The U.S. Department of Agriculture has ended its annual Household Food Security Report, the federal government’s primary measure of hunger and food insecurity nationwide. U-M professors Kate Bauer, Natasha Pilkauskas, and Jennifer Garner explain that this decision removes the most rigorous and objective tool for evaluating how federal policies, such as SNAP, impact families and children, potentially leaving policymakers without crucial data. They emphasize the report’s vital role in tracking national trends and understanding the connection between food security and chronic disease risk.
