Food Access: the ability of people to obtain enough safe, healthy, and affordable food. It depends on physical proximity to markets, economic affordability, and social or cultural factors. (Source: sciencedirect.com)

Food Insecurity is an official term from the USDA. It's when people don't have enough to eat and don't know where their next meal will come from. It's a big problem in the United States, where 48 million people, including 14 million children, experience food insecurity annually. However, many more people, including millions who do not meet the definition of food insecure—turn to the charitable food sector for support. (Source: Feeding America)

Food Security: Based on the 1996 World Food Summit, food security is defined when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

The four main dimensions of food security:

• Physical availability of food: Food availability addresses the “supply side” of food security and is determined by the level of food production, stock levels and net trade.

• Economic and physical access to food: An adequate supply of food at the national or international level does not in itself guarantee household level food security. Concerns about insufficient food access have resulted in a greater policy focus on incomes, expenditure, markets and prices in achieving food security objectives.

• Food utilization: Utilization is commonly understood as the way the body makes the most of various nutrients in the food. Sufficient energy and nutrient intake by individuals are the result of good care and feeding practices, food preparation, diversity of the diet and intra-household distribution of food. Combined with good biological utilization of food consumed, this determines the nutritional status of individuals.

• Stability of the other three dimensions over time: Even if your food intake is adequate today, you are still considered to be food insecure if you have inadequate access to food on a periodic basis, risking a deterioration of your nutritional status. Adverse weather conditions, political instability, or economic factors (unemployment, rising food prices) may have an impact on your food security status.

For food security objectives to be realized, all four dimensions must be fulfilled simultaneously. (Source: worldbank.org)

Food as Medicine: The American Heart Association defines food is medicine (FIM) as the provision of healthy food such as produce prescriptions, medically tailored groceries and medically tailored meals to treat, manage or prevent diet-related health conditions in a way that is integrated with and paid for by the health care sector. Patients are referred to these services by a health care professional, health care organization or health insurance plan. (Source: healthcarexfood.org)

Lifestyle Medicine: Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Lifestyle medicine certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, positive social connections, and avoidance of risky substances—also provides effective prevention for these conditions. (Source: American College of Lifestyle Medicine)

CalFresh: CalFresh, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, provides monthly food benefits to individuals and families with low-income and provides economic benefits to communities. CalFresh is the largest food program in California and provides an essential hunger safety net. CalFresh is federally mandated and in California, is state-supervised and county-operated.

CalFresh benefits can help buy nutritious foods for a better diet. CalFresh benefits stretch food budgets, allowing individuals and families to afford nutritious food, including more fruit, vegetables and other healthy foods. The amount of benefits a household receives is dependent on household size countable income, and monthly expenses, such as housing and utilities. The program issues monthly benefits on an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card. Food may be purchased at any grocery store or farmers market that accepts EBT cards. (Source: California Department of Social Services0