Defining Hunger and Food Insecurity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food security as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.” 7 Black and Hispanic households have rates of food insecurity that are nearly twice the national average, and households headed by single mothers have more than twice the national average. 8

There are serious risks to immediate and long-term health for both children and adults associated with food insecurity. Children face increased risks of some birth defects, anemia, asthma and higher rates of hospitalization. Hungry kids can have problems in school and socially, as they have higher rates of cognitive problems, aggression and anxiety. Food insecurity in adults is correlated with increased rates of mental health problems, diabetes, hypertension, poor sleep and overall poor health. 11

Food Insecurity and Obesity

Today, food insecurity is not only associated with hunger; somewhat paradoxically, it often correlates with obesity as well. This does not mean that the two are necessarily causally linked. Both food insecurity and obesity are the consequences of poverty and a lack of access to nutritious food. Low-income neighborhoods often lack grocery stores or other markets that carry a wide range of healthy foods and instead have a high prevalence of convenience stores and fast food restaurants. People living in poverty are less likely to have reliable transportation for shopping. Healthy foods tend to be more expensive than highly processed foods that are filling but have low nutritional value. As an added obstacle, when fresh produce is available in low-income areas, it is often of poor quality, making it less appealing to purchase.

Opportunities for physical activity can be limited in low-income communities, which often lack parks, playgrounds or even sidewalks, and the stress of the financial and emotional pressures of poverty has been linked to obesity. 13

More Than a Lack of Food

Individuals become food insecure for any number of complex reasons, but the root cause is nearly always poverty. Environmental crises and a wide variety of political factors also contribute to hunger and food insecurity in the US and around the world.

Labor and Workers in the Food System

Worker picking strawberries Learn More About Food Workers

Poverty

With more than 37 million people in the U.S. below the official poverty line, poverty is the single largest cause of food insecurity.14People living in poverty are often juggling low wages, job insecurity, inadequate childcare and little free time, among other factors. There are often few options for healthy food where they live, and their income may run out before the next paycheck, leaving them without sufficient food to get through the week.

Additionally, in a terrible irony, the vast majority of people who grow, pick and process our food live in poverty and cannot afford to buy adequate healthy food. Eighty-six percent of jobs in the food system offer very low wages near or below the poverty level. 18

In the US, people have lost their homes, crops and livelihoods and have been displaced from their communities by hurricanes, floods and wildfires that are more frequent and more devastating as a result of a changing climate. 20 Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen, who witnessed a similar Indian famine in 1943 as a child, succinctly summarized the problem in his case study of that famine: “Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat.” 22

Somewhat similarly, the primary crops grown in the U.S. are no longer food crops but are commodity grains used to feed animals or converted to ethanol or food additives. U.S. farm policy supports the production of a steady stream of these crops to benefit corporate agribusiness, not the production of healthy, affordable food for people. This policy encourages vast overproduction, and, to find a market for the excess, we ship commodities abroad. U.S. grain exporters sell U.S. crops to other countries for less than they cost to produce in those other countries (a practice called “dumping”), which undercuts the local agricultural economy and drives small farmers into poverty and hunger. 25

These programs are critically important because they help families, children, new mothers, seniors and others meet their food needs, but the nutritional quality of this food has not always been high. Fortunately, in recent years, communities and advocates have made great strides in improving the quality of food available through these programs. New nutrition standards for the National School Lunch program phased in since 2012 are having a positive impact on students’ nutrition, while farm to school programs, which are in 42 percent of U.S. schools, can further improve consumption of healthier foods at school. 303137

What You Can Do

  • Volunteer with or donate to an organization helping to end hunger in your community — especially one that is increasing access to fresh food or engages clients in key decision-making about the work. Offer to help out in February or July since many places need volunteers year-round, not just during the holidays!
  • When considering charitable giving to anti-hunger initiatives, financial contributions are more helpful than food donations. Money allows the organization to be nimble as their clients’ needs change, and allows people in need to make their own choices about what’s best for their family.
  • Reject efforts to cut federal funding for SNAP, the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs, WIC, and the Farmers Market Nutrition Programs.

Hide References

  1. U.S. Economic Research Service. “Definitions of Food Security.” United States Department of Agriculture, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/definitions-of-food-security/
  2. U.S. Economic Research Service. “Food Security in the U.S.: Overview.” United States Department of Agriculture, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/
  3. U.S. Economic Research Service. “Definitions of Food Security.” United States Department of Agriculture, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/definitions-of-food-security/
  4. Allen, Patricia. “The Disappearance of Hunger in America.” Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies, Vol. 7 No 3, pp 19-23. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://wmbranchout.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/the-disappearance-of-hunger-in-america-patricia-allen.pdf
  5. FAO Food Security Programme. “An Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Food Security.” Food and Agricultural Organization, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.fao.org/3/al936e/al936e00.pdf
  6. UN News. “When a food security crisis becomes a famine.” United Nations, July 21, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382342-when-food-security-crisis-becomes-famine
  7. Rabbitt, Matthew P., et al. “Household Food Security in the United States in 2022.” USDA ERS, United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, Oct. 2023, www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=107702.
  8. Ibid.
  9. Gunderson, Craig and Ziliak, James P. “Food Insecurity And Health Outcomes.” Health Affairs 34(11): Food & Health (November 2015). Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0645
  10. “In Brief to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023.” FAO.Org, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2023, www.fao.org/agrifood-economics/publications/detail/en/c/1644608/.
  11. Ibid. 
  12. Food Research and Action Center. “Understanding the Connections: Food Insecurity and Obesity.” FRAC, October 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/frac_brief_understanding_the_connections.pdf
  13. Ibid.
  14. Shrider , Emily A., and John Creamer. “Poverty in the United States: 2022.” Census.Gov, United States Census Bureau , 12 Sept. 2023, www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-280.html#:~:text=Highlights-,Official%20Poverty%20Measure,decreased%20between%202021%20and%202022.
  15. Food Chain Workers Alliance and Solidarity Research Cooperative. “No Piece of the Pie: U.S. Food Workers in 2016.” Food Chain Workers Alliance and Solidarity Research Cooperative, November 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://foodchainworkers.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/FCWA_NoPieceOfThePie_P.pdf
  16. Bread for the World. “About Hunger: What Causes Hunger.” Bread, (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.bread.org/what-causes-hunger
  17. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World: Building Climate Resilience for Food Security and Nutrition.” IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.fao.org/3/I9553EN/i9553en.pdf
  18. Ibid.
  19. Goodell, Jeff. “Welcome to the Age of Climate Migration.” Rolling Stone, February 25, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/welcome-to-the-age-of-climate-migration-202221/
  20. Davis, Mike. “The Origins of the Third World: Markets, States and Climate.” The Corner House, Briefing 27, December 30, 2002. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/origins-third-world#index-03-00-00-00
  21. Choudhury, Utlara. “Amartya Sen: The Enlightened Economist.” Brain Gain Mag, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.braingainmag.com/amartya-sen-the-enlightened-economist.htm
  22. Davis, Mike. “The Origins of the Third World: Markets, States and Climate.” The Corner House, Briefing 27, December 30, 2002. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/origins-third-world#index-03-00-00-00
  23. Murphy, Sophia and Hansen-Kuhn, Karen. “Counting the Costs of Agricultural Dumping.” Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, June 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/2017-06/2017_06_26_DumpingPaper.pdf
  24. “In Brief to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023.” FAO.Org, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2023, www.fao.org/agrifood-economics/publications/detail/en/c/1644608/.
  25. Rabbitt, Matthew P., et al. “Household Food Security in the United States in 2022.” USDA ERS, United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, Oct. 2023, www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=107702.
  26. Food Research & Action Center. “Research Shows that the School Nutrition Standards Improve the School Nutrition Environment and Student Outcomes.” FRAC, January 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://www.frac.org/wp-content/uploads/school-nutrition-brief.pdf
  27. National Farm to School Network. “Resources: Growth of Farm to School in the U.S. (1997-2014) [Graphic].” National Farm to School Network, June 1, 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://www.farmtoschool.org/resources-main/growth-of-farm-to-school-in-the-u-s-1997-2014-graphic?A=SearchResult&SearchID=9042833&ObjectID=12885578&ObjectType=35
  28. US Food and Nutrition Service. “New USDA Data Showing Growing Farm to School Efforts Help to Reduce Plate Waste, Increase Student Participation in Healthier School Meals Program. Release No. 0292.15” USDA, October 20, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/2015/029215
  29. Double Up Food Bucks. “How it Works.” Fair Food Network, (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://www.doubleupfoodbucks.org/how-it-works/
  30. Fisher, Andrew. Big Hunger: The Unholy Alliance between Corporate America and Anti-Hunger Groups. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2017.
  31. Poppendieck, Janet. Sweet Charity? Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement. Penguin Books: London, UK, 1999.
  32. Pipkin, Whitney. “Why This Food Bank is Turning Away Junk Food.” Civil Eats. Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://civileats.com/2016/08/15/why-this-food-bank-is-turning-away-junk-food/
  33. Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. “About Produce Rescue: Keeping Good Food Out of Landfills.” Feeding America, (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://www.communityfoodbank.org/Our-Work/Programs/Produce-Rescue/About
  34. WhyHunger. “Rise Up! Organizing in Emergency Food Programs.” ISSUU (August 20, 2015). Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://issuu.com/whyhunger/docs/nourish_organizing_guide
  35. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “Ending poverty and hungry by investing in agriculture and rural areas.” FAO, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://www.fao.org/3/a-i7556e.pdf
  36. International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development. “Agriculture at a Crossroads.” IAASTD, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2019, from https://www.globalagriculture.org/fileadmin/files/weltagrarbericht/IAASTDBerichte/GlobalSDM.pdf
  37. Ibid.

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