Hiding Hunger: The Administration’s Plan to Eliminate Food Insecurity Data
Earlier this year, the Trump Administration announced it will discontinue the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) annual Household Food Security Report, eliminating what has been the most reliable measure of hunger in America for nearly three decades.
The timing is particularly troubling, coming on the heels of historic and devastating cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), followed quickly by the longest government shutdown in history with USDA refusing to issue SNAP funds. By canceling the report that would measure the impact of these harmful policies, the Trump administration is creating a reality where we won’t have clear data on the consequences of their policies.
What We’re Losing
The Household Food Security Report isn’t a tool of abstract government bureaucracy. It’s a rigorous, consistent measurement tool that has tracked hunger in America since the mid-1990s. The most recent report, with data from 2023, revealed that over 47 million Americans were living in food-insecure households.
For 30 years, through both Democratic and Republican administrations including the first Trump administration, this report provided objective, nonpartisan data. Researchers ask the same questions in the same way every year, allowing policymakers, researchers, advocates, faith communities, and others to understand whether hunger is improving or worsening. It is the gold standard for measuring food insecurity in America.
Now they want to remove this critical tool.
Accountability Matters
By cancelling what has historically been one of the most important and reliable metrics we have to measure the impact of hunger in this country, the Trump administration will be able to hide the reality of America’s hunger crisis at the same time that they are worsening it with devastating policy decisions, including historical cuts to SNAP.
Without this data, the administration can make unsubstantiated claims about hunger in America. They can argue that fewer people need assistance, that their policies are working, and that the problem isn’t as serious as advocates say. There will be no official measure to prove otherwise.
Faith Communities Respond
On Nov. 25, MAZON led a group of 18 national faith-based organizations in sending a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins demanding restoration of this vital report. The week of Thanksgiving, our faith-based organizations came together to speak with clarity in pursuit of our moral obligation to support the most vulnerable people in our communities.
Our letter states: “Publishing this information on an annual basis is a matter of accountability, transparency, and responsible governance. Failing to do so disables a critical, irreplaceable indicator of the health of our economy and hides the impact of recent policy changes on hunger in this country.” The letter continues to say that “While our theologies may differ, we are committed to supporting those who are in need, and we are aligned in our understanding that federal anti-hunger policies and programs have the power to transform the lives of countless Americans who have to cut the size of meals or who go hungry because they have too little money for food.”
We also called for the reinstatement of USDA Economic Research Service employees who have been placed on administrative leave. Data doesn’t collect itself, and silencing researchers is part of the same troubling pattern.
Our Commitment
The Trump administration may try to hide the data, but hunger remains real. Those 47 million Americans are still struggling to feed their families. The problem doesn’t disappear because we stop measuring it.
At MAZON, we will continue fighting for the restoration of the Household Food Security Report and for the millions of Americans whose struggles this administration would prefer to keep invisible. Hunger is a systemic and pervasive issue in this country, and addressing it requires facing the truth, not hiding from it.
The work continues, and we won’t stop until every American has reliable access to nutritious food.