Hays County is growing fast. So is the need for access to fresh food.

From KUT News:

Joel picks up a box from the Hays County Food Bank every week in Kyle.

He’s currently unemployed and struggles to make ends meet as the city gets more expensive each year.

“Every time I go to the grocery store, you get a few items and it’s like a hundred bucks,” said Joel, who asked KUT not to use his full name for privacy reasons. “Back in 2000, you could come out with a basket for a hundred bucks.”

As cities outside Austin grow quickly, so does the need for grocery stores and healthy food options. And even as these stores come to town, many families can’t afford healthy food.

Local food banks are trying to fill the gap.

Every Tuesday, the Hays County Food Bank hosts a pop-up event in Kyle where residents can get in line, grab a box and fill it with a diverse spread of fresh vegetables and canned goods. Among the food items were ingredients for spaghetti, Easy Tiger branded bread and several desserts.

Joel said he enjoys being surprised by what the food bank offers each week, but it can be tricky to plan meals for himself and his two kids, aged 12 and 15.

“It’s like playing Tetris,” he said: You’ve got to make items from one week work with items from the next week. Part of the game is learning how to make food last. A box from the food bank usually gets him through the week, but he has to make sure he’s preserving the food properly.

Joel puts vegetables in air-tight jars and freezes what he can. He’s even getting into pickling.

“I haven’t mastered it,” he said. “I’m still working on that.”

The food giveaway on Tuesday lasted less than an hour, and volunteers served more than 180 people. Volunteer Eileen Friedeck said the rain probably kept people away; the food bank served more than double that number in Buda the day before.

“ Everything’s in high need,” she said. “[People] don’t have the money to go get things, and what we give them is not enough for a week by any means, but it’s to supplement what they have.”

Who’s food insecure in Hays County?

The Central Texas Food Bank released a study last month that found about 1 in 6 Hays County residents experience food insecurity, meaning they don’t know where their next meal will come from or if they’ll get enough food to live a healthy life.

The rate of food insecurity in Hays County is 15.9%, which is slightly lower than the Central Texas average of 16.4%. But the county’s poverty rate is higher – 12.9% compared to the region’s average of 12%.

The study found food insecurity is most prevalent among Black and Hispanic communities, migrants, families with children, college students and those with chronic health conditions or disabilities.

Food-insecure households in Hays typically share one car and have to travel an average of 8 miles to reach the nearest grocery store. The report says access to grocery stores and public transit can impact what kinds of food people buy and eat.

Judy Esquivel, client services specialist with the Hays County Food Bank, said she has felt the lack of grocery stores firsthand. She lives on the outskirts of San Marcos and travels 30 minutes to an H-E-B in Kyle about twice a month.

“It’s easier to just buy in bulk. … We put a lot of stuff in the freezer,” she said. “ We don’t have grocery stores in our general area, [just] a few gas stations that you can pick up snacks from.”

Information can better shape solutions

Tracy Ayrhart, vice president of strategic insights with the Central Texas Food Bank, presented the study’s findings to the Hays County Commissioners Court on Tuesday.

“It’s really sad to know that we have so much food insecurity,” County Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe said at the meeting. “We’ve always known that transportation is an issue for many people, especially on the east side of I-35.”

The Central Texas Food Bank is pushing for local government officials to expand options for buying fresh produce, like farmers markets. The food bank suggests vendors accept programs like Double Up Food Bucks (SNAP) or the Farmers Market Nutrition Program (WIC) benefits. These programs make fresh produce less expensive to low-income communities.

Another way to address food insecurity is by expanding school meal programs to provide food over the summer. More than a quarter of those who are food insecure in Hays County are children.

Ayrhart noted the survey results included a mom who said “school meals were a godsend” to feed her kids lunch every day.

“Schools serve as a front line not to only identify food insecurity, but address it,” she said.

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