Texas food banks continue with big needs
Community needs at Texas food banks continue at high levels 10 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is no sign of any easing.
The organization Feeding Texas and its statewide network of 21 food banks have been able to feed hundreds of thousands of Texans since the start of the COVID-19 economic downturn, according to its website. More than 400 million pounds of food were distributed in response to the pandemic from March to August via the Feeding Texas network, the group said, a 60% increase over the same period in 2019.
Feeding Texas said on its website that 8.9 million Texans (31%) are food insecure, more than double the pre-pandemic rate. The food insecurity rate among Black and Latino Texans is 12% to 14% higher than among white Texans.
Texas food banks served, on average, 400,000 families weekly in the first six months of the pandemic, and the group said more than half of those families were seeking food assistance for the first time.
Sabrina Bosiacki, agriculture industry manager at the Houston Food Bank, said produce operators are trying to support food banks as much as they can.
“I think the latest stats for Texas are that one in five families is food insecure, which translates to one in three kids,” Bosiacki said.
“We haven’t seen much of a decline in need for our services since COVID began; we are still continuing to do over 900,000 pounds of food per day, almost every day.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box program has been a help, but changes to the program — specifically having the box include produce, dairy and protein rather than only produce, for example — have resulted in fewer boxes available to access because the combo boxes are more expensive.
“The base box price is a lot higher, so the money doesn’t go quite as far,” she said. “We have had to find ways to supplement around that.”
“The single (produce only) boxes worked really well for us, just because we were able to access a lot more. And it’s definitely easier to manage the supply chain of single commodity boxes with regards to temperature,” she said.
Government support at all levels has helped food banks meet community needs, Bosiacki said.
COVID-19’s detrimental effect on the Texas economy also has limited the ability of distributors to contribute to food banks, she said.
“I’m hopeful that the produce industry is able to bounce back, with all the different changes to foodservice closures and restaurant closures and reductions,” Bosiacki said.
“I know it’s been a lot of up and down for the industry, which makes it difficult, but I’m hoping that it levels out and the industry is able to prove again and get back to levels where everybody can be a little more comfortable, because we certainly need a lot more access.”
More economic activity for the produce industry would buoy the whole state, she said.
“The produce industry doing well is great for us in a lot of ways,” she said. “Obviously we have more access, but it also means that more families are able to support themselves through their own means. So it’s a win-win for us.”
