A new study has found that one in seven residents of the Texas Panhandle struggles to put food on the table regularly. The report was compiled by a Chicago-based nonprofit group called Feeding America. The Map the Meal Gap study found that 16 percent of those living in the Texas panhandle are "food insecure," according to Amarillo.com.
That amounts to about 74,000 people, including 33,000 children. Food insecurity occurs when "consistent access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources,” says the USDA.
The High Plains Food Bank has been working hard to close the "meal gap" and put food on the tables of poor families. But the challenge has been particularly difficult recently. That’s because donation levels have declined in the recent past. The Food Bank attributes the shortage to the struggling oil sector and its ripple effect on the state’s economy.