Why we come together for children
Central Texas has grown in remarkable ways. More of our children are going without enough to eat at the same time. Here is what the numbers say, where they come from, and why many hands matter now.
Texas children lived with food insecurity in 2024: 26.1%, about one in four, and more children than in any other state.
Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2026 (2024 data)children in Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties, up from about 73,710 in 2019.
Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2021 and 2026; sum of the five countieschildren in Travis County: 58,020 children, 21.6% in 2024.
Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2026- Texas
- United States
Source: Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2021–2026 (data years 2019–2024).
See the numbers as a table
| Year | Texas | United States |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 19.8% | 14.6% |
| 2020 | — | — |
| 2021 | 18.1% | 12.8% |
| 2022 | 22.8% | 18.5% |
| 2023 | 22.2% | 19.2% |
| 2024 | 26.1% | 19.5% |
In Texas, the number of food-insecure children rose from 1.35 million in 2021 to nearly 2 million in 2024.
2020 is left out: Feeding America says its 2020 state estimates should not be compared over time. Each year comes from that year's edition of Map the Meal Gap, published two years later; Feeding America asks for caution when comparing years.
Our five counties
Children living with food insecurity, before the pandemic and now.
| County | 2019 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Travis | 41,130 (15.2%) | 58,020 (21.6%) |
| Williamson | 19,550 (13.7%) | 31,890 (19.7%) |
| Hays | 7,320 (14.8%) | 12,220 (20.3%) |
| Bastrop | 3,630 (16.8%) | 6,370 (23.0%) |
| Caldwell | 2,080 (20.5%) | 2,710 (24.0%) |
Source: Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2021 (2019 data) and 2026 (2024 data).
Hunger reaches every community
In Texas in 2024, about 34% of Black residents, 24% of Hispanic residents and 12% of white, non-Hispanic residents lived with food insecurity. Black and Hispanic families carry the heaviest share.
Hunger also lives in households many people do not picture. Across the United States in 2024, 8.5 million households headed by white, non-Hispanic adults were food insecure, the largest group by number, alongside 4.3 million Black-headed and 4.2 million Hispanic-headed households.
No community is untouched. That is one more reason this is work for all of us, together.
Sources: Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2026 (Texas, all ages, 2024 data); USDA Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024 (ERR-358), Table 2.
Rural Texas carries more than its share
More than 8 in 10 of the counties with the highest food insecurity in the country are rural. Close to home, every rural county around Austin has a higher share of children facing hunger than Williamson County.
| County | Children | Share of children |
|---|---|---|
| Llano | 1,000 | 29.0% |
| Burnet | 2,600 | 24.2% |
| Caldwell | 2,710 | 24.0% |
| Milam | 1,380 | 23.9% |
| Bastrop | 6,370 | 23.0% |
| Blanco | 500 | 22.9% |
| Fayette | 1,130 | 22.4% |
| Lee | 820 | 21.4% |
Nationally, 21.7% of rural households with children were food insecure in 2024, compared with 16.2% in the suburbs.
Sources: Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2026 (2024 data) and its executive summary; USDA ERS, ERR-358.
Growth, and a widening table
Travis County's economy grew by about 35% after inflation from 2019 to 2024.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP by county, via FREDOver the same years, the number of food-insecure children in Travis County grew by 41%.
Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2021 and 2026In Travis County, the top fifth of households receive 53.5% of all income; the bottom fifth receive 3.1%.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, table B19082Child poverty in Travis County barely moved (13.6% in 2019, 13.1% in 2024) while the number of hungry children rose by 41%. Hunger is reaching families who are not counted as poor. Prosperity has arrived here. The invitation is to make sure it reaches every table.
Child poverty: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, via FRED.
What is already in place
Many hands are already at work. Light a Lamp joins them; it does not replace them.
Central Texas Food Bank
Feeding Futures school pantries at Title I schools (about 30 meals per student each month), afterschool meals and summer meals across 21 counties.
Free school meals
Austin ISD serves free meals to every student at 69 campuses in 2026–27 through the federal Community Eligibility Provision. Texas has funded free meals for students who qualify for reduced-price meals in 2025–26 and 2026–27.
The Austin/Travis County Food Plan
Adopted in October 2024: the first food plan for Austin and Travis County, with 9 goals and 61 strategies over five years.
SNAP
About 3.47 million Texans relied on SNAP in 2024. Participation has fallen since: about 500,000 fewer eligible Texans took part in April 2026 than a year earlier.
Some help is not reaching Texas children. Texas has not joined Summer EBT (SUN Bucks), the federal summer grocery benefit; the 2025 Legislature set aside $60 million to begin it in 2027, and that funding was vetoed. About 3.75 million Texas children would have qualified. Federal food funding has also fallen: the Central Texas Food Bank lost $5.5 million in federal food-purchasing funds.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has ended its annual national food security survey; its 2024 report is the last. Community counts like the ones Light a Lamp will publish matter more than ever.
Sources: Central Texas Food Bank; Austin ISD (7 Aug 2026); City of Austin; No Kid Hungry Texas (3 Sep 2025); Every Texan (June 2025); The Texas Tribune (6 Jun 2025, 3 Sep 2026); KUT (23 Jun 2025); USDA Food and Nutrition Service; USDA ERS.
Why together
No single nonprofit, school, congregation or agency can close this gap alone. Each one already carries more than its share.
Light a Lamp brings them to one table: the organizations that see a child's need, and the congregations, businesses and neighbors ready to meet it. Each need met is a lamp lit.
A lamp loses nothing by lighting another.
Sources
- Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap (2021–2026 editions) and Technical Brief
- Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2026 executive summary
- USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024 (ERR-358)
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis via FRED: real GDP, Travis County
- U.S. Census Bureau SAIPE via FRED: child poverty, Travis County
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, table B19082 (via Census Reporter)
- Central Texas Food Bank, children's programs
- Austin ISD: free meals at 69 schools in 2026–27
- City of Austin: Austin/Travis County Food Plan adopted
- No Kid Hungry Texas: budget expands no-cost school meals (3 Sep 2025)
- KUT: Summer EBT funding vetoed (23 Jun 2025)
- The Texas Tribune: Texas food banks and federal cuts (3 Sep 2026)
- Every Texan: SNAP in Texas
- USDA FNS: Summer EBT participating states