Every day more than 700,000 people in Harris County are uncertain about where they will get their next meal. Not all of them are poor — many are working people who don't qualify for federal food programs.

These are among the findings of a recent study that provides the first detailed look at hunger at the county level. Harris County families struggling to keep food on the table have a food budget shortfall of $12.97 per week, per person. To fill the meal gap, $277 million is needed annually to ensure that every person has three meals a day, according to the report's calculations.

The federal government defines food insecurity as limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. On average, food insecure families go at least seven months of the year without enough food, the study said.

The study, based on 2009 figures, was conducted by Feeding America, a national hunger relief organization, with the goal of helping local food banks develop better strategies to target hunger. Food banks traditionally have relied on state and national data to estimate food insecurity needs, but the new county data give them a more accurate assessment.

New food bank

In Montgomery County, where 15.3 percent of residents are dealing with hunger, a new food pantry opened in November. The pantry is in a Splendora school district facility and serves 100 families whose children attend two low-income elementary schools. The pantry is funded by a grant from Feeding America and Target stores; the Montgomery County Food Bank provides the food.

Splendora Superintendent Thomas Price said parents appreciate the pantry because there are none in the town. The district is among the poorest in the state with a high percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunches, he said.

Parent Annie Shiflet, who received two boxes of food from the pantry Tuesday, said the facility helps her stretch the family's monthly food budget. The homemaker and her husband, a subcontractor, have three children and their food supply sometimes runs out before the next paycheck. Shiflet said she had about three meals or less at home, and has visited the pantry every month since it opened.

"We'd have to figure out how to get the next meal if the food pantry wasn't here," she said.

Poverty vs. hunger

The Houston Food Bank is using data from the study to try to increase the number of people enrolled in SNAP, the federal food stamp program. About 62 percent of Harris County's food insecure population is below the 165 percent poverty level, which means they qualify for assistance, the study shows. But fewer than half the people who qualify for SNAP are using the program, said food bank President Brian Greene.

"You want people not having to go to food charities for food," Greene said. "The question is how do we do a better job in improving food stamp utilization. We need to get the numbers up in the Houston area."

The food bank also wants to double its efforts to collect more food to distribute to pantries, which will require developing more partnerships with the food industry, he said.

Census data used

The extra food will help feed the growing number of middle-class families who don't have a safety net. About 30 percent of Harris County's food insecure population is above the 185 percent federal poverty level (for a family of four that's $40,793 a year), according to the study. They earn too much to qualify for SNAP, free or reduced lunches for school children or the women, infants and children programs, but not enough to keep food on the table.

The remaining 8 percent of the county's food insecure population is between 165 percent and 185 percent of the poverty threshold and is eligible for child nutrition and WIC programs.

The study uses the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey data to assess the relationship between food insecurity and key indicators at the state level, including unemployment rates, median income, poverty rates and demographics.

While poverty and hunger are related, they are not the same. The national data show that 45 percent of food insecure families have incomes above the federal poverty level and that 53 percent of poor households are food secure.

"This study is important because it really shows very publicly there are children going hungry and families do not have sufficient food to lead active, healthy lives," said Anna Babin, the United Way of Greater Houston's CEO. "For many children food is taken care of at school. The worry we have is summer is coming and where will they get food?"

Last year, the United Way's 2-1-1 help line experienced up to a 30 percent increase in clients calling to request food assistance, Babin said. Many of the clients are the new working poor who were pinched by the recession and now face tough choices about how to spend their limited income. They're making tradeoffs to pay the rent, utilities or medical expenses and food has dropped on the priority list, she said.

Rising gasoline and grocery prices have made family budgets even tighter and nonprofits worry that those extra costs, coupled with proposed federal budget cuts to SNAP, could further compound the hunger needs. Greene said any reduction to the food stamp program would be "absolutely disastrous."

Working poor

"That's the last rung," he said. "If they think the charitable sector can make up the difference, we can't."

The study confirms what many social services have known for some time: Hunger has no boundaries. It affects most income levels and is just as prevalent in suburbs and rural areas as it is in large cities.

About 16.5 percent of Brazoria County's population is food insecure, and more than half its residents are working poor, according to the study.

The Pearland Neighborhood Center's food pantry is trying to do its part, though its donations are down. The number of people needing food has tripled in the last couple of years, said manager Debbie Soto. Many are middle-class people who have a difficult time asking for help because they've always been self-sufficient, she said.

"They say they only need one-time assistance but most have come back monthly," Soto said.

renee.lee@chron.com