Hays County Food Bank’s Spring Harvest Challenge underway

The Hays County Food Bank’s Spring Harvest Food Drive Challenge — a fun way to get the community involved with a friendly little competition — is underway. 

The food bank said the team who collects the most pounds of food by May 15, gets to proudly display the official traveling trophy for one year.

According to Feeding America, the leading research agency on food insecurity in the United States, more than 24,000 Hays County residents are considered food insecure (2018 data). That number has surely grown in light of the recent pandemic that forced many out of jobs or reduced their hours. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a household-level economic condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food. In other words, it means that if a household who shares resources (bills, food, shelter, etc.) does not have reliable access to a sufficient variety and amount of food for a healthy lifestyle, they are considered food insecure. 

What makes a food insecure household? Many factors can contribute, but often times it is because they:

•Live paycheck to paycheck without enough financial resources to pay for all of their bills each month;

•Are unsheltered with little to no income;

•Are unable to work due to health;

•Or have just suffered a disaster which has overturned their world (loss of job, loss of a breadwinning spouse, a natural disaster, a pandemic). 

There are varying levels of food insecurity, with the most dire resulting in skipped meals multiple times each week. Other food insecure households may have enough financial resources to keep their bellies filled week to week, but they usually aren’t able to prepare nutritious meals. They rely heavily on processed foods, which are much cheaper, but not what is needed for a healthy lifestyle.

The food bank said it is much more cost effective for those living small paycheck to small paycheck to purchase shelf-stable boxed meals than to buy fresh meat and fresh produce. However, processed foods tend to contain an excessive amount of salt, sugar, and preservatives. Diets high in these can lead to diabetes, hypertension and even obesity. Low-income households tend to have a higher percentage of food-related illnesses like these because of poor diets due to lack of available resources to purchase nutritious whole foods, the food bank said.

The Hays County Food Bank is passionate about nutrition and aims to fight all levels of food insecurity by providing access to fresh produce and other healthier foods, the food bank added. This is where the Hays County community can help out.

The Spring Harvest Food Drive Challenge encourages fresh produce donations and other healthy foods like frozen lean meats and meat alternatives, canned meats, canned vegetables and fruits and whole grains, beans and legumes.

To register a team visit https://bit.ly/HFBDrive. Contact Community Relations Coordinate, Iris Tate, at itate@haysfoodbank.org or 512-392-8300 x230 if you have any questions about joining this challenge.

•Information provided by the Hays County Food Bank