Household Food Security in the United States, 2003

by Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson

Eighty-nine percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2003, meaning that they had access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households were food insecure at least some time during that year. The prevalence of food insecurity, 11.2 percent of households, was not statistically different from the 11.1 percent observed in 2002. The prevalence of food insecurity with hunger was unchanged at 3.5 percent. This report, based on data from the December 2003 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.

Keywords: Food security, food insecurity, hunger, hungry, food assistance, food spending, food pantry, soup kitchen, emergency kitchen, well-being, Food Stamp Program, National School Lunch Program, WIC, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Abstract, Acknowledgments, Contents, and Summary
• Introduction
• Section 1. Household Food Security
• Section 2. Household Spending on Food
• Section 3. Use of Federal and Community Food Assistance Programs
• References
• Appendix A: Household Responses to Questions in the Food Security Scale
• Appendix B: Background on the U.S. Food Security Measurement Project
• Appendix C: USDA?s Thrifty Food Plan
• Appendix D: Changes in Prevalence Rates of Food Insecurity and Food Insecurity With Hunger by State, 1996-98 (average) to 2001-03 (average)
• Appendix E: Food Insecurity With Hunger During 30 Days Prior to Food Security Survey