Texas Ranks Second In ‘Food Insecurity’: Study

Texas ranks second in the country for food insecurity, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Texas ranks second in the country for food insecurity, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In all 1.4 million Texas households are in danger of being hungry from 2006-08.

This is a 1.5 percentage point increase from 2005-07, the report said.

Jan Pruitt, president and chief executive officer of the North Texas Food Bank, told The Dallas Morning News that these statistics match with his agency’s experience.

Thirty-six percent more people are seeking food assistance this year, she said. In July, August, and September, food distribution rose 50 percent.

“We’re averaging a million pounds of food a week,” she said.

Pruitt said she predicted more demand for food assistance “for a while.”

The group, she said, that has been served for the longest time are the underemployed – people working at jobs that can’t pay their bills.”

But more professionals, such as engineers who lost jobs as Hewlett-Packard, are seeking food assistance now, she said.

And don’t forget about the women and children who live below the poverty line.

One-in-five Texas children live in a food insecure home, she added.