St. Louis Public Radio reported on September 24, 2025
USDA scrapped its longstanding hunger survey. We say that’s a bad move
Leaders from one of the largest hunger relief organizations in the St. Louis region says the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent cancellation of its annual food insecurity report will do more harm than good.
The USDA on Sept. 20 announced it will no longer provide its Household Food Security Report in an effort to save money, stating that the “redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies do nothing more than fear monger.”
The report has been published annually for 30 years and is the largest study of food insecurity in the U.S., providing data on race, ethnicity, age and geographical locations of food deserts across the country. Around 40,000 households and families are interviewed for the assessment as federal, state and local organizations utilize the information to assess needs.
In the last report, researchers found the food insecurity rate across the country was 13.5% in 2023 and 12.2% the year prior.
The USDA said in a statement that despite the report cancellation, it will “continue to prioritize statutory requirements and where necessary, use the bevy of more timely and accurate data sets available to it.”
The final report under the current presidential administration will be released next month.
But leaders at Operation Food Search in Overland say without this data, acquiring funding will be difficult, as well as uncovering new food-insecure areas. The group distributes $30 million worth of food and necessities each year to 330 community partners in 25 Missouri and Illinois counties — $32 million worth of resources were distributed last year.
The company’s president and CEO, Kristen Wild, said the USDA report highlights food deserts by county, which helps determine where to provide resources.
She stressed that the information is crucial to combating rising grocery prices and the potential loss of Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
According to OFS, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that 150,000 Missourians and 472,000 Illinoisans will lose SNAP assistance, numbers largely made up of disabled and elderly people, the working poor, veterans and children.
