Promoting Social Connectedness Through Food

Glossary of terms

The following definitions are used throughout this report. Unless otherwise specified, definitions are taken from the OECD report Social Connections and Loneliness in OECD Countries (2025[1]).

Social connection terms

• Social connection is an umbrella term that encompasses the many ways that people interact with and relate to one another. It includes both the quantity and quality of time spent with others, and how much support people feel they have.

• Social capital refers to societal norms, shared values and institutional arrangements that encourage co‑operation between groups.

• Social isolation refers to low frequency, duration and extent of interactions – i.e. objective conditions, such as spending little time with others, and/or having a small social network. Social isolation is distinct from experiencing loneliness: It is possible to spend time alone without feeling lonely, just as it is possible to feel lonely even when spending time with others.

• Loneliness is an unpleasant subjective experience that results from an individual’s perception of being undesirably isolated, or from feeling that their needs are not being met in their relationships with others. Loneliness is one qualitative aspect of relationships, distinct from measures of relationship quantity (e.g. social network size, or the amount of time spent with others).

• Social infrastructure refers to the spaces and organisations that encourage social interactions and thereby strengthen social capital and feelings of belonging.

• Third places are informal and accessible spaces, beyond home or the workplace, that are predominantly used for conversation and social interaction. This definition overlaps with that of social infrastructure – though the latter emphasises physical (as opposed to virtual) spaces – and both are used by academic and policy communities.

Food-related terms

• Food systems include the elements and activities that relate to the production and consumption of food, and the ways that each subsequently affect economic, health, social and environmental outcomes (OECD, 2025[2]).

• Food practices refer to the routine activities surrounding food consumption at an individual or household level, including meal planning, purchasing or obtaining ingredients, preparing meals, eating, storing or preserving, and disposal (Castelo, Schäfer and Silva, 2021[3]).

• Food insecurity refers to a consistent lack of access to safe and nutritious foods, such that it impedes normal growth and development. There are four main dimensions: Availability (physical existence of food), access (resources to obtain sufficient quality food), utilisation (how people make use of food) and stability (the continuity of the preceding three dimensions over time) (Giner and Placzek, 2022[4]).

References

[3] Castelo, A., M. Schäfer and M. Silva (2021), “Food practices as part of daily routines: A conceptual framework for analysing networks of practices”, Appetite, Vol. 157, p. 104978, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.APPET.2020.104978.

[4] Giner, C. and O. Placzek (2022), “Food insecurity and food assistance programmes across OECD countries: Overcoming evidence gaps”, OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers, No. 183, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/42b4a7fa-en.

[2] OECD (2025), “Food systems”, https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/policy-issues/food-systems.html (accessed on 24 June 2025).

[1] OECD (2025), Social Connections and Loneliness in OECD Countries, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/6df2d6a0-en.