Food Insecurity Cost Estimates for El Paso: 2023

Authors

Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., University of Texas at El PasoFollow
Gregory S. Schober, University of Texas at El PasoFollow
Steven L. Fullerton, University of Texas at El PasoFollow
Eva Moya, University of Texas at El PasoFollow

Publication Date

9-2024

Comments

Technical Report TX24-1

Thomas M. Fullerton, Jr., Gregory S. Schober, Steven L. Fullerton, and Eva M. Moya, 2024, Food Insecurity Cost Estimates for El Paso: 2023, Technical Report TX24-1, El Paso, TX: University of Texas at El Paso Border Region Modeling Project.

A revised version of this study is forthcoming in Journal of Applied Business & Economics.

Abstract

Food insecurity is a fairly pervasive problem throughout the United States that is especially burdensome for low-income regions. While the latter is generally recognized, there have been very few efforts to quantify the dollar costs of food insecurity, especially at the regional level. This study attempts to do so for El Paso County, Texas. This is achieved by first adjusting for inflation cost estimates in a prior national level study. Regional differences with respect to the nation are then utilized to calculate comparable costs for El Paso. Results indicate that the economic damage wrought by food insecurity in El Paso during 2023 exceeded $745 million. That represents nearly 2 percent of total personal income in the county for that year.