food insecurity

noun

plural food insecurities

: the fact or an instance of being unable to consistently access or afford adequate food

The USDA defines food insecurity as a household's inability to provide enough food for each person to live an active, healthy lifestyle. Food insecurity can also occur when there is an abundance of processed, pre-packaged, calorie-dense foods, because these foods do not contain adequate nutrition.

—The Northeast Mississippi (Tupelo) Daily Journal

The federal government often allocates funds to help citizens facing food insecurity and other socio-economic hardships …

—Yssis Cano-Santiago

This past year has laid bare concerns about food insecurities in this country. The pandemic has led to shortages in the grocery store on essential items like toilet paper and meat.

—Amanda Radke

Examples of food insecurity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Armed with hundreds of thousands of dollars from Newman’s Own Foundation and Ozempic creator Novo Nordisk, young Native Americans are leading the fight against persistently high rates of food insecurity in tribal communities. —Fortune, 13 Oct. 2025

The National Military Family Association estimates that one in five military and veteran families are experiencing some level of food insecurity. —Justin Gomez, ABC News, 10 Oct. 2025

Inflation also hits people with disabilities, part-time workers and those who are unemployed — groups at greater risk of food insecurity — particularly hard, said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. —Francesca Pica, jsonline.com, 9 Oct. 2025

Rural counties already face higher rates of poverty and food insecurity than the national average, with one in seven rural households relying on SNAP. —Aliss Higham, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for food insecurity

• biosecurity
• cybersecurity
• immaturity
• prematurity
• impurity
• maturity
• obscurity
• security
• purity
• surety