How is food insecurity a problem? Finding food has become a central worry for millions of Americans. One in six reports running out of food at least once a year. In many European countries, by contrast, the number is closer to one in 20.
Food insecurity is often mistaken as an exclusively global problem, yet food insecurity also exists in the United States—in every county of every state.121 In the U.S., food insecurity is generally episodic rather than chronic, meaning that it doesn’t happen all the time, making it more challenging to observe.122
In 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, including 33.3 million adults and 15.8 million children.123 The rate of food insecurity in the U.S. has increased by about one-third since 2007124 and five-fold since the late 1960s. The number of emergency food programs across the country increased from a few hundred in 1980 to 50,000 today.125
National Geographic, 2014 Food Features
Definitions of food security and food insecurity The right to food is a human right. The right to food is protected under national and international laws that specify all human beings should be able to feed themselves in dignity and free from fear, including producing or obtaining food that is available, appropriate, and adequate to meet nutritional and cultural needs.126 Food security is therefore a human right.
Food security: The USDA defines food security as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. The USDA also defines ranges of food security and food insecurity.127 Other definitions of food security also state that the food should be:128
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Healthy, nutritious, and safe Culturally appropriate Part of a sustainable food system Community-based
Food security means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. USDA
Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2013. Dr. Maureen Black, Hidden Hunger in America, Foltyn Family Health Science Lecture at the University of Delaware, 2013. 123 USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), Household food security in the United States in 2013. www.ers.usda.gov 124 Craig Gundersen, Emily Engelhard, and Elaine Waxman, Map the Meal Gap: Exploring Food Insecurity at the Local Level. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Vol. 36, Issue 3, 2014, pp. 373-386. 125 National Geographic, Food Features, 2014. 126 Examples of international laws that recognize the right to food include the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25), as part of the right to an adequate standard of living, and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (Article 11). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Guide on Legislating for the Right to Food, Rome, 2009. 127 USDA ERS, Food security in the U.S. www.ers.usda.gov 128 See, for example: Hamm, M.W., and A.C. Bellows. (2003). Community food security and nutrition educators. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour, 35: 37-43. Via Campesina. (2007). Nye’le’ni declaration on food sovereignty. Nyeleni Village, Selingue, Mali: Via Campesina 121 122
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