For Immediate Release: 6/30/16
Contact: Celia Cole, 512.590.0659 or ccole@feedingtexas.org
Austin – One in six Texas households polled in 2015 said they could not consistently afford enough food, according to a new national report.
The report, released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and entitled "How Hungry is America?" estimated that Texas’ food hardship rate ranked 15th worst among the states.
“Food hardship clearly remains an issue seven years after the recession,” said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas. “It is alarming that so many Texas households do not have the resources to meet their most basic needs."
The report also includes 2014-2015 food hardship rates for the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio metropolitan areas.
Congress is currently debating nutrition programs that are designed to address food hardship in children. The debate has included proposals to cut and block-grant funding, in essence turning over program control to states. These proposals could reduce or eliminate access to school meals programs for many of the three million Texas children who rely on them.
“It is unacceptable that Congress is debating cuts to programs like school lunch when so many families are struggling to afford food,” said Cole. “Serious proposals to end child hunger in America must start with the principle of 'do no harm,' and increase our investment in nourishing the next generation of Americans.”
The full report is available on FRAC’s website.
Feeding Texas leads a unified effort for a hunger-free Texas.