Trump Administration Cancels Annual ‘Food Security’ Estimates

WASHINGTON ― The Trump administration has called off the government’s annual estimate of household food security.

“These redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies do nothing more than fear monger,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement over the weekend.

It’s President Donald Trump’s starkest attack on economic data since he fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics last month over unfavorable jobs numbers. And it comes as the Trump administration prepares to enact food benefit cuts Republicans pushed through Congress to help pay for tax cuts.

The most recent “Household Food Security” report, released in September 2024, showed rising food insecurity, with 13.5% of households reporting food insecurity in 2023, up from 12.8% the previous year and 10.2% in 2021.

“Food insecurity” is not the same as hunger ― it means a household had trouble providing food for all of its members at some point during the year due to lack of resources. Only 5.1% of households reported “very low food security” in last year’s report, meaning food intake was reduced and eating patterns were disrupted at times. The same percentage of households experienced very low food security in 2022.

To the Trump USDA, the entire concept of “food insecurity” is apparently woke propaganda designed to boost political support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which the administration is paring back with help from Republicans in Congress.

“For 30 years, this study—initially created by the Clinton administration as a means to support the increase of SNAP eligibility and benefit allotments—failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder,” the USDA said in its unsigned press release. “Trends in the prevalence of food insecurity have remained virtually unchanged, regardless of an over 87% increase in SNAP spending between 2019 – 2023.”

SNAP spending has indeed increased dramatically in recent years, thanks especially to a boost during the Joe Biden administration in how benefit amounts are calculated. The 25% increase essentially maintained higher SNAP benefits that Congress created as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 20 million households receive SNAP benefits. The average monthly benefit, disbursed on debit cards that can be used for food items at grocery stores, is $356.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated cuts included as part of the tax cut law would reduce SNAP enrollment by about 2.4 million individuals. Separately, the administration is working with states to disallow SNAP recipients from using benefits to purchase sugary drinks and junk food.

Antihunger advocacy groups reacted furiously to the USDA’s announcement.

“This research is pivotal, and without it, we cannot evaluate whether policies are effective or responsive to community needs or document the impact of harmful policy decisions,” Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research and Action Center, said in a statement. “Ending data collection will not end hunger, it will only make it a hidden crisis that is easier to ignore and more difficult to address.”

Anne Filipic, CEO of the group Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign, suggested that canceling the food security report is a cover-up.

“It is no coincidence that this comes on the heels of the most extreme cuts that have ever been made to SNAP,” Filipic said.