Our Mission

Food security is a measure of household access to enough food to meet the needs of its members. As described by the USDA, food security is when “all household members, at all times, can access enough food for an active, healthy life.” Food insecurity is a result of many factors, but often arises due to insufficient income or other barriers to accessing food. According to the USDA, there are four levels to measure the severity of food security including high, marginal, low, and very low food security:

• High food security: When people have reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food
• Marginal food security: When there is a temporary shortage of food, and people are concerned about the supply
• Low food security: When people have a reduced variety or quality of food, but don’t appear to have reduced food intake
• Very low food security: When people have very low food security

Nutrition security is when individuals “have consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, affordable foods essential to optimal health and well-being”, as described by the USDA. This measure takes a deeper look into the nutritional value of foods being consumed in households in addition to affordability, access, and safety, of which are used to assess food security.

As of 2023, the USDA reported that 13.5% of US households qualify as food insecure, with 5.1% of those households qualifying as having very low food security. Furthermore, 82.1% of households with children under the age of 18 qualified as food insecure in 2023. In total, 47.4 million Americans struggled with food insecurity in 2023 alone.

At the Food Security Lab, we are working to understand the underlying factors that contribute to food and nutrition security at the community level, paying special attention to societal context. We do this through strong collaborations with community organizations, health professionals, local government, philanthropy, and academic researchers. Projects range from facilitating real-time, evidenced-based screening for food and nutrition security to policy and program evaluation of food and nutrition-focused initiatives. Ultimately, the goal of all of our projects is to improve the health and nutrition of communities through improved access, availability, usability, equity, and sustainability of local food systems.