Food Insecurity in the United States

FOOD INSECURITY IN THE UNITED STATES
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Introduction
In 1996, the World Food Summit defined food security as “a situation where all individuals have physical, economic and social access to enough, nontoxic and healthy food that meets the individual’s balanced diet needs and preferences for an energetic and healthy life”. On the other hand, it defines food insecurity as an individual’s lack of access to enough, balanced and safe diet. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2016, more than 870 million people around the globe have been facing chronic hunger for the past two decades. There is need to eliminate this problem to ensure there is economic prosperity. One cannot solve the challenge of food insecurity without addressing the crucial factors that influence it.
The major factors that affect food security include the level of agricultural production, global trade, household income and level of a country’s political stability. The multidimensionality of food security according to USAID (1995) fall under its availability, accessibility, utilization and long-lasting stability. In 2000, world leaders set out to halve 1990 extreme poverty and hunger by the end of 2015. The global food security can be observed from the immediate point of global food availability that influences both national and local food supply which affect the pattern of household consumption that consequently determines th…