Austin Bicycle Meals works to combat growing food insecurity

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Austin Bicycle Meals

AUSTIN - One in six people in the Austin area are currently experiencing food insecurity. As the problem persists, one organization is working to combat it, one bike ride at a time. 

Austin Bicycle Meals

Claire Harbutt is the co-founder of Austin Bicycle Meals, an organization that partners with dedicated volunteers to deliver meals to people experiencing food insecurity.

By going straight to where the need is, the organization aims to alleviate challenges like a lack of transportation that can stop some from accessing meals from other support services in the city. 

The group rides on Wednesdays and Saturdays, handing out an average of 150 meals each trip. But Harbutt says recently the rides have been growing shorter, as they run out of meals faster. 

Rising food insecurity

Austin Bicycle Meals

Big picture view:

According to data from the city of Austin, 18 percent of people in Travis County are currently experiencing food insecurity. That's nearly 5 percent higher than the national average per figures from the USDA. 

Harbutt expects that number to continue to rise as a growing number of people grapple with heightened grocery costs, and the federal government shutdown drags on, impacting some services. 

'We ride rain or shine'

What they're saying:

"We ride rain or shine. We have ridden in hailstorms, heavy rains, floods, extreme temperatures (and) the folks that we're serving know that we're going to be there no matter what," said Harbutt.

The organization often feeds people who have no reliable source of food.

"We've had folks tell us that the meal that we handed them was the only food they had that day, or maybe for the past couple of days," said Harbutt. 

Harbutt says their goal is to combat food insecurity, which is on the rise.

"It already is a major issue, and I think folks who were maybe kept afloat by SNAP are going to need help very quickly," said Harbutt. 

Austin Bicycle Meals

While Harbutt acknowledges that the group won't be able to tackle the crisis on their own, she hopes their work will inspire others to have empathy for vulnerable members of the community and encourage everyone to do what they can to make a difference. 

"I think everyone has the power to make a difference in at least one person's life, and that's all that you really need to start with," said Harbutt. 

What you can do:

If you'd like to get involved, you can volunteer to ride with Austin Bicycle Meals and help distribute food, purchase a T-shirt or make a monetary donation by heading to keepaustinneighborly.org.