EL PASO, Texas – (KFOX14/CBS4) — On December 1, The Kelly Center for Hunger Relief presented alarming statistics to the El Paso City Council, revealing that 35% of El Pasoans face food insecurity, a figure more than double the national average of 13.5% reported by the USDA in 2023.
The data, derived from a University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) study, highlighted the severe impact of food insecurity on the community, costing El Paso County over $745 million in the same year.
Tom Fullerton, an economics professor at UTEP, explained that the study aimed to assess the local impact of food insecurity, identifying poverty as a leading cause…