Food Insecurity

It's an annual report issued by the Agriculture Department looking at household food security in the U.S. “Food security means that most U.S. households have consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy lives. Food insecurity is based on not being able to afford enough to eat. It's about not being able to have enough money or other resources for food. We measured food insecurity at any time in the last year….” And one of the authors for this year's edition, USDA research economist Alisha Coleman Jensen, says for the most recent year studied 2019…”the food insecurity rate was ten point five percent of all U.S. households, and that's down from 2018, when eleven point one percent were food insecure…. “ which means the U.S. food insecurity rate is now below pre 2007 recession numbers for the first time. A subcategory looks at Americans experiencing more severe food insecurity, defined by when one member or more in a household skipped a meal or went the entire day without food due to lack of resources. “And 2019, four point one percent of U.S. households were in that more severe range of very low food security.” Compared to four point three percent of Americans in very low food security in 2018.