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

Families are facing widespread displacement, disease outbreaks like cholera, acute food insecurity, malnutrition and the collapse of health and education systems. —Cynthia Tully, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025

According to staff, those initiatives prevent more than 5,000 cases of obesity and nearly 600 cases of food insecurity across Illinois each year. —Kate Armanini, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2025

Research shows treating violent crime like a public health problem — addressing things like housing, food insecurity, unemployment, and mental health — is effective in lowering it. —Meg Anderson, NPR, 16 Aug. 2025

The northside neighborhood has among the highest rates of food insecurity in the city and experienced some of the worst flood damage. —Maia Pandey, jsonline.com, 15 Aug. 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