Nearly 1.4 million North Texans in 2024 experienced food insecurity — defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.”
In the Tarrant Area Food Bank’s 13-county service region, food insecurity rose 35% from 2023 to 2024, while the population grew by only 10% in that same time period.
That rate comes from Feeding America’s Mind the Meal Gap, an annual study of food insecurity rates published today reflecting numbers from two years ago. For Julie Butner, CEO and President of Tarrant Area Food Bank, the growth in people experiencing scarcity — a national problem reflected in the study — is especially concerning in North Texas given the rates seen locally.
“It's really disturbing that the food insecurity rates are growing at a faster pace than the population growth,” Butner said. “That's significant and unique. That's not happening in every community.”
The rising number reflects a regional trend for the combined 25 counties serviced by Tarrant Area Food Bank and North Texas Food Bank. Together, those two agencies in effect constitute the largest food bank in the country, Butner said.
“Different regions, whether it's a rural or an urban area, have different issues. But overall, food insecurity has gone up,” said Trisha Cunningham, president and CEO of North Texas Food Bank.
Increasing scarcity can be seen across ages as well. Over 506,000 kids and 294,500 seniors experienced food insecurity in North Texas in 2024, an increase of 64,190 and 55,000, respectively, from the previous year.
Given the study’s reporting on rates from two years ago, the newly released numbers don’t account for the effects of last year’s federal government shutdown, which saw about 3.47 million Texans in the SNAP program lose benefits temporarily.
“This (increase related to the shutdown) isn't surprising to us because we've been feeding these needs, and we're continuing to see increases even currently as well,” Cunningham said.
Food banks and the charitable food system have become increasingly strained as dependence upon them has increased.
That increase in dependence relates to the cuts in federal funding for SNAP following the passage of The One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Big Beautiful Bill ended eligibility for some people with lawful immigration statuses, increased work requirements, and removed certain exemptions for people experiencing homelessness, veterans and former foster youth, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute.
As of April 2026, more than 4.5 million people nationwide — and over 450,000 Texans — have exited the national food assistance program.
During the SNAP pause in November, Butner said the charitable food system couldn’t “offset what the federal government does … to help feed people who are living paycheck to paycheck.”
The same continues to be true, she said ahead of the study’s release by Feeding America. Currently, for every nine meals SNAP provides recipients, food banks provide one. And this year, about 52% of Tarrant Area Food Bank’s clients do not qualify for SNAP or other federal food assistance programs.
“The charitable food system cannot be a substitute for the federal nutrition programs,” Butner added. “That was never intended. We don't have that resource. We don't get enough donor dollars. We don't have enough food donations to ever be a replacement to a federal program.”
Overeliance on food banks also comes at a time when government and retail donations of shelf-stable and fresh food have decreased, Cunningham said. In order to continue serving people in need, food banks have begun buying more products. Tarrant Area Food Bank and North Texas Food Bank have spent $6 million and $20 million, respectively, to purchase food this fiscal year.
Cunningham hopes this new information from Feeding America will help galvanize support from a variety of stakeholders — from the local resident to the powers at be that can help support the food ecosystem.
“We have to make sure that we use this information and data to educate and inform so that our community can take action,” she said.
Ismael M. Belkoura is the nonprofit editor for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from North Texas Community Foundation. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
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