Hungry for Help: Food insecurity in El Paso
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Pasoans Fighting Hunger is an organization that feeds nearly 1,600 families per day. These families can go get food for a variety of reasons.
"Actually for me, I'm a senior citizen, it's real hard you know, for whenever we get our social security." Manuel Estrella told us.
Denise Aguirre, another El Paso resident who goes to EPFH, told us she has two young children and the summer was hard for her.
"My kids got out of school, so summer break was definitely a hard one for us and we needed the extra help."
The U.S Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as reduced quality and variety of your diet as well as a potential reduced intake of food.
Celeste Varela, an executive with El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, says that food insecurity can hit you a lot faster than you think.
"Many times folks are just one emergency car repair, or one unexpected medical or job change away from sending an already fragile financial situation for a family into chaos. And then hard choices have to be made, and food shouldn't be one of them."
The Borderland Rainbow Center is another group that helps people in the El Paso area. They feed about 500 people every Monday. The pantry director told me that sometimes, it may not be obvious someone is struggling.
"You'd see a brand new SUV come through, you'd see Mercedes coming through... we had a volunteer one time ask 'why are they driving that car having to come here getting food?' Like dude you don't know, they could be living in their car. They could be one car payment away from getting that thing repossessed."
The national number for citizens across the U.S who do not have food security is around 13%. The Texas number is very similar at 12.5%.
But according to a UTEP study done in 2022, the El Paso number is nearly triple of both, at 35%.
When you dig deeper into those numbers, students are a standout demographic. The same UTEP study found that 61% of their students reported food insecurity.
Other schools also had high food insecurity numbers, with El Paso Community College reporting in 2018 that 43% of their students had food insecurity. Texas Tech Health El Paso recently reported 28% of their students had food insecurity.
After talking with all these schools, there was one major takeaway: students need food.
"That's the story right? The starving college student. But it's really not a joke, this could cause them to end their educational careers." said Varela.
UTEP, El Paso Community College, and Texas Tech Health El Paso all have their own food pantries. Students can sign up through their websites and get food at no extra costs.
John Harrell, the assistant vice president of student services at Texas Tech, said, "You have students who will be starting school this week or next week, and they are having to decide 'Do I get this textbook or do I get groceries for the next week.'"
All the food banks and pantries we spoke to get traffic at all points of the year, but they all also know it should be more.
Dr. Charles Gibbens, the assistant vice president for student support at UTEP, says people should not be scared to reach out.
"We are seeing more and more that it's OK to ask for assistance, it's ok to ask for help."
Varela agreed by saying, "We think it's important to treat everybody with dignity and care and respect, and so there should be no stigma around coming and asking for help because there's no reason to go hungry."
Estrella and Aguirre urged others in their situations to put pride aside and get help.
"If they need the help, don't be afraid, don't be ashamed, come in, get all the help that you definitely need," said Aguirre.
The organizations we spoke to are listed below. If you are struggling with your food security, go to the nearest one to you and get the assistance they offer.
