Food Insecurity: An Introduction
1.7 Takaways and Resources
Key Takeaways
- Around the world, nearly one billion people suffer the effects of chronic hunger.
- Key terms related to hunger include food security, which means having continual access to safe, sufficient, nutritious food, and food insecurity, which means not having continual access to safe, sufficient, nutritious food.
- There are two types of malnutrition. The first is macronutrient deficiency and relates to the lack of adequate protein, which is required for cell growth, maintenance, and repair. The second type of malnutrition is micronutrient deficiency and relates to inadequate vitamin and mineral intake.
- There are a number of groups at risk for hunger, including the unemployed and underemployed, poor families, the elderly, and the homeless. Those living in food deserts are especially vulnerable to malnutrition.
- Food deserts are geographic areas where access to affordable, healthy foods is limited or nonexistent, often because of a lack of grocery stores. Food swamps on the other hand are areas where there is an abundance of fast food and convenience stores compared to healthy food options. There is often overlap between food deserts and food swamps.
- Many governmental and non-governmental programs address hunger in the US. These include SNAP, WIC, School Lunch Program, food banks, food pantries, and Meals on Wheels.
- It is estimated that about 1/3 of our food is wasted every year, costing more than $160 billion. There are several groups working to reduce this including FAO, USDA, EPA, and FDA. Consumers can also play a role in food waste reduction.
Portions of this chapter were taken from OER Sources listed below:
Tharalson, J. (2019). Nutri300:Nutrition. https://med.libretexts.org/Courses/Sacremento_City_College/SSC%3A_Nutri_300_(Tharalson)
Additional References:
- World Hunger Education Service. (2018, May 25). 2018 World hunger, poverty facts & statistics. https://www.worldhunger.org/world-hunger-and-poverty-facts-and-statistics/#hunger-number
- Feeding America. (2020). Hunger in America. https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america
- Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M. P., Gregory, C. A., & Singh, A. (2019, September). Household food security in the United States in 2018. United States Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service, ERR-270. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/94849/err270_summary.pdf?v=7638.8
- Economic Research Service. (September 2019). Definitions of food security. United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/definitions-of-food-security.aspx)
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n.d.). Hunger and food insecurity. http://www.fao.org/hunger/en/
- Hodge, J. (2016). Hidden hunger: Approaches to tackling micronutrient deficiencies. In S. Gillespie, J. Hodge, S. Yosef, & R. Pandya-Lorch (Eds), Nourishing millions: Stories of change in nutrition (pp. 35-43 of chapter 4). International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). http://dx.doi.org/10.2499/9780896295889_04
- Food Pantries for Thought. (2020) Urban and Rural Food Deserts. https://rampages.us/thinkingfoodpantries/poverty-and-food/urban-and-rural-food-deserts/
- Cooksey-Stowers, K., Schwartz, M. B., & Brownell, K. D. (2017). Food swamps predict obesity rates better than food deserts in the United States. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(11), 1366. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14111366
- Economic Research Service. (2009). Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences. United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/42711/12716_ap036_1_.pdf?v=41055
- Meals on Wheels America. (n.d.). The issue. https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/learn-more/the-issue
- United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2021, January). The 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. Part 1: Point-in-time estimates of homelessness. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pef/2020-AHAR-Part 1.pdf
- Economic Research Service (September 9, 2020). Food security in the US-Key statistics and graphics. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ers.usda/gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx
- Payne-Sturges, D. C., Tjaden, A., Caldeira, K. M., Vincent, K. B., & Arria, A. M. (2018). Student hunger on campus: Food insecurity among college students and implications for academic institutions. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(2), 349-354. https://doi:10.1177/0890117117719620
- Goldrick-Rab, S., Richardson, J., Schneider, J., Hernandez, A., & Cady, C. (2018, April). Still hungry and homeless in college. Wisconsin HOPE lab. https://www.theotx.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Wisconsin-HOPE-Lab-Still-Hungry-and-Homeless.pdf
- United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2020, January 8). Poverty guidelines. https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines
- United States Department of Agriculture. (2017, November). The National School Lunch Program. https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/resource-files/NSLPFactSheet.pdf
- Texas Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). National School Lunch Program reimbursement rates. https://squaremeals.org/Programs/NationalSchoolLunchProgram/NSLPReimbursementRates.aspx
- United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Child & Adult Care Food Program. Food and Nutrition Service. https://www.fns.usda.gov/cacfp
- United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Summer Food Service Program. Food and Nutrition Service. https://www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/summer-food-service-program
- United States Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Head Start: Early Childhood and Learning Center. Administration for Children & Families. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/
- Feeding America. (n.d.). What is a food bank? https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/food-bank-network
- San Antonio Food Bank. (n.d.). Ways to help. https://safoodbank.org/ways-to-help
- United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Food waste FAQs. https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n.d.). Food loss and food waste. http://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/flw-data
- Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). United States 2030 food loss and waste reduction goal. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/united-states-2030-food-loss-and-waste-reduction-goal
- Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, January). Food recovery hierarchy. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy
- Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, June). How to prevent wasted food through source reduction. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/how-prevent-wasted-food-through-source-reduction
- University of Texas at Austin. (2019, January). Reducing food scraps. The University of Texas At Austin Sustainability. https://www.sustainability.utexas.edu/news/reducing-food-scraps
- Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, June). Reduce wasted food by feeding hungry people. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/reduce-wasted-food-feeding-hungry-people
- Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, June). Reduce wasted food by feeding animals. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/reduce-wasted-food-feeding-animals
- Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, June). Industrial uses for wasted food. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/industrial-uses-wasted-food
- Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, June). Reducing the impact of wasted food by feeding the soil and composting. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/reducing-impact-wasted-food-feeding-soil-and-composting
- City of San Antonio. (n.d.). Organics recycling. City of San Antonio Solid Waste Management Department. https://www.sanantonio.gov/swmd/Organics
- Food and Drug Administration. (2019, November). Tips to reduce food waste. http://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/tips-reduce-food-waste
- Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, July). Wasted food at home. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-wasted-food-home#thriftiness
- Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, June). Food: Too good to waste implementation ruide and toolkit. EPA Sustainable Management of Food. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-too-good-waste-
