The Trump administration has scrapped the federal government’s annual food insecurity report, dismissing it as “redundant” and “politicized,” after enacting sweeping cuts to the food stamp program.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the end of the report. The USDA said it still plans to issue one final report – on hunger in 2024 – in October.
“For 30 years, this study — initially created by the Clinton administration as a means to support the increase of SNAP eligibility and benefit allotment —failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder,” the US Department of Agriculture said in a statement Saturday, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the formal name for food stamps.
“Trends in the prevalence of food insecurity have remained virtually unchanged, regardless of an over 87% increase in SNAP spending between 2019–2023.”
The move comes after President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress passed a sweeping domestic agenda package this year that will enact massive cuts to the food stamp program.
Last year, the USDA report had warned of rising food insecurity in the United States.
The latest USDA report, published in September last year, found some 18 million US households were food insecure at some time during 2023, a million more than in 2022.
Advocates representing low-income Americans raised concerns that the termination of the annual hunger reports “is sending a signal that tracking and battling hunger is no longer a priority” for the government.
They said canceling the USDA report would make it difficult for state and federal officials to decide on food assistance programs to battle hunger.
The reports served as the primary official source on national food insecurity and hunger trends in the US over the past decades.
Trump introduced a broad domestic policy package earlier this year that includes significant reductions to the SNAP.
Accordingly, about 2.4 million fewer Americans, including families with children, are expected to receive food stamp benefits in an average month.
Other recipients of food stamps are also expected to see their monthly assistance shrink at a time when grocery prices remain high, adding more pressure on poor American households.
“By cancelling the survey, USDA is sending a signal that tracking and battling hunger is no longer a priority,” Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger, said in a statement.
“With continuing worries about food inflation, as well as significant cuts to America’s largest food assistance program – SNAP – this move is a blow to policymakers and advocates who rely on the data to improve the lives of our food-insecure neighbors,” it added.
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