food insecure

adjective

variants or less commonly food-insecure

: unable to consistently access or afford adequate food

According to data released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17 percent of Americans—more than 50 million people—live in households that are "food insecure," a term that means a family sometimes runs out of money to buy food, or it sometimes runs out of food before it can get more money.—

Lisa Miller

A food-insecure household may be faced with the difficult choice of paying for basic necessities, such as health care and housing, or buying nutritionally adequate foods.—

Elyse Miller

Examples of food insecure in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web And according to a new study, people are still feeling the effects of those fires — with many food insecure and at risk for serious health issues. —

Li Cohen, CBS News, 16 May 2024 The participants all had a chronic health condition or were food insecure. —

Aria Bendix, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for food insecure

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'food insecure.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.