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This page lists key publications and resources on
the following topics:
Household Food Security
Community Food Security
Household Food Security: Annual
Reports
Household Food
Security in the United States in 2010—14.5 percent
of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during
the year in 2010, and 5.4 percent had very low food security.
This report, based on data from the December 2010 food
security survey, provides the most recent statistics on
the food security of U.S. households as well as on how
much they spent for food and the extent to which food-insecure
households participated in Federal and community food
assistance programs (September 2011).
Earlier annual reports in this series:
Household Food
Security in the United States, 2009 (November 2010)
Household
Food Security in the United States, 2008 (November
2009)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2007 (November 2008)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2006 (November 2007)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2005 (November 2006)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2004 (October 2005)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2003 (October 2004)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2002 (October 2003)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2001 (October 2002)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2000 (March 2002)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 1999 (September 2000)
Household Food Security
in the United States, 1998 and 1999: Detailed Statistical
Report (June 2002)
Prevalence of Food Insecurity
and Hunger, by State, 1996-1998—USDA's baseline
report on food security prevalence rates by State. Averaged
over 3 years, the prevalence of food insecurity exceeded
the national average rate in 11 States and the District
of Columbia, was below the national average in 20 States,
and was at or near the national average in the remaining
19 States (September 1999).
Household
Food Security in the United States, 1995-1998: Advance
Report
(July 1999)
Household
Food Security in the United States in 1995: Summary Report
of the Food Security Measurement Project—Describes
the development of the U.S. Household Food Security Scale
and provides the first national assessment of household
food security in the United States (September 1997).
Household Food Security: Technical
Reports and Survey Tools
Does Interview Mode Matter for Food Security Measurement?
Telephone versus In-Person Interviews in the Current Population
Survey Food Security Supplement—This article demonstrates
that telephone and in-person food security interviews
in the Current Population Survey are comparable with small,
or at most modest, differences. Mark Nord and Heather
Hopwood, 2007, “Does Interview Mode Matter for Food
Security Measurement? Telephone versus In-Person Interviews
in the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement,”
Public Health Nutrition 10 (12): 1474-80 (August
2007).
Food
Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment
of the Measure—An extensive review was conducted
at USDA's request by an independent panel of experts convened
by the National Research Council's Committee on National
Statistics to ensure that USDA's data collection and methodology
in the areas of food security and hunger are relevant
and scientifically sound (2006).
Food Security of Older Children Can Be Assessed by Using
a Standardized Survey Instrument—This article
describes the development and assessment of a food security
survey module adapted for self-administration by children
12 and older. Questions were adapted from the U.S. Household
Food Security Survey Module, refined through focus groups
and cognitive interviews, and tested in a pilot survey.
The abstract is available from the American Society for
Nutrition. The questionnaire
is available on this site. Carol L. Connell, Mark
Nord, Kristi L. Lofton, and Kathy Yadrick, “Food
Security of Older Children Can Be Assessed Using a Standardized
Survey Instrument,” The Journal of Nutrition
134:2566-72 (2004).
 A
30-Day Food Security Scale for Current Population Survey
Food Security Supplement Data—This report describes
and assesses a 30-day household food security scale that
can be applied specifically to the Current Population
Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS) data collected
between 1995 and 2004. The report specifies procedures
for calculating the revised 30-day scale from CPS-FSS
data and classifying households as to 30-day food security
status (August 2002).
Spanish
Translation of the Food Security Survey Module—A
Spanish translation of the U.S. Household Food Security
Survey Module developed by UCLA researchers is available
from the Journal of Nutrition, the American Society
for Nutrition. See "Development
of a Spanish-Language Version of the U.S. Household Food
Security Survey Module," including the Spanish-language
module and a description of its development and testing,
publicly available at no cost from their website (April
2003).
Household Food Security
in the United States, 1998 and 1999: Technical Report—This
report explores key technical issues related to Current
Population Survey Food Security Supplement data, focusing
especially on the August 1998 and April 1999 surveys.
Technical issues include the estimation of standard errors,
the effect of alternating survey periods between spring
and fall for the 1995-99 CPS Supplement, and the effect
of using different Item Response Theory (IRT) modeling
approaches and software to create the food security scale
(June 2002).
Measuring Children's
Food Security in U.S. Households, 1995-99—This
report describes the Children's Food Security Scale developed
by USDA and presents statistics on the prevalence of hunger
among children in U.S. households for the years 1995-99
as well as for subgroups defined by household structure,
race and ethnicity, income, and rural/urban residence.
The report provides detailed information on how to implement
the scale in other surveys (April 2002).
Guide
to Measuring Household Food Security, Revised 2000
(PDF, 189K)—Provides detailed guidance for researchers
on how to use the U.S. Household Food Security Survey
Module to measure household food security and food insecurity
at various levels of severity. Statistics from surveys
that use these methods will be directly comparable with
published national statistics (March 2002).
Second Food Security
Measurement and Research Conference, Volume I: Proceedings
and Volume II: Papers—This
two-volume set documents the Second Food Security Measurement
and Research Conference (February 23-24, 1999) that sought
to establish a stable measurement strategy to monitor
the food security status of the U.S. population. Volume
I contains abbreviated proceedings of all presentations.
Volume II contains
a set of research papers that provide further detail on
the research findings presented at the conference (February
2001).
Household
Food Security in the United States, 1995-1997: Technical
Issues and Statistical Report
and Executive
Summary—This report examines the stability of
the food security measurement scale over time and across
different types of households, the thresholds used to
classify households as to their food security status,
screening issues related to ensuring comparability of
food security statistics among the 1995-97 CPS food security
supplements, and alternative imputation strategies for
dealing with missing data (December 2001).
Household
Food Security in the United States in 1995: Technical
Report of the Food Security Measurement Project—Describes
the analysis through which the food security scales and
food security status variable were developed, as well
as related tests of the reliability and validity of these
measures (September 1997).
Household Food Security: Articles
and Research Reports
General
In longitudinal data from the survey of Program Dynamics, 16.9% of the U.S. population was exposed to household food insecurity in a five-year period—This article examines changes in households’ food security over a five-year period, estimating the extent of persistent food insecurity and the proportion of households that were food insecure at any time during the period. Parke E. Wilde, Mark Nord, and Rober E. Zager, “In longitudinal data from the survey of Program Dynamics, 16.9% of the U.S. population was exposed to household food insecurity in a five-year period,” Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 5(3): 380-398.
Food Insecurity after Leaving SNAP—This article examines the food security of households that had recently left SNAP to determine why some households left SNAP even though they had unmet food needs without assistance from that program. Mark Nord and Alisha Coleman-Jensen, “Food Insecurity after Leaving SNAP,” Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 5(4): 434-453.
Food Security Improved Following the 2009 ARRA Increase in SNAP Benefits—The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (also known as the “stimulus package”) increased benefit levels for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) and expanded SNAP eligibility for jobless adults without children. This study examines the extent to which the SNAP enhancements provided by ARRA improved the food security of low-income households (April 2011).
How
Much Does SNAP Reduce Food Insecurity?—Nearly
15 percent of all U.S. households and 39 percent of near-poor
households were food insecure in 2008. The Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food
Stamp Program) serves as the first line of defense against
food-related hardship such as food insecurity. This report
estimates SNAP's effectiveness in reducing food insecurity,
based on panel data from the Survey of Income and Program
Participation (2010).
Does SNAP Decrease Food
Insecurity? Untangling the Self-Selection Effect—This
study investigates self-selection by more needy households
into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
and ameliorative program effects. Food security is observed
to deteriorate in the 6 months prior to beginning to receive
SNAP benefits and to improve shortly after. These results
clearly demonstrate the self-selection by households into
SNAP at a time when they are more severely food insecure.
The results are consistent with a moderate ameliorative
effect of SNAP (October 2009).
Food Spending Declined
and Food Insecurity Increased for Middle-Income and Low-Income
Households from 2000 to 2007—This report describes
changes in food spending and food insecurity from 2000
to 2007 based on data from two nationally representative
surveys. Declines in food spending and deterioration in
food security were greatest in the second-lowest income
quintile (October 2009).
What
Should the Government Mean by Hunger?—This article,
based on nationally representative survey data, describes
how the voting public thinks the word "hunger" should
be used in government reports. Mark Nord, Max Finberg,
James McLaughlin, Journal of Hunger and Environmental
Nutrition 4(1):20-47 (2009).
 A
Comparison of Household Food Security in Canada and the
United States—Describes associations of food
security with economic and demographic characteristics
of households in Canada and the United States based on
nationally representative surveys in the two countries.
The national-level difference in food insecurity reflects
primarily different rates of food insecurity for Canadian
and U.S. households with similar demographic and economic
characteristics. Differences in population composition
on measured economic and demographic characteristics account
for only about 15 to 30 percent of the overall Canada-U.S.
difference (December 2008).
Household-Level
Income-Related Food Insecurity Is Less Prevalent in Canada
Than in the United States—This article examines differences
between Canada and the United States in the prevalence
and distribution of household-level income-related food
insecurity. Mark Nord, Michelle D. Hooper, and Heather
Hopwood, “Household-Level Income-Related Food Insecurity
Is Less Prevalent in Canada Than in the United States,”
Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition
3 (1):17-35 (2008).
Struggling
to Feed the Family: What Does it Mean to Be Food Insecure?—This
article in Amber Waves describes hardships that
some households face in meeting their food needs and the
relationship between food insecurity and income, household
characteristics, State economic conditions, and State
policies (June 2007).
 Characteristics
of Low-Income Households With Very Low Food Security:
An Analysis of the USDA GPRA Food Security Indicator—Describes
characteristics of low-income households that had very
low food security in 2005. Under the Government Performance
and Results Act (GPRA), USDA monitors the food security
of low-income households to assess how effectively domestic
nutrition assistance programs meet the needs of their
target populations (May 2007).
Dynamics of Poverty
and Food Sufficiency—This
study examines dynamics in poverty and food insufficiency
using longitudinal data from the 1993 panel of the Survey
of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the follow-on
Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD) (September 2003).
Putting
Food on the Table: Household Food Security in the United
States—This Amber Waves article describes
the prevalence of food security and food insecurity in
U.S. households in 2001 and trends in these statistics
since 1995 (February 2003).
Frequency and Duration of Food Insecurity and Hunger
in U.S. Households—This is the first nationally representative
study of the extent to which food insecurity is frequent,
recurring, or occasional in U.S. households. Mark Nord,
Margaret Andrews, and Joshua Winicki, “Frequency
and Duration of Food Insecurity and Hunger in U.S. Households,”
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 34:194-201
(September 2002).
Food Insecurity in
Higher Income Households—This
study examines middle- and high-income households to determine
the extent to which these households were food insecure
and what proportion may have been incorrectly identified
as food insecure because of measurement problems. A small
proportion, at most, of measured food insecurity among
middle- and high-income households appears to be due to
misunderstanding of questions or erratic responses. Some
households in these income groups are food insecure due
to factors such as uneven incomes or changes in household
composition during the year or to the existence of multiple
economic units in the same household (September 2002).
Reducing Food
Insecurity in the United States: Assessing Progress Toward
a National Objective—Assesses progress toward
the U.S. Government's Healthy People 2010 objective of
reducing the rate of food insecurity in the Nation to
half of its 1995 level by 2010 (May 2002).
The Food Stamp Program and Food Insufficiency—This
study examines the extent to which higher food insufficiency
rates of food stamp participants are due to adverse selection—the
self selection of more food-needy households into the
Food Stamp Program. When adverse selection is taken into
account, food stamp recipients have the same probability
of food insufficiency as nonrecipients. Craig Gundersen
and Victor Oliveira, “The Food Stamp Program and
Food Insufficiency,” American Journal of Agricultural
Economics 83(4):875-887 (January 2002).
Food
Stamp Participation and Food Security—This
Food Review article assesses whether the decline
in Food Stamp Program participation by low-income households
in the late 1990s was due in part to their having found
it more difficult or less socially acceptable to get food
stamps (January 2001).
Children
How Adequately Are Food Needs of Children in Low-Income
Households Being Met?—This article in Children
and Youth Service Review provides an overview of
research and statistics on the extent and severity of
food insecurity in low-income households with children.
The research evidence on the determinants of food insecurity
and its consequences for children's health and development
is also summarized. Mark Nord and Lynn Parker, “How
Adequately Are Food Needs of Children in Low-Income Households
Being Met?,” Children and Youth Service Review
32 (9):1175-85 (2010).
Food Insecurity in Households
with Children: Prevalence, Severity, and Household Characteristics—Nearly
16 percent of households with children were food insecure
sometime during 2007, meaning that they did not have consistent
access to adequate food for active, healthy lives for
all household members. Numerous studies suggest that children
in food-insecure households have higher risks of health
and development problems than children in otherwise similar
food-secure households. In 2007, Federal food and nutrition
assistance programs provided benefits to four out of five
low-income, food-insecure households with children.
Measuring Children’s Food Security—This article
in the Journal of Nutrition describes the development
of, and recent improvements in, methods for measuring
children’s food security. Mark Nord and Heather
Hopwood, “Recent Advances Provide Improved Tools
for Measuring Children's Food Security,” Journal
of Nutrition 137:533-36 (2007).
Hunger in the Summer: Seasonal Food Insecurity and the
National School Lunch and Summer Food Service Programs—This
article examines the effects of summertime meals provided
by the National School Lunch and Summer Food Service programs
on household food insecurity. Seasonal differences—higher
prevalence of food insecurity in the summer—were
greater for households with school-age children than for
other households. Mark Nord and Kathleen Romig, “Hunger
in the Summer: Seasonal Food Insecurity and the National
School Lunch and Summer Food Service Programs,”
Journal of Children and Poverty 12(2): 141-58
(2006).
Food Assistance
Research Brief: Food Insecurity in Households With Children—This
brief examines the extent to which the diets and eating
patterns of American children are disrupted because their
families cannot always afford enough food (July 2003).
Hunger: Its Impact on Children’s Health and Mental
Health—This study examines the independent contribution
of child hunger on children's physical and mental health
and academic functioning after controlling for a range
of environmental, maternal, and other factors that are
associated with poor health among children. Using standardized
tools, comprehensive demographic, psychosocial, and health
data were collected in Worcester, MA, from homeless mothers
and their children and for housed low-income mothers and
their children. Linda Weinreb, Cheryl Webler, Jennifer
Perloff, Richard Schott, David Hosmer, Linda Sagor, and
Craig Gundersen, “Hunger: Its Impact on Children's
Health and Mental Health,” Pediatrics 110(4):e41-e49
(October 2002).
Elderly
Seasonal Variation in Food Insecurity Is Associated with
Heating and Cooling Costs among Low-Income Elderly Americans—This
article examines the association between household food
insecurity and seasonally high heating and cooling costs.
Low-income households, especially those consisting entirely
of elderly persons, experienced substantial seasonal differences
in the incidence of very low food security (the more severe
range of food insecurity) in areas with high winter heating
costs and high summer cooling costs. Mark Nord and Linda
S. Kantor, “Seasonal Variation in Food Insecurity
is Associated with Heating and Cooling Costs among Low-Income
Elderly Americans,” The Journal of Nutrition
136: 2939-44 (2006).
 Measuring
the Food Security of Elderly Persons—This
article in Family Economics and Nutrition Review
assesses the appropriateness of the U.S. Food Security
Scale for measuring the food security of elderly people.
Based on analysis of 3 years of data from the Current
Population Survey Food Security Supplement, the findings
indicate that the Food Security Scale fairly represents
the food security status of the elderly compared with
that of the nonelderly (2003).
Food
Security Rates Are High for Elderly Households—Households
that include elderly persons are generally more food secure
than other U.S. households. Rates of food insecurity and
hunger among households consisting entirely of elderly
people remained almost unchanged from 1995 (September
2002).
States and Rural Areas
What Factors Account for
State-to-State Differences in Food Security?—This
report describes State-level and household-level factors
associated with State prevalence rates of food insecurity.
Most of the interstate differences in food insecurity
are accounted for by these two factors (November 2006).
State-Level Predictors
of Food Insecurity and Hunger Among Households With Children—Almost
all of the observed interstate differences in food security
of households with children can be explained by cross-State
differences in measurable demographic and contextual characteristics
(October 2005).
 Explaining
Variations in State Hunger Rates—This
article in Family Economics and Nutrition Review
examines the effects of State-level economic and demographic
characteristics on State-level prevalence rates of food
insecurity and food insecurity with hunger. Most of the
State-to-State differences in food insecurity are explained
by high costs of housing, seasonally high unemployment,
high poverty rates, high residential mobility, and a high
proportion of children in the State population (2004).
Rates
of Food Insecurity and Hunger Unchanged in Rural Households—Compares
food security in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan households
in 2000 and describes trends in food security in nonmetropolitan
households from 1998 to 2000 (Winter 2002).
Household
Food Security in the Rural South: Assuring Access to Enough
Food for Healthy Lives—This
policy brief, published by the Southern Rural Development
Center in the series "The Rural South: Preparing
for the Challenges of the 21st Century," examines
the prevalence of food insecurity in households in the
rural South in 1998 and 1999 (August 2001).
 Prevalence
of Hunger Declines in Rural Households—Compares
food security in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan households
in 1998 and describes trends in food security in nonmetropolitan
households from 1995 to 1998 (2000).
New Indicator
Reveals Similar Levels of Food Security in Rural and Urban
Households, Rural Conditions and Trends—Compares
food security in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan households
in 1995 (February 1999).
Community Food Security: Articles
and Reports
Community Food Security
Assessment Toolkit—This
report provides a toolkit of standardized measurement
tools for assessing various aspects of community food
security, including a general guide to community assessment
and materials for examining six basic assessment components.
These include guides for profiling general community characteristics
and community food resources as well as materials for
assessing household food security, food resource accessibility,
food availability and affordability, and community food
production resources (July 2002).
Community
Food Security Programs Improve Food Access—This
article examines how community-based efforts, such as
farmers markets, food cooperatives, community-supported
agriculture, farm-to-school initiatives, and community
gardens, complement Federal food assistance programs (January
2001).
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