The southeast quadrant of Georgetown is defined as low-income and has low access to a grocery store, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2010, that area included 1,136 households made up of 3,284 people.

The USDA defines food deserts as areas where residents live more than 1 mile from a supermarket or large grocery store in an urban area or more than 10 miles from a grocery store in a rural area. Seven percent of residents in Williamson County live in food deserts.

Healthy Williamson County, an initiative by the Williamson County and Cities Health District and local medical partners, aimed to increase access to and awareness of healthy and affordable foods in the county in its 2014-16 Williamson County Community Health Improvement Plan.

In the plan, WCCHD officials hope to increase the number of area restaurants that highlight healthy menu items; support awareness of community gardens, farmers markets and other agriculture initiatives through local partnerships; and increase the number of nutrition education programs available to families and children.

WCCHD Research Specialist Melissa Tung said the organization has been working to achieve this goal by having registered dieticians evaluate recipes at restaurants in the area, offering health education classes throughout the county and offering allowances to local community gardens. 

“We’re helping our community improve our gardens so that our community members can have access to healthy foods and learn how to grow the foods as well,” she said.

In the fall the Georgetown Health Foundation identified the southeastern quadrant of Georgetown as a food desert in a needs assessment. Suzy Pukys, the vice president of strategic philanthropy for the foundation, said it is particularly difficult for one-car families in the area to get access to nutritious food and groceries when a grocery store is more than 1 mile away. There is an H-E-B located on University Boulevard, but Pukys said the store falls outside the 1-mile radius.

“Barring other modes of transportation other than a car, you are stuck in terms of getting your groceries,” she said. “Your options are grocery store or grow it yourself.”

Pukys said the GHF is working with the city of Georgetown on issues such as public transportation, which could help residents get better access to grocery stores.

“We’re working on these other infrastructural pieces, like public transit,” she said. “To me, if you can get that going, if people had other alternatives to being able to move around in the community, would that then help mitigate these issues?”

The Caring Place in Georgetown also provides healthy food to area families through four food programs, and the organization provided 762,231 meals to families in 2015. The organization offers a food pantry, a bread program called Our Daily Bread in which day-old bread and pastries are donated from H-E-B, a fresh food and vegetable program called Fresh Food For Families, and a supplemental food program for qualifying seniors called Healthy Options Program for the Elderly. 

Additional reporting by Emilie Shaughnessy

Local groups addressing food insecurity

Anyone in the community is invited to the Getsemani Neighborhood Garden, a community garden at the Getsemani Community Center that is affiliated with the Georgetown First United Methodist Church. The neighborhood garden offers lessons on how to garden, grows fresh fruits and vegetables and donates some to The Caring Place, and lets residents grow their own food. 512-863-2370. www.fumcgt.org/serve/local

The Caring Place offers the Fresh Food for Families program on the first, third and fifth Mondays of the month. The program distributes fresh fruits and vegetables to families in need who qualify. 512-943-0700. www.caringplacetx.org

The Central Texas Food Bank, formerly known as the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, runs a mobile food pantry program and serves about 60,000 families in Central Texas. In the next five years it plans to purchase three additional trucks for the program and expand operations. 512-282-2111. www.centraltexasfoodbank.org

Sources: Central Texas Food Bank, The Caring Place, Getsemani Neighborhood Garden/Community Impact Newspaper