What Is Food Security?

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

The ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods.
Assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies).

Thus, 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.

*Definitions are from the Life Sciences Research Office, S.A. Andersen, ed., “Core Indicators of Nutritional State for Difficult to Sample Populations,” The Journal of Nutrition 120:1557S-1600S, 1990.

The chart below details the steps between complete Food Insecurity to complete Food Security, and is used by food banks, educators, and anti-hunger advocates to help explain the problem and give individuals a flowchart to become more food secure.

**The Path to Food Security**
DEPENDENCE: Food Insecure	Step 1 Eats exclusively at: Soup Kitchens Dining Halls Emergency Shelters	Step 2 Occasionally eats at soup kitchens, dining halls and emergency shelters May receive USDA surplus foods Participates in Women, Infants & Children program (WIC) Frequent recipient of food from pantries and supplemental programs Eats at meal programs Shops at grocery store with Food Stamps and limited cash Children participate in Summer Youth Food Programs Participates in Child and Adult Care Food Program (for free) Eats at Elderly Nutrition sites Receives home delivered meals Children participate in School Breakfast and Lunch Programs (for free)	Step 3 Shops at grocery store with Food Stamps and limited cash May receive USDA surplus food Participates in WIC program Eats at meal programs (sporadic) Sporadic recipient of food from pantries and supplemental programs Children participate in Summer Youth Food Programs Participates in Child and Adult Care Food programs (for free) Eats at Elderly Nutrition sites Receives home delivered meals Children participate in School Breakfast and Lunch Programs (for free) Shops at neighborhood Farmers’ Market
Step 4 May receive USDA surplus food Participates in WIC program Children participate in Summer Youth Food Programs Participates in Child and Adult Care Food Programs (for a reduced fee) Eats at Elderly Nutrition sites Receives home delivered meals Children participate in School Breakfast and Lunch Programs (for a reduced fee) Participates in food buying cooperative Shops at neighborhood Farmers’ Market Shops at grocery store with limited cash	Step 5 Children participate in Summer Youth Food Programs Eats at Elderly Nutrition site Participates in Child and Adult Care Food Programs (for full fee) Children participate in School Breakfast and School Lunch Programs (for full fee) Participates in food buying cooperative Shops at neighborhood Farmers’ Market Participates in community gardens Shops at grocery store with limited cash INDEPENDENCE	Step 6 Exercises food access options at will Provides food for self, family & guests Shops at grocery store Cooks “from scratch” Participates in food buying cooperatives Shops at neighborhood Farmers’ Markets Participates in community gardens Children participate in School Breakfast and School Lunch Programs (for full fee) INDEPENDENCE	INDEPENDENCE: Food Secure