A new Feeding America study using 2024 data showed about 21% of the San Antonio Food Bank’s 29-county service region is food insecure, up from 17% in the year before.
Local Impact
Roberto Font, a single grandparent raising six kids, relies on the San Antonio Food Bank twice a month. He has to lean more on the food bank now since federal policy changes slashed his SNAP benefits about four months ago.
“I was getting about $1,400 a month. Now I only get $400 and change a month for six kids,” Font said. “It’s not enough. I have to make ends meet.”
Food Insecurity on the Rise
The Feeding America study released Tuesday shows Font is one of 629,590 people in the Southwest Texas region labeled food insecure. That’s 1 in 5 people, up from 1 in 6 the year before. The hardest part to see is that when it comes to kids alone, it’s 1 in 4.
Eric Cooper, CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, emphasized that these numbers are from 2024 and said things have changed a lot even since then. “I’ve experienced ’25, and I’m currently experiencing ’26, and the line is just getting longer,” Cooper said.
Cooper’s message to lawmakers and community leaders is that safety net programs need more help, not less. “Federal safety net programs like SNAP, National School Lunch Program, WIC, they’re all critical programs,” he said.
Anyone who needs food assistance can go to the San Antonio Food Bank website or call the helpline at 210-431-8326. People who can donate time or money can also find ways to do that on the food bank website.
Original reporting: San Antonio, TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
