The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to release its Household Food Security report on Wednesday, which tracks the number of American families dealing with food insecurity each year.
However, this could be the last report. The Trump administration announced last month it would end the annual survey, calling it “redundant, costly, politicized and extraneous.”
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Critics say the report is an important policy guide for lawmakers working to combat hunger.
According to the USDA, 47.4 million people lived in food-insecure households in 2023, including 14 million children.
The White House also changed work requirements for recipients of SNAP benefits, a move that could leave millions without food assistance.
Sara Bleich, professor of health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the report "served as a consistent national benchmark, guiding solutions and bringing attention to areas of greatest need."
"Losing this powerful source of objective information would be a significant setback. Especially amid historic cuts to SNAP, the absence of this data will make it much harder to track the impact of policy changes and to ensure that decisions are grounded in evidence. Ultimately, without these annual reports, the ability to craft responsive, effective policies will be severely compromised," she said.
