Community food security

Community food security (CFS) is a relatively new concept that captures emerging ideas about the central place of food in communities. At times it refers to the measure of food access and availability at the community level, and at other times to a goal or framework for place-based food systems. It builds upon the more commonly understood concept of food security, which refers to food access and availability at an individual or household level (in health and social policy, for instance) and at a national or global level (e.g., in international development and aid work). Hamm and Bellows (2003) define CFS as “a situation in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice” (p. 37). CFS involves social, economic, and institutional factors, and their interrelationships within a community that impact availability and access to resources to produce food locally. It takes into account environmental sustainability and social fairness through measures of the availability and affordability of food in that community relative to the financial resources available to purchase or produce it.

CFS' global scale

In industrialized countries, income-related food security is measured at both the individual and household levels whereas in non-industrialized countries it is most often measured in terms of under-nutrition and malnutrition through anthropometric measurements. Indicators of individual food insecurity include limited food selection, suboptimal nutrient intakes and severe nutrient inadequacies. Household food insecurity measures food intake of adults and children as a group within the home in relation to household income and food cost expenditure.