[falcolas]

> The fear of insufficient calories to survive is all but eradicated. Obesity is the new marker of poverty.

Tell that to the millions of families in the US who are food insecure TODAY. And calories alone are not enough.

"the USDA found that nearly 7 million households were so financially squeezed last year that they had to skip meals at times because there wasn't enough food to go around. Almost all of these households said they couldn't afford to eat balanced meals." ~NPR

As for employment, that 4.3% unemployment (per MSNBC on 8/3/24) still represents some 13 million people. I'd hesitate to call that "full employment" by any metric. And it doesn't count the other roughly 20% who are not counted in that statistic who are not working (intentionally or not).

[refurb]

The very fact we came up with a new phrase "food insecurity" tells you that the type of need has changed drastically.

[falcolas]

"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."

How is this a drastic departure?

Also, some of the earliest research into food insecurity was done in 1798, and the phrasing came out of the aftermath of WWII. So, neither is it new.

https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/20864

[refurb]

It's a departure from what we previously worried about - people not having food to eat.

Look at the definition of "low food security" - the most extreme food insecurity the USDA measures.

Low food security — These food-insecure households obtained enough food to avoid substantially disrupting their eating patterns or reducing food intake by using a variety of coping strategies, such as eating less varied diets, participating in Federal food assistance programs, or getting food from community food pantries.

"obtained enough food to avoid substantially disrupting their eating patterns or reducing food intake". So none of these people actually didn't have enough food to eat, they just had to change how they got their food.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/fo...