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Abstract

Food insecurity exists across the entirety of the United States population but higher rates of insecurity are seen in rural areas as compared to urban households. This research looks to understand current federal initiatives used to address food insecurity and how those initiatives address rural food insecurity specifically. Food insecurity affects an individual's ability to function in normal activities and may be one of the more outwardly visible signs that the household is facing the struggles of poverty. Rural households experiencing food insecurity at higher rates, compared to their urban counterparts, is a significant cause for concern that these households have additional barriers to achieving food security. This research focuses on answering the question how do federal food and nutrition programs address rural food insecurity? By using a framework of food security and conducting a content analysis on the federal food and nutrition programs and a thematic analysis of academic literature focused on rural food insecurity it is possible to see what can be done to better address the struggles of rural households. Adjusting existing programming to limit the need for personal transportation by rural households to access food is one major improvement that could be made to improve rural household's food security. The USDA food and nutrition programs have limitations to addressing the specific barriers of rural food insecurity, and by making existing programs more widely available to those who would benefit most from them there is greater opportunity for these barriers to be addressed.

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