Readings
Related Reports
- Food Security Improved Following the 2009 ARRA Increase in SNAP Benefits
- Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program Final Report: Fiscal 2010 Activities
- RIDGE Project Summaries, 2009: Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics Program
- Household Food Security in the United States, 2009
- Household Food Security in the United States, 2008
- Does SNAP Decrease Food Insecurity? Untangling the Self-Selection Effect
- Food Spending Declined and Food Insecurity Increased for Middle-Income and Low-Income Households from 2000 to 2007
- RIDGE Project Summaries, 2008: Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics Program
- Food Insecurity in Households with Children: Prevalence, Severity, and Household Characteristics
- A Comparison of Household Food Security in Canada and the United States
- RIDGE Project Summaries, 2007: Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics Program
- The National School Lunch Program Background, Trends, and Issues
- Food Stamps and Obesity: What Do We Know?
- Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy: 10 Years of Research at ERS
- Household Food Security in the United States, 2007
- Household Food Security in the United States, 2006
- Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs and Obesity: 1976-2002
- Characteristics of Low-Income Households With Very Low Food Security: An Analysis of the USDA GPRA Food Security Indicator
- Dynamics of Poverty and Food Sufficiency
- Community Food Security Assessment Toolkit
- Issues in Food Security
Related Amber Waves Articles
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 2011--an estimated 85.1
percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire
year in 2011, meaning that they had access at all times to enough
food for an active, healthy life for all household members. This
report, based on data from the December 2011 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 2012).
Statistical
Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in
2011
Earlier annual reports in this series:
Household Food
Security in the United States in 2010 (September 2011)
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)
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, "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).
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).
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).
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 --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).
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).
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 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
Nonstandard Work and Food Insecurity Across Household
Structure--This study investigates the relationship between the
work status of the household head and household food insecurity
utilizing the CPS-FSS. Households where the head has multiple jobs
and works varied or part-time hours are more likely to be food
insecure than households with a head in a regular full-time job,
even when controlling for income and other socio-demographic
characteristics. Alisha Coleman-Jensen, "Working for Peanuts:
Nonstandard Work and Food Insecurity Across Household Structure,"
Journal of Family and Economic Issues 32(1): 84-97
(2011).
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, (2010).
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).
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP)/Food Stamps
How much does SNAP Alleviate Food Insecurity? Evidence from
Recent Program Leavers--This study estimates the effect of SNAP on
the food security of recipients, net of the effect of
self-selection of more food-needy households into the program. The
results are consistent with, or somewhat higher than, the estimates
from the strongest previous research designs and suggest that the
ameliorative effect of SNAP on very low food security is in the
range of 20-50 percent. Mark Nord, "How much does the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program alleviate food
insecurity? Evidence from recent programme leavers," Public
Health Nutrition 15(5): 811-817 (2011).
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).
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 (2010).
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).
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 (September 2009).
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).
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).
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).