Students’ work to address food insecurity ignites Austin resolution
A proposed Austin resolution — inspired by the work of a student civic group — could help residents living in food-insecure areas have more access to healthy food through additional bus routes connecting to grocery stores.
The resolution, sponsored by City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, includes ideas proposed by St. Edward’s University Civics Lab students and calls for increased frequency on the routes that connect food-insecure areas in Austin to healthy food options. Additionally, the plan seeks to place grocery stores, food pantries and farmers markets on transit maps, as well as allow people to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through the Capital Metro app.
If approved by the city and CapMetro, public transit buses would also feature audio and visual announcements of healthy food options for passengers on board when buses stop at or near grocery stores.
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To reach its goal, the resolution directs the city manager to work with CapMetro and nonprofit organizations that support food access in Austin to conduct a study assessing how to better connect low-access communities to grocery stores.
Council Members Sabino “Pio” Renteria, Kathie Tovo, José “Chito” Vela and Ann Kitchen co-sponsored the resolution. Council members are set to vote on it Thursday.
About 14.7% of Austin residents experienced food insecurity in 2021, according to city data. In 2019 in Travis County, 12.8% of families experienced food insecurity, which was higher than the national average of 10.9%. When the coronavirus pandemic struck Austin in 2020, food insecurity increased to 17%.
“In Austin and this prosperous, wonderful city that we all love, we still have food deserts,” said Fuentes, whose district includes food-insecure areas. “We have neighborhoods that do not have a grocery store nearby, and it’s even compounded by those who don’t have adequate public transportation options. So we want to ensure that our transportation system is taking into account the food access need.”
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About 50 Civics Lab students for months worked to create a proposal — which they presented to CapMetro and city officials earlier this month — to connect public transportation to grocery stores and other healthy food destinations in the city.
The students’ research found that, in Austin, 33 areas are classified as “food deserts” or food-insecure areas, where at least 500 people or 33% of the population live far from a grocery store.
According to the Department of Agriculture’s food access atlas, these areas in the city sit almost entirely east of Interstate 35, which is a historical dividing line separating low-income neighborhoods with Black and Hispanic residents from the rest of Austin.
“Communities that lack access to healthy food suffer from far higher rates of health conditions like heart disease, cancer and diabetes,” the Civics Lab proposal and research states. “Communities that are disproportionately affected by food insecurity are low-income and communities of color, ultimately creating significant health disparities within Austin.”
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Additionally, the number of car owners is dwindling in Austin, “fostering a heavier dependence on and demand for reliable and efficient public transportation,” the proposal and research state.
On Wednesday, Fuentes, Renteria and Austin Mayor Steve Adler will declare April 21 to be Austin Food Insecurity Awareness Day.
Austin American-Statesman reporter Natalia Contreras can be reached at 512-626-4036 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook, @NataliaECG.