In The News
For media requests, please contact Wesley Story at wstory@feedingtexas.org.
Commentary: Hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation, Texas children need access to food year-round
Texas must act now to prioritize Summer EBT implementation for 2025.
By Celia Cole, Eric Cooper
Most children can’t wait for the bell to ring on the last day of school. But for the millions of Texas children who participate in the free school lunch program, summer brings the loss of those meals — and it’s hard to have fun on an empty belly.
Texas’ decision not to implement Summer EBT in 2024 not only leaves hundreds of millions of dollars in summer food aid on the table, it forces the San Antonio Food Bank and food banks across Texas to pick up the slack.
Source: San Antonio Express-News
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Feeding Texas Calls for Action to Address Increase in Food Insecurity
Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole spoke with Spectrum News 1 Texas about why hunger is on the rise in Texas and what lawmakers can do to help fight this troubling trend.
"As sobering as the statistics are, they weren't surprising to us because we are seeing more and more people in our lines needing emergency food."
Source: Spectrum News 1
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“How long can we keep this up?” Food banks are under pressure from Texas’ high level of food insecurity
Inflation, stagnant federal funding for food programs and high housing costs mean that demand at food banks still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.
By Keaton Peters
Meanwhile, the processing times for SNAP applications have also been growing longer than the 30-day standard. For people who do not qualify or are waiting to hear a decision, food pantries – operated by churches and nonprofits – are the most immediate option to receive food assistance.
“[Food banks] are looking ahead and thinking, how long can we keep this up?” said Celia Cole, president of Feeding Texas, which represents a network of 21 food banks in Texas.
Feeding Texas’ network helps supply smaller food pantries including El Buen Samaritano. For every meal a food bank provides, SNAP provides nine, according to Feeding Texas.
“If the safety net breaks, we’re the last threads that are left,” said Brian Greene, CEO of the Houston Food Bank, which has served nearly twice the amount of people so far in 2023 as it did throughout all of 2019.
Source: Texas Tribune
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‘An understaffed and broken system’: 900,000 Texans have lost Medicaid as others struggle to access SNAP benefits
Almost 900,000 Texans have lost Medicaid since April and a backlog of applications has piled up, overwhelming the system and setting off a ripple effect that advocates worry is delaying families’ access to SNAP food benefits.
By Neelam Bohra
The reverberations of state employees being overwhelmed has led to Texans also losing access to their SNAP, or the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after pandemic protections lifted in March. Around 3.5 million Texans depend on food benefits.
“People are experiencing long delays getting their applications approved and other people may be losing benefits if their renewals don't go through accurately,” said Celia Cole, CEO of the nonprofit Feeding Texas. “It just really increases demand at a time where food banks are already facing a kind of food supply crisis and already struggling to keep up.”
Before the pandemic, SNAP eligibility was checked twice a year. Currently, the waiting period for having an application reviewed is 100 days. The federal standard is 30 days.
Source: Texas Tribune
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