Table A1.
Definitions of Food Security Used in the Literature Since 1996.
| Citation | Level of Analysis | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Bartfeld and Dunifon, 2006, p. 921 [60] | Individual | Assured access of all people to enough food for a healthy and active life. |
| Béné, 2020 [88] | Individual, Household | When individuals and households have adequate resources to obtain appropriate food |
| Blumberg et al., 1999, p. 1231 [79] | Individual | Assured access to nutritionally adequate and safe foods without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, and other coping strategies. |
| Coleman-Jensen et al., 2021 [61] | Individual | Consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living. |
| Committee on World Food Security, 2012 [46] | Individual | When all people at all times have physical, social, and economic access to food, which is safe and consumed in sufficient quantity and quality to meet their dietary needs and food preferences, and is supported by an environment of adequate sanitation, health services and care, allowing for a healthy and active life. |
| Wood et al., 2000 [89] | Individual | The state in which all persons obtain a nutritionally adequate, culturally acceptable diet at all times through local, non-emergency sources. |
| FAO et al., 2009 [2] | Individual | Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. |
| Hayes, 2021 [26] | Individual | Consistent access to enough food for active, healthy lives for all household members at all times during the year. |
| Life Sciences Research Office and Andersen, 1990 [24] | Individual | Access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum: the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods; assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (i.e., without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). |
| Pinstrup-Andersen, 2009 [50] | Global, National, Regional, Household | Enough food is available, whether at the global, national, community, or household level. |
| Pinstrup-Andersen, 2009 [50] | Individual | Access by all people to enough food to live a healthy and productive life. |
| Prifti, 2021, p. 238 [72] | National, Regional, Household, Individual | A function of availability of adequate food in terms of quantity and quality and the people’s ability to afford it at all times. |
| Siche, 2020 [90] | Individual | Everyone has unrestricted access to food that allows them to satisfy their basic needs. |
| Sustainable Development Commission, 2009, p. 10 [91] | National | The aspiration for genuinely sustainable food systems, where the core goal is to feed everyone sustainably, equitably, and healthily; which addresses needs for availability, affordability, and accessibility; which is diverse, ecologically sound, and resilient; and which builds the capabilities and skills necessary for future generations. |
| Committee on World Food Security, 2012 [46] | Individual | When all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life… The four pillars of food security are availability, access, utilization, and stability. The nutritional dimension is integral to the concept of food security. |
| Winne et al., 2000, p. 4 [59] | Regional | All persons in a community have access to culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate food through local non-emergency sources at all times. |
| World Food Program, 2009, p. 170 [67] | Individual | A condition that exists when all people, at all times, are free from hunger. |
| World Food Summit, 1996 [2] | Individual | When all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. |
Note: While not all-inclusive, the definitions presented illustrate the need for a comprehensive definition. To our knowledge, all definitions are reported verbatim and are cited with their original source.