Texans face above-average food insecurity

• Food insecurity spiked to a level not seen since the U.S. economy was slowly recovering from the financial crisis, Axios' Emily Peck and Kavya Beheraj report.

Details: Food insecurity means that at times during the year, a given household couldn't get enough food for one or more of its members because they didn't have enough money or resources.

• People with "very low" food security eat less food or skip meals. In a house with children, the adults might go without so the kids can eat.
• Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina are the other states with a higher percentage of households that are food insecure than the national average.

By the numbers: 15.5% of Texas households were food insecure between 2020 and 2022, per a recent federal report.

• That's compared to 11.2% of American households over the same period.
• In Texas, 5.8% of households on average had low food security, compared to 4.3% nationally.

Threat level: Food insecurity is ticking up after years of declines after the Great Recession. Texas had 18.8% of households experiencing food insecurity between 2008 and 2010.

• The number dropped to 13.1% between 2017 and 2019. The federal report on food insecurity called the current increase in the state "statistically significant."

What they're saying: When times are tight, it can often be "easiest" to cut back on food, Lisa Davis, a senior vice president at the anti-poverty nonprofit Share Our Strength, tells Axios.

• "If you don't pay the rent or your mortgage, you don't have a place to live. If you don't put gas in the car, you can't get to work," Davis says.
• "Food is the place that folks turn to when they have to tighten the belt even more."

How to help: You can donate food to or volunteer at the North Texas Food Bank, Tarrant Area Food Bank or Minnie's Food Pantry.