What is Food Insecurity? And what is a Food Desert?

There has been quite a bit on the news lately about "food insecurity".  This is a relatively new term used to describe situations where people are having trouble securing quality nutritious food.  Being food insecure is not necessarily the same as being poor.  Many people who qualify under Federal guidelines as "poor" are not food insecure - because of where they live, the skill sets that they have, etc.  If someone has little income, but the physical ability and a few acres of ground, it is simple in most areas to have a large garden and a few chickens.  But if someone lives above the poverty level, but lives in an urban area or a "food desert", it can be very difficult to secure the proper nutrition.

The USDA defines "food insecurity" as a "condition that arises from a lack of enough income and other resources for food."1    Unemployment is far more likely to cause food insecurity than chronic poverty.  A sudden illness coupled with the lack of medical insurance can cripple most household budgets.  Many people have to choose between seeing a doctor and purchasing food, or buying medicine and purchasing food.

What is a "food desert"?  The CDC defines them as "areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet." 2    This could be an urban area with no large grocery store.  It could be a huge rural area where the closest grocer is 100 miles away.  It could be an area only served by a local mini-mart. 

The issues that surround food insecurity are many and varied.  They are as individual as the people who seek help.  But remember, when you see folks lining up at a food pantry or food bank, they are not all "poor" by definition.  They've just hit on hard times.  And they all need to eat!


1 http://www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/april05/datafeature/
2 http://www.cdc.gov/features/fooddeserts/


For more information on Food Insecurity, and Food Deserts check out Feeding America's website, and the interactive "Map the Meal Gap" food study here.