The Trump administration announced Saturday the termination of the United States Department of Agriculture’s annual Household Food Security Reports, ending a three-decade-long survey that has served as the nation’s primary tool for measuring hunger in America.
The USDA justified the cancellation by characterizing the reports as “redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies” that “do nothing more than fear monger”. The agency claimed the survey, initially created during the Clinton administration, had “failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder.”
The last available data paints a troubling picture of food insecurity in America. The 2023 Household Food Security Report revealed that 47.4 million Americans lived in food-insecure households, including 13.8 million children. This represents a significant increase from 44 million people in 2022, marking the highest rate since 2014.
Food insecurity rose from 10.2% of households in 2021 to 13.5% in 2023, affecting approximately 18 million households. The increases disproportionately impacted communities of color, with food insecurity rates reaching 23.3% for Black households and 21.9% for Hispanic households, more than double the rate for White non-Hispanic households at 9.9%.
Single-parent households faced particularly severe challenges, with food insecurity affecting nearly 36% of households led by single mothers and 23% of those led by single fathers in 2023.
The survey’s termination coincides with the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which Trump signed in July. The legislation introduces the most significant cuts to SNAP in the program’s history, reducing federal spending by approximately $187 billion through 2034—a 20% reduction according to Congressional Budget Office projections.
The new law expands work requirements to include previously exempt populations: adults ages 55-64, parents of children 14 and older, veterans, homeless individuals, and former foster youth. An estimated 2.4 million Americans are expected to lose some or all food assistance benefits as a result of these changes.
Southern states dominate the rankings for food insecurity, with Arkansas leading the nation at 18.9% of households experiencing food insecurity between 2021-2023. The top ten states with the highest food insecurity rates include:
- Arkansas: 18.9%
- Texas: 16.9%
- Mississippi: 16.2%
- Louisiana: 16.2%
- Oklahoma: 15.4%
- Kentucky: 14.5%
- South Carolina: 14.4%
- West Virginia: 14.0%
- Wyoming: 11.2%
- Michigan: 11.4%
In contrast, New Hampshire has the lowest food insecurity rate at 7.4%, followed by other northeastern states like Vermont (7.9%), Massachusetts (8.4%), and Rhode Island (8.4%).
The Household Food Security Survey was established in response to the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990, with the first comprehensive data collection occurring in April 1995. The survey became an annual supplement to the Current Population Survey, interviewing approximately 40,000 households each December.
For nearly three decades, the survey has provided the gold standard for measuring food insecurity using a validated 18-question assessment tool. The data has been used across Republican and Democratic administrations to evaluate the effectiveness of federal nutrition programs and guide policy decisions at federal, state, and local levels.
The USDA stated it will release one final report in October covering 2024 data from the final year of the Biden administration, but indicated no future reports would be published under the Trump administration. The agency claimed it has access to “more timely and accurate data sets” but did not specify what these alternative sources might be.
