Tom Vilsack Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) | Official Website
On September 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service released its annual Household Food Security Report in the United States. The report indicates that in 2023, 86.5 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the year, while the remaining 13.5 percent (18 million households) experienced challenges with food availability, quality, or variety at some point during the year.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a statement regarding the findings:
“The findings of today’s report are a direct outcome of Congressional actions that short-change our children’s future and erode the safety net that hard-working families rely on in hard times – whether that’s blocking expansion of the Child Tax Credit or doubling down to restrict access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit and enhanced SNAP benefits helped drive the poverty rate down to a record low of 8 percent in 2021. This is progress we should be working together to build on, not strip away."
Vilsack highlighted that food insecurity remained consistent from year to year among households with children. He noted that programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and SNAP have been effective in feeding children and must be continued and strengthened.
"USDA will continue to encourage states to adopt the evidence-based SUN Bucks program, which launched in 2024 and helps feed kids in summer months when school is out and hunger rises," Vilsack stated. "Bolstering participation in SNAP and fully funding WIC are also critical. The costs of not doing so are clear—we owe it to the next generation to give them the best possible start in life."
He concluded by reaffirming his stance against proposals to cut food assistance programs: "For anyone to go hungry in America is unacceptable. This report reaffirms that proposals to cut food assistance—including SNAP in the next Farm Bill—are misguided and out of step with the reality working families face.”
