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Definitions

Food security
Food security for a household means access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum:


Food insecurity
Food insecurity is limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.- Life Sciences Research Office, 1990 (pdf)

How Are Food Security and Insecurity Measured?

The food security status of each household lies somewhere along a continuum extending from high food security to very low food security. This continuum is divided into four ranges, characterized as follows:

  1. High food security—Households had no problems, or anxiety about, consistently accessing adequate food.
  2. Marginal food security—Households had problems at times, or anxiety about, accessing adequate food, but the quality, variety, and quantity of their food intake were not substantially reduced.
  3. Low food security—Households reduced the quality, variety, and desirability of their diets, but the quantity of food intake and normal eating patterns were not substantially disrupted.
  4. Very low food security—At times during the year, eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake reduced because the household lacked money and other resources for food.

USDA introduced the above labels for ranges of food security in 2006. See "Hunger and Food Security" for further information on the labels.

For some reporting purposes, USDA describes households with high or marginal food security as food secure and those with low or very low food security as food insecure.

Placement on this continuum is determined by the household’s responses to a series of questions about behaviors and experiences associated with difficulty in meeting food needs. The questions cover a wide range of severity of food insecurity.

Least severe:
Was this statement often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months? "We worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more."

Somewhat more severe:
Was this statement often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months? "We couldn't afford to eat balanced meals."

Midrange severity:
In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn't enough money for food?

Most severe:

  • In the last 12 months, did you ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food?
  • In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food?

Every question specifies the period (last 12 months) and specifies lack of resources as the reason for the behavior or experience ("we couldn't afford more food," "there was not enough money for food.")

Food Insecure. Households that report three or more conditions that indicate food insecurity are classified as "food insecure." The three least severe conditions that would result in a household being classified as food insecure are:

  • They worried whether their food would run out before they got money to buy more.
  • The food they bought didn't last, and they didn't have money to get more.
  • They couldn't afford to eat balanced meals.

Households are also classified as food insecure if they report any combination of three or more conditions, including any more severe conditions.

Very Low Food Security. To be classified as having "very low food security," households with no children present must report at least the three conditions listed above and also that:

  • Adults ate less than they felt they should.
  • Adults cut the size of meals or skipped meals and did so in 3 or more months.

Many report additional, more severe experiences and behaviors as well. If there are children in the household, their experiences and behaviors are also assessed, and an additional two affirmative responses are required for a classification of very low food security.


Community food insecurity occurs when there are inadequate resources from which people can purchase foods in sufficient quantity or variety at affordable prices.  Further, community food security is affected when there are no local food production resources available to community members and inadequate food assistance to help low-income people purchase foods at retail markets. This suggests social, institutional, and economic factors within a community affect the quality and quantity of available foods and their affordability. - USDA, 2002


Food Insecurity Links