Food Insecurity in the Summer: A Rural–Urban Comparison of African American Households With Children

Summer is a vulnerable time for 1 in 3 African American children who live in food insecure households. We examined the factors that affect food insecurity among African American households with children during the summer by rural and urban setting. We conducted concept mapping with 38 African American caregivers from rural and urban Missouri. Urban participants prioritized individual (unemployment) and household (food consumption) factors and rural caregivers prioritized community factors (community summer food programs). Our findings suggest that place matters and interventions to address household food insecurity during the summer must be adapted to a community’s social and economic context.