Tufts and Georgetown scientists, and humanitarian José Andrés, call for a new approach to address food and nutrition inequities.
In the 1960s, a national focus on hunger was essential to address major problems of under nutrition after World War II. In the 1990s, the nation shifted away from hunger toward “food insecurity” to better capture and address the challenges of food access and affordability. Now, a new Viewpoint article argues that today’s health and equity challenges call for the U.S. to shift from “food insecurity” to “nutrition insecurity” in order to catalyze appropriate focus and policies on access not just to food but to healthy, nourishing food.

The Viewpoint, by Dariush Mozaffarian of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University, Sheila Fleischhacker of Georgetown Law School, and José Andrés of World Central Kitchen, was published online in JAMA this week.