food insecure

adjective

variants or less commonly food-insecure

ˈfüd-ˌin-si-ˈkyu̇r 

: 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

The uncertainty for food insecure families is one of a number of pain points amping up the pressure on lawmakers to come together and reach a compromise. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025

Miami’s 211 helpline for people in crisis has been receiving an influx of calls from people who are food insecure, according to Jewish Community Services of South Florida, the organization that operates the free helpline. —Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025

With the lack of federal funding, food banks, which were already a stopgap measure for food insecure families, will become even more strained. —Elizabeth B. Kim, Cincinnati Enquirer, 29 Oct. 2025

And a recent study found 30% of families who access food pantries have incomes that don’t qualify for federal benefits, but are still food insecure. —La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 23 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above