Glossary

Emergency Shelter: A program that provides free temporary housing for people who have no place to live.

Famine:  A drastic shortage of food in a region leading to hunger and an increased number of deaths, often caused by drought or natural disasters.

Food Bank: A community organization that distributes donated or recovered food to agencies serving low-income people throughout a region.

Food Insecurity:  The state of having uncertain or limited availability of food.  While households considered food insecure are not always hungry, they may be forced to reduce the quality, desirability, or variety of their diets on a regular basis.

Food Pantry: A program that distributes free bags or boxes of food to people in need.

Food Security: The ability to access enough food, at all times, and in socially acceptable ways, for an active, healthy life.

Homelessness: A state of being without a place to live.  Some common causes of homelessness include eviction, job loss, substance abuse, or mental illness.

Hunger: The recurrent and involuntary lack of food, causing weakness, discomfort, or illness, due to insufficient economic, family, or community resources.

Malnutrition: A condition caused when the body does not get the proper nutrients either because of poor diet or incomplete digestion of nutrients.

Soup Kitchen or Community Kitchen: A program that prepares and serves free meals to people in need.

Undernutrition: A state of having insufficient quantities of food to sustain proper health and growth.

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