Hunger and Food Security

Food Security is defined as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.  Food Security includes at a minimum:

• The ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods.
• An assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.

Food Insecurity is the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.

Hunger is the uneasy or painful sensation caused by a lack of food. The recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food.

Household food insecurity and hunger are measured by the Household Food Security Survey that is conducted each year as a supplement questionnaire to the Current Population Survey.  The most recent report is from data collected in 2003.  In that year 11.1% of American households were food insecure and 3.5% of American households were food insecure and experienced hunger.  In the same year 6.4% of New Hampshire households (31, 744) were food insecure and 2.1% of New Hampshire households (10, 416) were food insecure and experienced hunger.  This is coincides with the over 90,000 individuals who live below the federal poverty guidelines.

Community Food Security:      

Community food security is a relatively new concept with roots in such disciplines as community nutrition, nutrition education, public health, sustainable agriculture, and anti-hunger and community development. There is no universally accepted definition of community food security. In the broadest terms, community food security can be described as a prevention-oriented concept that supports the development and enhancement of sustainable, community-based strategies to improve access of low-income households to healthful nutritious food supplies, to increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs, and to promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues. about community food security at the USDA’s Economic Research Service.

Community Food Security Resources in New Hampshire:

• New Hampshire Food Bank
• New Hampshire Farm to School Program is a project to connect NH farms and schools by integrating agricultural production,
  school food procurement and school curriculum.

Food Security Resources in New Hampshire:

• New Hampshire Food Bank
• New Hampshire Farm to School Program is a project to connect NH farms and schools by integrating agricultural production, school food procurement and school curriculum.
• Center on Hunger and Poverty (Brandeis University) - The Center conducts research and advocacy to alleviate domestic hunger.  The site is a clearinghouse for hunger and food insecurity papers and publications.
• Community Food Security Coalition - Non-profit advocacy organization. The Coalition is dedicated to building strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food to all people at all times.  The site contains reports and guidebooks, and a comprehensive listing of community food security organizations and resources.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - The FAO is an international organization whose goals are to defeat world hunger by improving agricultural productivity and raise the levels of nutrition for people living in poverty.
• World Hunger Year - WHY is an anti-hunger advocacy group that fights the root causes of hunger and poverty utilizing innovative community-based solutions.  Their Food Security Learning Center has direct links to hunger and food security studies.
• Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group (American Dietetic Association) - HEN is a practice group of dietetics professionals in the fields of community nutrition, domestic and international food security, and/or environmental nutrition.  For non-ADA members there is a Friends membership category that allows access to the newsletter and list-serve. 
• America’s Second Harvest - A non-profit organization dedicated to the alleviation of hunger through America’s food banking system.  The website is a source of hunger statistics and reports as well as comprehensive information about the nation’s largest system of food recovery and distribution.
• United States Department of Agriculture - The USDA website contains information about the federal nutrition assistance programs.  Reports and evaluations of the programs can be found -  as well as the recent results of the Household Food Security Survey.
• United States Census Bureau - The US Census Bureau’s website contains poverty data from the 2000 census and updated information from the Current Population Survey.
• Freidman School of Nutrition Science and Policy (Tufts University) - Faculty at the schools conduct research on international and domestic food insecurity.  The website has policy research and white papers that can be downloaded.