sustenance
n. C1 Advanced US //ˈsəstənəns// UK //sˈʌstənəns// sus·te·nance
n. the food and drink you need to stay alive and healthy. It is a more formal word than 'food' or 'meals'.
n. the food and drink necessary for life and health. Often used in formal or literary contexts to describe the basic necessities of survival.
In many remote villages, the local community relies on traditional farming methods to provide the daily sustenance for the entire population.
The explorers faced extreme hardship when their supplies of sustenance were exhausted, forcing them to forage for edible plants and hunt for game to survive the winter.
From Middle English sustenaunce, from Old French sustenance, from sustenir with the suffix -ance, from Vulgar Latin *sustenire, from Latin sustinere. Compare also Late Latin sustinentia.