshold based on income where I make too much monthly for help, but I don’t make enough to get by.’ We’re hearing that a lot from families about how difficult it is and the realities they’re facing to ensure that they themselves are fed and their kids are fed, too,” Medina said.
More than 1,000 Texans from all over the state responded to the poll.
“The food insecurity rates in Ector County are really interesting compared to the rest of the state. Overall, food insecurity in Ector County is about 14.3 percent, and in Texas, that number is about 13 percent. When it relates to child food insecurity, that number is even higher about 22.2 percent of Ector County kids experience food insecurity compared to the state that’s 18.9 percent,” Medina said.
One in three respondents in the poll with an annual household income between $50,000 and $100,000 a year reported that they were also experiencing one or more symptoms of food insecurity like skipping a meal or being able to access or eat nutritious food due to expense.
“It’s really an interesting look at how hunger is affecting everyone right now, especially (with a) record cost of living in many Texas communities, inflation and the end of these pandemic relief programs as well,” Medina said.
She added that it is a perfect storm.
“I think what’s really interesting, too, is that 90 percent of Texans agree that ending childhood hunger should be a top priority for the state’s elected officials and 95 percent say that addressing childhood hunger should be a bipartisan issue,” Medina said.
One of the things No Kid Hungry Texas is doing is requesting an appropriation via rider to the Texas Department of Agriculture’s budget for funding is to eliminate reduced price meals. This would mean school children and their families would no longer have to pay for reduced price meals. Meals would be free.
“It will also reduce (the) financial and administrative burden on the schools and then of course helps parents as well because while these reduced price meals are up to 40 cents for breakfast and up to 40 cents for lunch, as well, they can certainly help parents stretch their budget given that they will no longer have to worry about the price of school meals,” Medina said.
Ector County ISD has continued to provide free meals to all students even after the pandemic.
“Some districts are able to participate in what’s called the community eligibility program. It’s a federal program that’s based on the need in the community if you hit what’s called an identified student percentage you are able to serve free meals to all students. But that is unfortunately not the case for every school district or even every school that can qualify for this program. Because there are pockets of poverty throughout the state in every community, unfortunately some families are not able to access that. Particularly in rural areas we see less usage of the community eligibility program,” Medina said.
She added that 40 cents doesn’t feel like a lot for some families.
“l’m sure but if you have multiple children and you are on the bubble of poverty, not having to pay for those meals could be really helpful for you,” she said.
No Kid Hungry is a national campaign to end childhood hunger in America. In Texas, No Kid Hungry works with schools, local nonprofits and elected leaders to help launch and improve programs and give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive, she said.
