SAN ANTONIO – If it was one thing that opened state Rep. Diego Bernal’s eyes during his tour of 55 schools across his district, it was that hunger is more prevalent and widespread than the solutions to wipe out the issue.

Read Diego Bernal's report on his tour of schools in his district

“The hunger piece was something that really surprised me. Not that there were hungry students, but the depth of the problem, how many hungry students there were, how big the issue was. That caught me by surprise.”

The pecan tree

Bernal continually stressed that his report is nonpartisan, but nowhere is that more telling than the story of the pecan tree.

The second-session representative met with the leader of one school who said his or her hands were tied when it came to offering food to kids after the lunch period.

The school leader told Bernal that when the student would come to the office in the afternoon, hungry, food from the cafeteria couldn’t be offered, because schools aren’t allowed to give students food after lunch. One young man, the school leader said, would come to see the school leader several times a week.

“I took us walking back and forth between the main campus and one of the portables in the back,” the school leader said. “There was a pecan tree, so we’d walk back and forth and stop, so he could pick and eat a few until he felt better.”

Bernal included common themes in his report, so the fact that the issue of hunger appeared in the report was because he heard it from more than one campus.

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One school leader prepared a list of “challenges” and “opportunities for growth,” and the No. 1 item under challenges was food insecurity.

Bernal noted that school districts offer a variety of food programs, but that they do not take advantage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture school supper program, because they assume it’s too expensive. But Bernal said it’s fully subsidized and encouraged districts to pursue the program as another option to address hunger among their students.

Weekend hunger

Another area where there’s a gap in food service is the weekend.

Bernal reported that districts typically don’t have a response to helping kids stay fed over the weekend. While some do have programs, many others don’t, he said, and it’s up to the school leadership to actively make programs work. He said there is no statewide response to the issue.

Read Diego Bernal's report on his tour of schools in his district

One school leader told Bernal about a little girl, about 7 years old, who comes to school early and waits outside the door to get the chance to eat breakfast.

“We know she doesn’t get much food, or good food, on the weekends,” the school leader said. “We can tell.”

Throwing food away

Some schools throw good food away.

It’s not because they don’t care, Bernal said in his report. It’s they don’t know if they will violate a law or district policy.

Bernal said that at schools where there are programs to feed children on weekends, many pounds of food are thrown away every day. Bureaucracy keeps schools from being able to address the issue. Bernal said Texas needs common-sense policies to get leftover food into the hands of students who need it. Bernal observed, “Nearly every campus throws away untouched, unopened, ripe, perfectly edible food every day.”

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Below is an in-depth look at each of the main areas Bernal looked at in his study. Click on the icon for each of the stories.

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