Take the HUNGER 101 trip and see for yourself why so many people in San Antonio and Southwest Texas are struggling to make ends meet, how it feels to have very few choices and what you can do to help end hunger in our area.

• An estimated 49 million Americans are food insecure. Of those 49 million, almost 17 million are children and 5 million are seniors. Last year, over 37 million people used a Food Bank for emergency food assistance.
  USDA Economic Research Service – Household Food Security in the United States 2008, Hunger in America 2010: San Antonio and Southwest Texas.
• The average rate of poverty for the San Antonio Food Bank's sixteen-county service area is 15.8%.
  U.S. Census – 2008 Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) Data
• Texas is second most food insecure state in the nation. Defined, food insecurity is when you are so limited in resources to buy food that you are running out of food, reducing the quality of food that your family eats, feeding your children unbalanced diets, or skipping meals so your children can eat. 15.8% of Texas' population is food insecure.
  U.S. Census – 2008 Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) Data
• 5.7% of Texas' population experience hunger on a regular basis - more than one million people. USDA/Economic Research Service
• The rate of children living in poverty in Texas is 22.5%; the national rate is 18.2%. In Bexar County, the rate is 23.5% - that means that one in four children most likely struggle with food insecurity.
  USDA/ Economic Research Service, U.S. Census – 2008 Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) Data
• Each week, approximately 58,000 people receive emergency food assistance from an agency in the San Antonio Food Bank network.
  Hunger in America 2010: San Antonio and Southwest Texas
• Almost half of client households seeking emergency food assistance are forced to make choices between food and other basic necessities. 48% of the San Antonio Food Bank clients served report having to choose between paying for utilities or heating fuel and food; 47% had to choose between paying for rent or a mortgage and food; 39% report having to choose between paying for gas for a car or food.
  Hunger in America 2010: San Antonio and Southwest Texas
• According to a state report, three million Texans, or one in eight, including 1.2 million children were forced to visit a soup kitchen or food pantry to feed themselves in 2009.
  The Texas Food Bank Network, Feeding America - Hunger in America 2010 and Mathematica research
• Texas has the highest rate of childhood hunger and food insecurity – 22.1%. The San Antonio Food Bank has seen an increase in this demographic group, from 27% four years ago to 36% in 2010. In Bexar County, 23.5% of children are living in poverty.
  Hunger in America 2010: San Antonio and Southwest Texas, U.S. Census – 2008 Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) Data
• 14% of client households receiving emergency food assistance from the San Antonio Food Bank network are seniors. At the state level, 9% are 65 and older.
  Hunger in America 2010: San Antonio and Southwest Texas, The Texas Food Bank Network
• In San Antonio and Southwest Texas, 33% of client-families are receiving SNAP (Formerly known as Food Stamps); 15% of client-families with kids are receiving Summer Meals and 69% of client families with kids are receiving WIC.
  Hunger in America 2010: San Antonio and Southwest Texas