The 1960s saw major policy initiatives aiming to address hunger, when undernutrition was rampant in the post WWII period. By the 1990s, public policies shifted away from hunger toward an approach more informed by the challenges related to access and affordability.
 
However, researchers Dariush Mozaffarian of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Sheila Fleischhacker of Georgetown Law School, and José Andrés of World Central Kitchen, argue in a Viewpoint article published in JAMA argue that policymakers should shift from ‘food insecurity’ to a ‘nutrition insecurity’ perspective and focus on policies making sure that the food people have access to is nutritious.
 
The concept of food security focuses on access to and affordability of food that is safe, nutritious, and consistent with personal preferences, they said. In reality, however, the ‘nutritious’ part has often been overlooked or lost in national policies and solutions, with resulting emphasis on quantity, rather than quality, of food.
 
“Food is essential both for life and human dignity. Every day, I see hunger, but the hunger I see is not only for calories but for nourishing meals. With a new focus on nutrition security, we embrace a solution that nourishes people, instead of filling them with food but leaving them hungry,” Chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, said.
 
The authors define nutrition security as having consistent access to and availability and affordability of foods and beverages that promote well-being, while preventing disease, or treating it if needed.
 
“’Nutrition security’ incorporates all the aims of food security but with additional emphasis on the need for wholesome, healthful foods and drinks for all. COVID-19 has made clear that Americans who are most likely to be hungry are also at highest risk of diet-related diseases including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and many cancers – a harsh legacy of inequities and structural racism in our nation. A new focus on nutrition security for all Americans will help crystallize and catalyze real solutions that provide not only food but also wellbeing for everyone,” Mozaffarian said.
 
“It is the right time for this evolution,” Fleischhacker added. “By prioritizing nutrition security, we bring together historically siloed areas, hunger and nutrition, which must be tackled together to effectively address our modern challenges of diet-related diseases and disparities in clinical care, government food and food assistance policies, public health investments, and national research.”
 
The focus matters most for certain groups which are experiencing the greatest inequity in consistent, affordable access to nutritious foods, namely “traditionally marginalized minority groups, as well as people living in rural and lower-income counties,” who are also the most likely to experience diet-related diseases.