At the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996, heads of state and government and the European Commission committed themselves to reducing the number of undernourished people from 800 million to 400 million by 2015 and to move away from food aid towards more long-term development in order to improve the food security situation.

Community food security is a condition in which all residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice.

A related but distinct concept of "food security" has been defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to include, among other aspects: (1) the production of adequate food supplies; (2) stability in the flow of these supplies; and (3) secure access, both physical and economic, to available supplies for those in need of them. Recently, Cuba, unlike most other countries in the world, has had to grapple with these questions under circumstances that would try most people's souls.

According to the recent nationally representative food security surveys sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), elderly persons have a higher rate of food security compared to nonelderly persons. Maasuring the food security of elderly persons is done with series of methods.

Food security is defined as having access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle

The world is faced with three main food-related challenges: widespread hunger and malnutrition, mismanagement of natural resources in food production, and obesity. This article deals with the first two only.

Community food security makes sense on many levels, to provide nutritious food, keep farmers on the land, and build healthy communities. But it makes powerful sense, after 9/11, as an alternative to a vulnerable global food system.

Coomunity food security was first conceptualized in 1994 by a broad coalition of advocates seeking comprehensive solutions to the nation's food and farming crises. It integrates aspects of many different fields, such as public health's prevention-orientation, ecology's system analysis, community development's place-centered focus and emphasis on economic development, into a comprehensive framework for meeting a community's food needs.

The twentieth century witnessed a remarkable agricultural revolution which led to global food production rising even faster than the unprecedented rate of population growth. The world's formers and fishermen now produce more than enough food for every man, woman and child on the planet to be adequately nourished. Yet, one in every eight people in the world remains chronically hungry.

Households that include elderly persons are generally more food secure than other U.S. households. However, not all elderly persons have achieved food security--access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. Analysis by USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) of data from a nationally representative food security survey conducted in September 2000 shows that 94 percent of households with an elderly person (age 65 or older) present were food secure throughout the year.