Food Security

"Most American households are considered to be food secure, which means they have adequate access to food and consume enough nutrients to achieve a healthy lifestyle. However, a minority of US households experiences food insecurity at certain points during the year, which means their access to food is limited due to a lack of money or other resources. This graphic shows the percentage of food-secure and food-insecure households in the United States during the year 2010.\n\nFood insecurity is defined as not having adequate access to food that meets nutritional needs. According to the USDA, about 48.8 million people live in food-insecure households and have reported multiple indications of food access problems. About sixteen million of those have “very low food security,” which means one or more people in the household were hungry at some point over the course of a year due to the inability to afford enough food. The difference between low and very low food security is that members of low insecurity households have reported problems of food access, but have reported only a few instances of reduced food intake, if any. African American and Hispanic households experience food insecurity at much higher rates than the national average. Households with limited resources employ a variety of methods to increase their access to adequate food. Some families purchase junk food and fast food—cheaper options that are also very unhealthy. Other families who struggle with food security supplement the groceries they purchase by participating in government assistance programs. They may also obtain food from emergency providers, such as food banks and soup kitchens in their communities."