Texans, racial minorities go hungry more
Rates of food insecurity higher in this state, among Black and Hispanic households
Texans are more likely to go hungry than other Americans, and people of color face significantly higher rates of food insecurity than their white counterparts, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s annual survey on food insecurity.
Across America, about 10.5 percent of households experienced food insecurity, meaning their access to adequate food is limited by money or other resources, according to the survey. In Texas, that number was 13.35 percent between 2018 and 2020, higher than all but seven other states, the majority of which were also in the South.
The rates of food insecurity in communities of color across the country was far higher than the national average as well. About 1 in 5 Black households, or 21.75 percent, faced issues of food insecurity, as did 17.25 percent of Hispanic households.
“If we want to end hunger, which we certainly can do because we produce enough for everybody to have three healthy meals a day, seven days a week, we have to address structural racism. We’ll never end hunger if we don’t address structural racism,” said Jeremy Everett, executive director of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty.
Though structural racism extends beyond food insecurity, experts say the issue of hunger is an avoidable one, and the proof lies in pandemic-related assistance that appears to have stopped food insecurity from spiking last
year. The 10.5 percent average rate of food insecurity was the same in 2020 as it was in 2019, despite massive job losses and other economic blows brought on by the pandemic.
Though the USDA survey says more research is needed to fully understand the impact of COVID-19 on food insecurity, social safety net programs such as stimulus payments, unemployment benefits and eviction moratoriums “suggest positive effects on reducing food insecurity.”
“Because we were able to have a rapid response in the U.S., we were able to stabilize food security between 2019 and 2020, when we had very different economic realities for our communities. That shows the power of those big, rapid responses,” Everett said.
“Imagine this, if we had that robust response and we had a stabilized economy, we could probably end hunger in America,” Everett said.
One tangible way to decrease hunger would be to increase outreach about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Everett said. As of July, just 46 percent of the 574,413 people eligible for SNAP benefits in Harris County were enrolled in the program, state data shows, mirroring the statewide percentage of 45 percent.
Another barrier to food equity is a lack of walkable grocery stores in low-income communities, and a lack of transportation options to reach areas that do have grocery stores.
“I was in Sunnyside a weekend ago doing some distribution, and we noticed that there were no METRO buses driving by where I was located,” said Johnie Jones, executive director of Bread of Life, an advocacy group that works to eliminate food insecurity in marginalized communities.
“Why isn’t METRO running on Saturdays in this particular location? If someone is in need of food, if they lack access by walking distance and transportation, it creates another barrier,” Jones said.
"METRO is committed to providing safe, reliable, and equitable transit throughout the service area, and we work with communities across the region to ensure that the type and level of service provided match the demand. In the Sunnyside community, there are more than 85 bus stops and buses run at least every hour on weekdays and weekends,” the transit agency said in a statement.
“We also work with our regional partners to provide any necessary support for those in need. Throughout the pandemic, METROLift has worked handin-hand with the city of Houston to delivery groceries and other important supplies to the elderly, those living with disabilities and others,” it said.
Dan Price, the director of the Community Health Workers Initiative at the University of Houston, said the issue boils down to income inequality. While an increase in SNAP benefits and other programs aimed at reducing food insecurity are helpful, an integrated approach that sees food insecurity as being tied to healthcare, job opportunities and transportation would go farther in addressing the root causes.
“People living paycheck to paycheck often have to decide if they want to pay rent or buy food, and those are systemic barriers to wealth increase,” Price said.
“The safety net metaphor is the idea that you have multiple strands coming together, so that if any one strand breaks you still have the rest of the net to depend on,” he said.
As pandemic-related assistance such as the federal eviction moratorium and unemployment benefits expire, experts fear that the spike in food insecurity that was initially staved off may now be realized.
“The pandemic is not over. If we don’t have an aggressive response to the delta variant and see the pandemic linger, not only is it traumatic, but it’s going to persist. The economy is not going to fully recover, the stimulus programs are going to go away, and we’re going to see another spike in food insecurity,” Everett said.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. We have complete agency as a state and as communities to solve our food crisis, our economic crisis and the COVID crisis. We just have to take responsibility and be accountable and do the things that we know work,” Everett said.