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Hunger in America 2006 : Central Texas Report
The Largest, Most Comprehensive Hunger Study Ever Done Reveals the Face of Hunger

WHAT: 2006 Hunger Study results for Central Texas

WHO: Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB), in association with America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network.  More than 200 emergency feeding programs (food pantries and soup kitchens) in Central Texas were surveyed.

WHY:   The Hunger Study is conducted every four years to help food banks across the nation efficiently allocate resources, determine appropriate programming, understand the urgency of hunger and food insecurity in their region(s) and measure outcomes.

***KEY FINDINGS:   Who's getting the food?

• Approximately 175,000 people receive food through CAFB's efforts.
• 38% of recipients are White/Anglo;
• 34% are Hispanic;
• 25% are African-American.
•  43% of the households include at least one employed adult.  

The Largest, Most Comprehensive Hunger Study Ever Done Reveals the Face of Hunger  

• The poor we serve are younger than the rest of Texas in general.
• While the child poverty rate in Texas is 23.2%, for the CAFB service area,  35% of the household members receiving food are children.
• While 12.4% of Texans in poverty are elderly, only 7% of households receiving food through CAFB are elderly.

Poverty and hunger

• 76% of households report incomes below the federal poverty level.
• 82% of recipients are food insecure. 
• 49% of recipients experience outright hunger. 
• 36% of recipients report having to choose between paying rent/mortgage and buying food.
• 49% report having to choose between paying for utilities and buying food.
• 34% report having to choose between buying medicine or medical service and buying food.

Who's serving our hungry?

• 71% of the pantries and 37% of the soup kitchens are run by faith-based agencies.
• 59% of pantries and 12% of soup kitchens are entirely volunteer run with no paid staff.
• CAFB is by far the most important source of food for the agencies, accounting for 76% of food for pantries, 38% for soup kitchens.

*** Full Hunger Study Report available upon request.

About Capital Area Food Bank of Texas: The mission of the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas is to feed the hungry by providing food and grocery products to human service agencies serving people in need throughout Central Texas. In its 25th year of service, the Food Bank currently provides food and grocery products to 370 Partner Agencies in 21 Central Texas counties. In 2005, CAFB distributed more than 14 million pounds of food.

For more information on the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas and its programs, visit www.austinfoodbank.org or call 512/282-2111