A FRESH future for Central Texas starts here.

The time to reimagine our food system is now.

Central Texas Food Bank’s vision is that every Central Texan has equitable access to nutritious food. This can be accomplished in two ways: by providing immediate access to nutritious food and by providing the resources necessary for all Central Texans to access food on their own.

Barriers to local food production, processing, and distribution, along with limited affordability and access to retailers, contribute to reduced food access and thus, increased reliance on charitable food services such as food pantries. Sustainable solutions to increase food access require upstream strategies that improve the local food system.

Starting with stakeholders and partners across the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area (Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties) and McLennan County, we are building a more healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system throughout our region—a system that works for all. This work will eventually engage partners and stakeholders throughout our 21-county service area to achieve this vision.

  • The Central Texas Food System Dashboard houses key food system indicators, organized by food system section, to provide a snapshot of the current state of the Central Texas regional food system and allow for collective monitoring and evaluation of food system planning and initiatives.

    This website also operates as a one-stop shop where anyone wanting to engage in food system work can find relevant food system data through both dashboards and an open data portal. The data on this website is maintained and refreshed regularly. More detail on data sources, methodology, and update frequency can be found on the dashboard pages under each visualization.

  • The Central Texas Food System Initiative convenes a data advisory group that identifies big-picture priorities, outlines goals and strategies across the Central Texas region, and helps bring the right stakeholders to the table across public and private sectors to address and solve specific issues. This data advisory group is a precursor for future regional food councils. The Food System Initiative also informs and/or convenes more local food security working groups.

  • The Central Texas Food System Initiative elevates community voice when translating data into planning and initiatives by incorporating the perspectives of the people most impacted. This is done through the inclusion of community members in working groups that develop targeted food system solutions, as well as the gathering of neighbor perspectives through needs assessments, focus groups, interviews, and surveys. Community voice and perspectives help inform policy and advocacy priorities, investment of resources, strategic partnerships, and initiatives that address both downstream charitable solutions and upstream food system solutions.

    Communities most marginalized related to food access include communities of color, particularly those who identify as Black or Hispanic or Latino/a/e; children; those living with disabilities; and those living in rural areas (residing outside of major metropolitan areas).

  • The Central Texas Food System Initiative centralizes information about food system research in Central Texas, allowing the Central Texas Food Bank and the advisory group to lead or work with university partners to fill in local data gaps and generate new research studies that inform and evaluate food system planning and initiatives.

Working Towards A FRESH Future Together

Leaders from across Central Texas are working hard to reclaim health, sustainability, and justice through food. Meet the Central Texas Food System Data Advisory Group members.

Sari M. Vatske, President and CEO of Central Texas Food Bank

Edwin Marty, Food Policy Manager, City of Austin, Office of Sustainability

Dr. Tracy Ayrhart, Vice President of Strategic Insights,
Central Texas Food Bank

Mia Burger, Research Manager, Central Texas Food Bank

Matthew Gonzales, Local Health Department Manager, Hays County Local Health Department

Dorothy Light, Community Health Connect Director, United Way for Greater Austin

Dr. Jeremy Rhodes, Senior Director of Data & Research, Prosper Waco

Jackie May, CHW, Bastrop County Cares

Emily McCabe, Community Outreach Specialist, Hays County Local Health Department

Dr. Laura Gougeon, Director of Research, Central Texas Food Bank

Dr. Natalie Poulos, Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin

Krissy Voutas, AmeriCorps VISTA, Bastrop County Cares

Bill Wilson, Senior Planner, Travis County Planning & Budget Office

Valerie Zapien, Healthy Williamson County Coalition Coordinator

Not Pictured:

Simone Benz, Policy and Advocacy Director, Sustainable Food Center

Zeke Morgan, Director of Health Initiatives, Prosper Waco

Nicole Thompson, Senior Grants Manager, Sustainable Food Center

“The Central Texas Food System has tremendous potential to address many of the pressing issues facing our community, from ensuring families can meet their basic needs to achieving our greenhouse gas emission targets. But to fully harness this potential, we have to first have a clear picture of our food system’s strengths and challenges. This Food System Dashboard website is the foundation for developing a clear and shared understanding of this story.”

— Edwin Marty, Food Policy Manager, City of Austin Office of Sustainability

A History of the Central Texas Food System Initiative

The Central Texas Food System Initiative was born out of a local effort to develop a Regional Food System Planning process in 2018. Although a regional planning effort did not come to fruition at that time, the efforts resulted in a recommendation to compile and centralize food system data to identify gaps in data and to inform the food planning process. In 2021, the City of Austin Office of Sustainability contracted with New Venture Advisors (NVA) to develop a Metrics Report and Action Plan. After the initial release of the report, the Office of Sustainability held a Data Aggregation Summit in May 2022 to convene key stakeholders and discuss the project work plan. Although the project concept was well-received, next steps for the project remained uncertain, including who would take on project leadership.

In October 2022, Central Texas Food Bank assumed leadership as the backbone organization for the Central Texas Food System Initiative with the financial support of the City of Austin Office of Sustainability. The initial focus of the Initiative was on data aggregation. Between October 2022 and April 2023, Central Texas Food Bank carried forward the work of the Central Texas Foodshed Collaborative by forming a regional data advisory group and building a website that houses key food system data and metrics. Starting in April 2023, this work began to be phased into setting regional food system priorities and goals, developing a shared measurement system and targets for these goals, and convening cross-sector working groups to address these priorities.