What is food security?  Food security is when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. For food security to be possible, the World Health Organization says that food has to be:

Available: Food availability means that there is enough food to eat all the time. Some communities have times of plenty, and times of famine depending on the time of year. Part of food security is making sure that communities have a strategy to get through periods of famine with enough nutrition.

Accessible: There may be food available in a community, but it may still be out of reach to some community members. Food accessibility is about how food is distributed when it's available, whether that means among family members or across a whole country. Poverty is often a major factor that makes food inaccessible to families. 

Useable: This is especially relevant when food aid is being delivered to a community in crisis. Without cooking tools and clean water, food aid like maize or rice can be as good as useless. The best food aid comes with all the tools and supplies needed to prepare it and meets nutritional requirements. Another important part of making food aid useable is ensuring that the cultural tastes and values of a community are respected.

Unfortunately,  we don’t have food security globally right now. We have food insecurity. The most extreme form of food insecurity is famine. In times of famine, food is so scarce that malnutrition and starvation are a dangerous reality. There are also less extreme forms of food insecurity that prevent children and adults from meeting their basic needs.