To determine the characteristics of US low-income households that use alternative food acquisition strategies and to examine the association between food security and alternative food acquisition.

Cross-sectional analysis. The ten-item Adult Food Security Survey Module was used to determine food security status. Self-reported data were used to determine food acquisition from community food sources, social networks and household food production.

The National Food Acquisition and Purchasing Survey (FoodAPS), 2012.

The sample consisted of 2534 low-income households (≤185 % of the federal poverty line) in the USA.

Households using alternative food acquisition strategies were more likely to have a primary respondent who was non-Hispanic White, born in the USA, and female, and more likely to live in a rural area, have higher income and own a home than households not using alternative acquisition strategies. Very low food security was positively associated with the use of community food sources (aOR = 2·26 (95 % CI 1·15, 4·46)). There was no association between food security and food acquisition from social networks or household food production.

Use of alternative food acquisition strategies varied by specific demographic characteristics among low-income households, suggesting opportunities for outreach and promotion of alternative acquisition strategies in specific subpopulations in the USA. Future research should examine whether quantity and quality of food received from these sources are associated with food security.