Stick with me, neighbors. This is some bad stuff!
Texas has more hungry people than any other state in America. And this is the 3rd year in a row for that. It’s called “overall food insecurity.” And FEEDING TEXAS, a “state wide network of food banks,” has the numbers. If you are food insecure, you have “limited or uncertain access to sufficient amounts of safe, nutritious food needed for an active and healthy life,” I was born in Texas. When I was a kid, and for years after that, Texas was a rich state, with booming oil and gas industries making millions along with other companies. And Texas is still rich.
Talk About Disgusting
On June 15, 2025, Texas had a “$24-billion-dollar budget surplus. So what is our state doing to help hungry people? It’s spending just a bit more than $200 million to feed them, so less than 1 percent of that $24 billion surplus. Most of the surplus money is going to business growth, property tax relief and border operations. The Texas Economic Development Corporation has a list of everything else being funded with that $24-billion-dollar surplus.
The Hunger’s Hurting
It’s hitting “roughly 1 in 5 people” in Texas. And it’s hurting children a lot. One in every 4 kids is going hungry – that’s 26.1% of little kids without enough food. And it’s not getting better. It’s getting worse. This July, “Texas had a food insecurity rate of 19.4%, an increase of 11% from last year.
Even More Damage
Last week, a worker from a San Antonio home services company came to our house, just off Polly Peak road outside Bandera, to do a test on our water well. He was a hard-working young guy, just 26 years old, really smart and friendly. Once he got the test done, I asked if he had kids. He said, “No, we can’t afford that.”
Really? It hit me hard. And it woke me up. Why would he say that? I jumped on the Internet to do some research. And I saw for the first time, just last week, the hunger slamming Bandera County, and the rest of Texas, because so many people are “food insecure.”
Here’s Help
If you need help to feed yourself and your family, or you know someone who needs that help, thanks to Bandera’s Silver Sage senior center, here’s a list of places it gave me that you can call:
• Out of the Way Community Corps in Lakehills 24/7 outdoor food pantry
• 830-346-1255
• 830-777-9713
• Lakehills United Methodist food pantry and free dinner every Monday night
• 830-751-2404
• Walker Community Church pantry (in Whartons Dock)
• 830-837-3517
• 830-796-3171
• Medina Food Pantry next to Keese's BBQ 2nd Friday every month
• 830-426-4847
• 210-273-8033
• Ridin' the River Cowboy fellowship food pantry • 830-460-0710
• St. Victor's Chapel in Lakehills food pantry various Saturdays
• 830-460-4712
• Silver Sage Meals On Wheels
• 830-796-4969 If you’re not food insecure, call to donate money if you can.
Jodie Sinclair is an award-winning writer who holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and resides in Bandera.
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