Hunger in Central Texas

• About 48,000 different people receive emergency food assistance from CAFB in any given week.
• CAFB serves nearly 300,000 people each year.
• 41 percent of CAFB clients are children.
• 95 percent of CAFB partner agencies say they could no longer serve their clients if the Food Bank shut down tomorrow.
• More than a third of CAFB's older clients go for extended periods without food.
• 1 in 5 families served by CAFB experience the physical pain of hunger.
• Almost half of CAFB clients have at least one working adult at home.
• Almost half of the families CAFB serves have to choose between buying food and paying utilities.
• 82 percent of CAFB clients are not homeless.

Source:  Hunger in America 2010: Central Texas Report

Hunger in Travis County

• About 43% of households with incomes below the poverty level have trouble providing enough food and more than one-third of low-income families with incomes somewhat above the poverty level (up to 185%) also have difficulty providing adequate access to food.
• Income has not kept pace with the cost of food. In 2000, a family of four could live on a food budget of about $434 per month; in 2010, this cost was $583, an increase of about 35%.
• Food-related calls to 2-1-1 increased by 8% (from 6,457 calls in 2008 to 6,987 in 2009).
• More families are enrolling in SNAP (formerly Food Stamps), and that number in Travis county steadily increases. In December 2010, there were 49,409 SNAP cases in Travis County with 110,756 people (about 11% of all Travis County residents) receiving benefits.

Source: 2010 Community Impact Report Part I: Community Condition Highlights. Travis County Health and Human Services & Veterans Service Research and Planning Division.