Texas Health Resources
Texas Health Resources is recognized with the Excellence in Community Service Award for its comprehensive approach to nutrition security, a systemwide strategy that improves access to affordable, nutritious food while strengthening local food systems across North Texas.
Food insecurity remains one of the region’s most pressing health challenges. Texas has the nation’s largest food-insecure population, and one in four children in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is affected. Limited access to nutritious food contributes to chronic disease, missed school days and persistent health inequities.
Texas Health’s Community Health Needs Assessment found that nearly every county it serves exceeds the national rate of adults reporting food insecurity. Its work is also informed by a first-of-its kind nutrition security study conducted with Gallup and published in BMJ Public Health, which identified interconnected barriers involving food access, nutrition knowledge, daily logistics and awareness of available resources.
A Community-Centered Approach
Recognizing that no single solution can meet every community’s needs, Texas Health partnered with schools, community organizations, growers, retailers and local governments to build a network of more than 75 nutrition security sites.
Good For You Healthy Hubs provide free produce and healthy staples in schools and community centers, along with recipes and nutrition education. Through THRIVE, students complete life-skills lessons to earn points they can use at student-run, on-campus grocery stores. Students also gain workforce experience by managing inventory, assisting customers and following food safety practices.
Other initiatives include school learning gardens and Double Up Food Bucks, which increases the purchasing power of families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Strengthening the Local Food System
Texas Health also invests in the systems that grow and distribute nutritious food. Through Farms to Families, the health system purchases surplus produce from North Texas growers and redistributes it to community sites – providing farmers with additional income, reducing waste and expanding healthy food access.
The Culled Produce Recovery Project redirects past-prime produce to urban farms for composting, while Growing Good Food Awards provide microgrants to grassroots growers. Texas Health has also supported local policy changes that reduce barriers to urban farming and allow mobile fresh markets to operate in neighborhoods.
More Than 2.65 Million Pounds of Healthy Food
Since 2020, Texas Health’s initiatives have distributed more than 2.65 million pounds of healthy food to more than 513,000 individuals.
In 2025 alone, Texas Health distributed 561,887 pounds of fresh produce, serving 146,196 individuals through 23 Healthy Hubs. Its programs also diverted more than 212,000 pounds of produce from landfills and supported 124,487 Double Up Food Bucks transactions.
Community Impact Grant programs helped more than 9,000 families receive free or subsidized meals, while THRIVE participants reported improvements in food security, resilience, disciplinary referrals and grade-point averages. An economic analysis found that the programs have generated nearly $4.5 million in economic
impact.
Congratulations to Texas Health Resources, the 2026 Excellence in Community Service Award recipient, for its commitment to expanding nutrition access, strengthening local food systems and improving the health of communities across North Texas.
THA Excellence in Community Service Award
The Excellence in Community Service Award recognizes hospitals and healthcare systems that have distinguished themselves through contributions to their community.