Trump administration guts annual hunger monitoring after food stamp cuts

The Donald Trump administration has scrapped the Household Food Security Reports, which is an essential tool for tracking hunger in the US. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that the reports are “redundant, costly, and politicized,” doing nothing more than “fear mongering.”

“For 30 years, this study — initially created by the Clinton administration as a means to support the increase of SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] eligibility and benefit allotments — failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder,” the USDA states. 

“Trends in the prevalence of food insecurity have remained virtually unchanged, despite an over 87% increase in SNAP spending between 2019 and 2023. USDA will continue to prioritize statutory requirements and, where necessary, use the bevy of more timely and accurate data sets available to it.”

Turning away from the hungry

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi highlights that the move comes after President Trump gutted anti-hunger programs in July, when the “Big Beautiful Bill” cut over US$186 million from SNAP. “Now the Trump Administration has cancelled the annual report that shows how many Americans are going hungry.”

“As someone who learned firsthand as a child the difference anti-hunger programs make for families working to get back on their feet, I know what is at stake. Turning a blind eye to hungry children doesn’t make the problem go away — it only leaves struggling families invisible and without the support they deserve.”

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi.“As rising costs in the Trump economy push more families to the brink, we need to restore SNAP funding and guarantee the best data to meet the needs of seniors and working families,” he adds.

Previous reports

US Congress officials recently introduced Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2025 to help people suffering from nutrition insecurity, by changing the way SNAP benefits are calculated from the Thrifty Food Plan to the Low Cost Food Plan.

Last year’s Household Food Security Report revealed that 3.5% of US households (18 million households) were food insecure at least sometime in 2023. These households did not have access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all members. This is an increase of almost 5.5% from the 2022 level (12.8%).

Additionally, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) noted 47.4 million people lived in households experiencing food insecurity. This was a 3.2 million increase compared to 2022 and 13.5 million compared to 2021.

Nutrition Insight spoke with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, FRAC, and Vitamin Angels about the need to address the root causes of food insecurity, such as poverty, inadequate wages, lack of affordable housing, unaffordable healthcare, and systemic racism. 

Other opportunities include investing in universal school meals, boosting donations of nutritious items, expanding fruit and vegetable incentives, improving retail stocking standards per Dietary Guidelines, and funding research to enhance food and nutrition security in SNAP.