The state health department says the Trump administration’s recent decision to terminate a federal hunger survey will weaken the department’s decision-making capabilities moving forward.
“Losing objective evidence required for sound program design and accountability, undermines our ability to make data-driven decisions and respond to changes in community need,” North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Hannah Jones told the Citizen Times in a Sept. 23 email. “The discontinuation of this survey limits the capacity of NCDHHS to allocate resources, monitor trends, and craft responsive program policy necessary to address hunger and food insecurity across North Carolina.”
On Sept. 20, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the termination of its annual Household Food Security Report, which tracks food insecurity trends across the United States.
Volunteers work with Bounty & Soul to distribute produce to Black Mountain residents, Sept. 18, 2025.
In a news release announcing the cancellation, USDA described the surveys — which date back to the Clinton administration — as “redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies (that) do nothing more than fear monger.”
Between 2021-23, about 11% of North Carolina’s nearly 4.4 million households were food insecure, according to the USDA’s 2023 report. Results of the 2024 survey, its last, are expected to be released later this month.
The USDA said the reports “failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder.”
In North Carolina, Jones said the survey has played a critical role informing policy directives and allocating resources to “reach those in highest need.”
“This survey helps monitor national and state food insecurity trends, which is key to understanding not only the depth of issue, but also how to solve the problem,” she said.
Boxes of produce sit underneath a tent during a Bounty & Soul food distribution event in Black Mountain, Sept. 18, 2025.
USDA report data, according to Jones, was how the state’s Division of Aging was able to determine that North Carolina had one of the highest rates of senior food insecurity in the nation.
In 2020, North Carolina had the 14th highest rate of food insecurity among adults 60 and older in the U.S., according to the state.
The survey’s termination comes as cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, and Medicaid, are expected to increase food insecurity in Western North Carolina. The region’s food pantries and meal distributors have already been seeing a surge of need in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, which hit the region last September.
More: Food insecurity across WNC increased after Helene. A year later, it remains high
More: Health Opportunities Pilot Medicaid program ends June 30: ‘The ripple effect is huge’
Jacob Biba is the Helene recovery reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: USDA hunger survey helped NC ‘reach those in highest need,’ NCDHHS says
