In a move that will please taxpayers and infuriate the usual hand-wringers, the Trump administration quietly pulled the plug on an Economic Research Service program that tracked \u201cfood insecurity\u201d \u2014 a data stream long used by advocates to gin up headlines and pressure for endless welfare expansions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The timing wasn\u2019t accidental: the program was shuttered after the One Big Beautiful Bill tightened up SNAP rules, bringing much-needed discipline to a program that had ballooned without consequence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the termination of future Household Food Security Reports. These redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies do nothing more than fear monger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For 30 years, this study\u2014initially created by the Clinton administration as a means to support the increase of SNAP eligibility and benefit allotments\u2014failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder. Trends in the prevalence of food insecurity have remained virtually unchanged, regardless of an over 87% increase in SNAP spending between 2019 \u2013 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
USDA will continue to prioritize statutory requirements and where necessary, use the bevy of more timely and accurate data sets available to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Needless to say, people who rely on this scam reacted with the usual hand-wringing, per the WSJ:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Employees inside the USDA as well as economists outside the agency who work closely with the data reacted with shock and anger as word spread about the cancellation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor the past 30 years, the USDA food insecurity measure has provided insight into the extent that American families have been able to cover their food needs,\u201d said Colleen Heflin, a professor at Syracuse University, who has been studying the data since its inception and learned of its cancellation. \u201cNot having this measure for 2025 is particularly troubling given the current rise in inflation and deterioration of labor market conditions, two conditions known to increase food insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They love the scary soundbite \u2014 \u201cX children go to bed hungry in America\u201d \u2014 because it gets clicks, donations and marching orders. But that headline? It almost always comes from the USDA\u2019s food-insecurity survey \u2014 a household questionnaire that\u2019s been repackaged by interest groups and sympathetic reporters as a direct count of \u201chunger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s a sample of what the survey actually asked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which of these statements best describes the food eaten in your household in the last 12 months: \u2014enough of the kinds of food (I\/we) want to eat; \u2014enough, but not always the kinds of food (I\/we) want; \u2014sometimes not enough to eat; or, \u2014often not enough to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[1] Enough of the kinds of food we want to eat<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[2] Enough but not always the kinds of food we want<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[3] Sometimes not enough to eat<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[4] Often not enough to eat<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] DK or Refused<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first statement is \u201c(I\/We) worried whether (my\/our) food would run out before (I\/we) got money to buy more.\u201d Was that often true, sometimes true, or never true for (you\/your household) in the last 12 months?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Often true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Sometimes true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Never true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] DK or Refused<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HH3. \u201cThe food that (I\/we) bought just didn\u2019t last, and (I\/we) didn\u2019t have money to get more.\u201d Was that often, sometimes, or never true for (you\/your household) in the last 12 months?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Often true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Sometimes true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Never true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] DK or Refused<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HH4. \u201c(I\/we) couldn\u2019t afford to eat balanced meals.\u201d Was that often, sometimes, or never true for (you\/your household) in the last 12 months?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Often true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Sometimes true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] Never true<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[ ] DK or Refused<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s be blunt: that survey is a proxy, not a hunger meter. It asks people whether they worried about running out of food or cut meals because of money. It does not measure calories, clinical malnutrition, or the literal number of children going to bed hungry. So before we start rewriting policy based on a sound bite, we ought to ask what the questions actually capture \u2014 and stop treating every alarmist estimate as gospel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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