Food Insecurity and Consumption in Texas
Learn about food insecurity, food access, and consumer expenditures on food in Texas counties.
What is food security?
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) food security is when all community members have access to enough food to live a healthy and active life at all times. Conversely, food insecurity refers to a lack of access to enough food to live a healthy, active life.
Hunger is another term used in relation to food security. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines hunger as the uncomfortable physical sensation caused by the lack of nutritious food. So one is more likely to experience hunger due to food insecurity. Since 2006, USDA has defined food security and insecurity ranges as high food security, marginal food security, or low food security and very low food security. You can read more about the definitions of these categories on the USDA website .
Food Insecurity in Texas
According to Feeding Texas , Texas is one of the nine states with higher food insecurity than the national average. In other words, 1 in 8 Texans has been affected by food insecurity. This is approximately 4 million people, including children, veterans, seniors, working families, and people with accessibility needs.
In 2019, over 15% of the population in about 52% of the counties in Texas (132 out of 254) suffered food insecurity.
Based on the Rural-Urban Continuum Codes described in the table below, out of these 132 counties, 56 are categorized as RUCC 1-3, 23 as RUCC 4 -5, 74 as RUCC 6-7, and 56 as RUCC 8-9.
RUCC 9 is the most frequent among all individual categories that may be indicative of more pronounced food insecurity challenges in rural counties.
USDA Economic Research Service, retrieved on Nov 11, 2022, from here .
Food Insecurity among Children in Texas
20% of children in Texas experience hunger, meaning that 1 in 5 kids is probably affected by food insecurity (Feeding Texas, 2022). In 2019, over 1,400,000 children were affected by food insecurity in Texas.
Cost per Meal
In 2019, the cost of a meal was over the state average of $2.87 in over 55% of the counties (140 counties out of 254).
Food Access
USDA defines food access in terms of accessibility to sources of healthy food such as "supermarkets, supercenters, grocery stores, or other sources of healthy and affordable food", which is often measured by proximity (distance to a store) or by availability (the number of stores available in an area). In addition, other socioenvoronmental and economic factors such as income and access to a vehicle may affect food access.
About 14% Texan population, slightly over 4 million people, lacks adequate access to food. Out of this population, over 88% live in urban areas (RUUC 1 - 3). However, the rate of lack of adequate access to food varies, and it is higher in RUCC 9, 6, 7, and 2.
The data for this and the next map are retrieved from ArcGIS Living Atlas, County Health Rankings, 2022.
The clustors of the low-income population who do not live near a grocery store are higher in the southern part of the state and rural and non-metro areas. One exception is Hudspeth County which is categorized as RUCC 2 (metro area,) with over 58% of its population being low-income and not living close to a grocery store. In second place is Cottle County (RUCC 9) with 57%.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
SNAP provides nutrition assistance to help with the food budget of families who cannot otherwise provide healthy food and move towards self-sufficiency ( USDA , Food and Nutrition Service, 2022). While it may have its shortcomings, SNAP is the largest food assistance program in the US ( USDA , Economic Research Service, 2022).
HH_SNAP_CashAssistance_2019
In 2019, over 712,000 Texan households with children under 18 received SNAP.
In 2019, over 343,000 households with at least on person older than 60 years of age received SNAP.
Consumer Expenditure Spent on Food
(At Home and Away from Home)
This map shows the distribution of average household money spent on food at home in 2022. Overall, about $63,350,000,000 has been spent on at home food. Collin County has the highest amount with almost $7000 and Hudspeth County with about $3500 has the lowest.
This map shows the distribution of average household money spent on food away from home in 2022. Overall, about $36,600,00,0 has been spent on food away from home. Loving County has the highest amount with almost $54700 and Hudspeth County with about $1900 has the lowest
Consumer Expenditure Spent on Different Food Groups
(Meat products, Cereals and Bakery, Dairy, Fruit and Vegetable)
Overal, Texan households spent about $13,304,000,000 on meat, poultry, fish, and eggs in 2022. King County has the highest household average with almost $1500 and Hudspeth County with about $720 has the lowest spending on these food items.
Overall, about $8,000,000,000 have been spent on cereals and bakery products in 2022. Borden County has the highest household average with about $930 and Hudspeth County with about $470 has the lowest spending on these food items.
About $6,000,000,000 have been spent on dairy products in 2022. Collin County has the highest household average with about $660 and Hudspeth County with about $380 has the lowest spending on these food items.
The household expenditure on fruit and Vegetables has approximately been $12,590,000,000 in 2022. Collin County has the highest household average with about $540 and Loving County with about $380 has the lowest spending on these food items.
Food security is a significant challenge rooted in economic, health, social, and environmental grounds. Food assistance programs such as SNAP are critical for low-income households to improve their access to healthy food. However, more is needed to address the problem of food security not only in the US but globally.
