What is Food Insecurity?
Food insecurity is defined as the lack of sufficient food necessary for an active and healthy lifestyle (Hines, 2001).
Food insecurity is linked to poor nutrition, hunger, and many other adverse health effects and chronic illnesses. Worrying about access to food is a major source of stress and negatively impacts mental health.
According to 2021 USDA Food Security statistics, approximately 10.2% of American households were food insecure. That is about 33.8 million individuals living without reliable access to food.
Among college campuses, university food insecurity surveys report that 14-59% of college students report being food insecure at some point (Martinez, 2018).
Factors That Contribute to Food Insecurity
Socioeconomic factors play a major role in the prevalence of food insecurity (Drewnowski, 2022).
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Low income, poverty, loss of a job
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Housing insecurity
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Chronic health conditions
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Unequal access to affordable food
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Racial inequality
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Combating Food Insecurity
Local and federal sources of aid​
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Local food pantries and food drives
Healthy People 2030
Healthy People 2030 has data-driven national objectives to help reduce food insecurity and its associated effects. Check out their website to see their current objectives for the next decade.
References
Drewnowski. (2022). Food insecurity has economic root causes. Nature Food, 3(8), 555–556. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00577-w
Hines, Markowitz, A. J., & Johnson, A. D. (2021). Food Insecurity: What Are Its Effects, Why, and What Can Policy Do About It? Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8(2), 127–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211032250
Martinez, Webb, K., Frongillo, E. A., & Ritchie, L. D. (2018). Food insecurity in California's public university system: What are the risk factors? Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 13(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2017.1374901
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