food insecurity
Unreliable meal access
Food insecurity describes the state of not having reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food.
It ranges from uncertainty about where the next meal will come from to outright hunger.
The term is used in policy discussions and social services to identify populations at risk: Many college students experience food insecurity.
Unlike starvation, food insecurity emphasizes the precariousness of access rather than the absence of food entirely.
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- undernourishmentInsufficient dietary intake
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- skipped mealsFood occasions passed over
- famineSevere food shortage
empty fridge · breadline · school lunch · poverty · unemployment · crop failure · failed harvest · climate change · water scarcity · cost of living · price hikes · social inequality · wasting · financial instability · anemia · starvation · stunting · bellies
- hard timeshardship, struggle, struggling, unemployment, tough times
- hardshiphardship, adversity, difficulty, trouble, struggle
- money troublesdebt relief, bad debt, bankruptcy filing, paycheck to paycheck, struggling
- faminestarvation, mass starvation, hunger, famine victims, crop failure
- food politicshunger, anti-hunger, WIC, hunger relief, meal programs
- global crisesclimate crisis, financial crisis, debt crisis, energy crisis, water crisis
food insecurityfood security
Guaranteed adequate nutrition access
abundance · plenty · cornucopia · satiety · nourishment