DALLAS, TX (KAMR/KCIT) — Hunger Free America stated that it released a report ahead of the annual Nourish Change Breakfast hosted by Crossroads Community Services, a local food redistribution organization based in Dallas. The breakfast took place on Oct. 27.

According to a Hunger Free America report, the number of Texans who didn’t have enough to eat over a one-week period increased by 60% – from 1,657,418 to 2,667,937 – between August 2021 and August 2023, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey analyzed by Hunger Free America. Previously, in 2021, food hardship in Texas declined, likely because of a large influx of federal food and cash aid.

According to separate USDA data, in 2020-2022, 15.3% of Texans lived in food-insecure households, giving Texans the nation’s second-highest hunger rate, right below Arkansas at 16.6%. Mississippi is at 15.3%, and Louisiana is at 15.2%.

HFA officials stated that nationally, the number of Americans who didn’t have enough to eat over a one-week period during the same time increased by 52% – from 18 million to 27 million.

HFA officials also said that the increases are due to the fact that key parts of the federal safety net (including SNAP food benefits, universal school meals, and the expanded child tax credit cash payments) that were boosted during the pandemic were sharply curtailed while the costs for food, housing, childcare, and other basic costs of living soared.

“No one should be shocked that when the government takes away food, as well as money to buy food, hunger increases,” said Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America. “The Numbers make it abundantly clear that the federal government has a vital role to play in ensuring that Texans, and all Americans, have enough to eat. Allowing hunger to further increase is not only immoral but will have a devastating effect on the economy.”

Hunger Free America provided other findings in the report listed below:

• 25% of Texans overall who were eligible for SNAP, 28% of working Texans who were eligible for SNAP, and a whopping 67% of older Texans who were eligible for SNAP failed to receive it. in Fiscal Year 2018, according to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
• 49% of pregnant women, infants, and children who were eligible for WIC benefits in Texas failed to receive them in 2020, according to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
• 47% of Texas children who received school lunches failed to receive school breakfasts in the year 2021-2022 school year, according to the Food Research and Action Center.

To find the full report, “Texas Hunger Report 2023,” click here.