food insecure
adjective
variants
or less commonly food-insecure
: unable to consistently access or afford adequate food
According to data released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17 percent of Americans—more than 50 million people—live in households that are "food insecure," a term that means a family sometimes runs out of money to buy food, or it sometimes runs out of food before it can get more money.—
Lisa Miller
Lisa MillerA food-insecure household may be faced with the difficult choice of paying for basic necessities, such as health care and housing, or buying nutritionally adequate foods.—Elyse Miller
Elyse MillerExamples of food insecure in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Adults with medical debt burdens are two to three times more likely to be food insecure, delay or forgo necessary medical care or prescriptions and experience housing instability than those without this burden, according to the data.
—Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2025
And even before October 2023, Israel and Egypt had imposed a partial blockade on Gaza, meaning that 63% of the population was food insecure.
—Mick Krever, CNN Money, 15 May 2025
This 2022 survey commissioned by UFCW found that over three quarters of Kroger workers were food insecure and fourteen percent were housing insecure.
—Errol Schweizer, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
Yolo Food Bank released a study last year that found that nearly one in three households in the county are food insecure.
—Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 18 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for food insecure
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Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2025
And even before October 2023, Israel and Egypt had imposed a partial blockade on Gaza, meaning that 63% of the population was food insecure.
—Mick Krever, CNN Money, 15 May 2025
This 2022 survey commissioned by UFCW found that over three quarters of Kroger workers were food insecure and fourteen percent were housing insecure.
—Errol Schweizer, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
Yolo Food Bank released a study last year that found that nearly one in three households in the county are food insecure.
—Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 18 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for food insecure
Cite this Entry
“Food insecure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/food%20insecure. Accessed 1 Jun. 2025.
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