What is food insecurity and what does it look like in America?

Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food-insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods.

Select your state and county from our interactive map above and start learning more about your neighbors struggling with hunger and the food banks that serve them. Read more about the findings of Map the Meal Gap in our Report, access local food insecurity data tables by state or learn how we got this data.