The worsening baby formula shortage is putting a major strain on U.S. families.

Why it matters: The scarcity impacts most children, as three in four babies are fed formula by 6 months old, Axios' Nathan Bomey writes.

What's happening: A cascade of issues with formula production and distribution are to blame for the shortage, which began late last year and has gotten precipitously worse in recent weeks.

• Abbott Nutrition, one of the country's largest suppliers of formula, reached a deal with the FDA to reopen its manufacturing plant in Michigan, which would help ease the shortage in as early as eight weeks, the company announced Monday.

Zoom in: A cursory check of local stores indicates this is being felt in Central Texas.

• The baby food section at the H-E-B on Oltorf and South Congress on Monday afternoon had a few jugs and cans of formula available — some behind security shields — but mostly the shelves were bare.
• H-E-B is limiting the amount of baby formula that can be purchased per customer.

At stake: Baby formula has become an unlikely political cudgel.

• Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott called it "shameful" that the Biden administration was providing baby formula to kids whose parents may have crossed the border illegally.
• "While mothers and fathers stare at empty grocery store shelves in a panic, the Biden Administration is happy to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants coming across our southern border," Abbott said in a statement.
• Yes, but: The federal government is required to provide food and water to migrant children detained at the border, part of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit from 1997.

📬 We want to hear from readers: Is the formula shortage impacting your family? If so, how are you dealing with this problem?

Speaking of babies … turns out they just keep coming.

Texas' class of 2039 will be dominated by Liams and Olivias.

Driving the news: The Social Security Administration just released its 2021 list of the most popular baby names.

Zoom in: Here are the most popular names in Texas.

Boys:

1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Elijah
4. Mateo
5. Sebastian

Girls:

1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Camila
4. Isabella
5. Mia

Flashback: Two decades ago, Asher ranked 483rd in baby name popularity nationally — and wasn't even in the top 1,000 before 1983.

• Today, the name ranks 25th nationally.
• 🤫 Shhh: Asher — the co-writer of this newsletter — secretly slightly resents all the new, little Ashers who, collectively, make him feel less special.

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🚣‍♀️ The Waller Creek Rowing Club will relocate east of the interstate since its current boathouse will be torn down to make way for Austin's new Blue Line light rail. (KVUE)

🏥 The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians wants $1 million from the city for health care coverage for local musicians. (Austin Monitor)

🏛 The Supreme Court sided with Sen. Ted Cruz in his challenge to a federal cap on post-election political donations that help campaigns repay personal loans from candidates. (Axios)

Last week's shooting of three women at a Korean hair salon in Dallas is being investigated by police as a hate crime and believed to be connected to at least two other attacks.

Between the lines: Anti-Asian racism has increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some people wrongly blaming Asian Americans for the disease, reported Axios' Russell Contreras and Shawna Chen.

• More than 10,300 hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islander people were reported to Stop AAPI Hate between March 2020 and September 2021; 62% of the incidents were directed at women.

Craving something different, Asher recently tried The Kibanda, a new Kenyan eatery operating out of GhostLine Kitchens, which is basically a stylish commissary deluxe off East Ben White Boulevard in Southeast Austin.

• There's no table service at GhostLine — instead you order at a window, or online, and your food is presented at a pick-up window.
• There are plenty of shaded picnic tables for dining.

Unexpected — and happy — marriages of flavors abound at The Kibanda. Asher ordered:

• The rolex — a delicious Kenyan omelet stuffed with beef and cabbage and rolled in a flaky chapati;
• Smoked sausage topped with a fresh tomato and onion relish known as kachumbari;
• And, the winner, ng'ombe — a tender beef stew, served with sukuma wiki — bright-tasting collard greens.

After the meal he caught up with Eva Bundi, the cook and proprietor, who grew up in central Kenya.

• Back home, a kibanda is "basically a semi-permanent place where middle class and working class go to grab a good meal that is not expensive," she said — and that's the idea behind GhostLine. "It's good food without the frills of a fine-dining restaurant."
• She moved to Austin toward the end of 2020, amid the tumult of the pandemic, after stints in Seattle and South Carolina.

The bottom line: "I realized there's no Kenyan restaurant and decided to go for it," she said.

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Axios employees meet in Washington, D.C., later this week for a company-wide retreat and reporters from across the country are bringing snacks from their respective cities to compare.

• We have to figure out Central Texas' best snack.

Yes, but: Barbecue probably won't travel well, so La Barbecue is out.

• Same for tacos and queso.

We need your help: This is where you come in. Help us show our colleagues that Central Texas can snack with the best of them.

🤔 Got a great travel-ready food idea? Hit reply, and tell us.