Austin City Council aims to improve response to food-insecurity issues

[caption id="attachment_160179" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Areas of Austin with limited access to fresh food[/caption]

Potentially 25 percent of Austin residents do not know where their next meal will come from—a phenomenon known as food insecurity and a matter city leaders have identified as a priority of the newly created Office of Equity.

In a June 15 City Council work session presentation, staff from the city’s Office of Sustainability reported Austin’s food insecurity level may have been as high as 25 percent in 2015, said Edwin Marty, food policy program manager for the Office of Sustainability.

“One of the biggest concerns I’ve heard consistently from many of my constituents is the lack of access to healthy and affordable food,” District 2 Council Member Delia Garza said. “This council has shown a commitment to addressing disparities in our community, and it’s time that we invest the resources necessary to solve our food-access problems in local food deserts and across the city.”

During the past three months city staff held 11 stakeholder meetings and met with 33 organizations and six city departments to develop recommendations that include increasing funding and resources for community gardens, piloting a nutritious food incentive program in targeted ZIP codes, and launching a nutrition education campaign in collaboration with area organizations, Marty said. City Council is expected to receive a final preliminary report and cost estimate for recommendations regarding food-access issues by Aug. 2 for consideration in the 2016-17 budget.

Food access is a significant issue for Austin and the surrounding areas, said Shannon Jones, director of the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department.

“As the city grows and the affordability issue in Austin grows, persons who have historically had access to a corner grocery store or other types of resources in the inner city are now forced into areas that have no infrastructure—food access being one of them,” he said. “Austin is a healthy city, but there is a significant portion of the city not in the same situation.”

Bill Fry—board chairman of nonprofit Keep Austin Fed, which distributes healthy food destined to be discarded by stores and restaurants to area charities—said a large amount of surplus food goes to waste in the city. Fry said his organization distributes about 60,000 pounds of food each month from about 35 donors.

“When you get out into the community you see so many hungry people,” he said. “I’ve talked to people who do their [food] shopping at the dollar store.”

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