food secure

American  

[food si-kyoor] / ˈfud sɪˈkjʊər /

Or food-secure

adjective

1. having or characterized by ready access to safe and nutritionally adequate food.

   In addition to eating more meals and becoming more food secure, families there are also improving their housing conditions.

   A more sustainable and food-secure future needs to be built by all of us.

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Etymology

Origin of food secure

First recorded in 1980–85

Explanation

A community or family that is food-secure is able to get the food they need on a regular basis for maintaining health, whether they grow it themselves or buy it from a stable source at a price they can afford. Many things can keep people from being food-secure, such as crop failure, natural disasters, war, poverty, or unemployment. Food-secure is the opposite of food-insecure; people who are food-insecure are not able to get enough food to stay healthy, or they’re only able to get it sometimes but not reliably. As you might be able to guess, the corresponding nouns are food security and food insecurity.

Example Sentences

Then the Eye takes in the plight, in 1826, of those whose liberty would take generations to secure.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 2, 2026

It is the fulfillment of what my ancestors struggled to secure.

From Slate • Jul. 2, 2026

In January 2024, the Kansas Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens to secure their place at the Super Bowl - and the star rushed onto the pitch for a lingering smooch with their star player.

From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026

National Guard troops have been spotted in the vicinity of the venue in recent days, a not uncommon sight under a state-level deployment to secure major venues and transit hubs in the Big Apple.

From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026

I show her the loops near the waist for weapons and how to secure the waist ties and extra strings at the ankles.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland