Maine advocates say USDA decision to end food insecurity report is 'concerning'

MAINE, USA — A decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to end a decades-old national survey on food insecurity is causing concern from hunger relief advocates in Maine.

The USDA recently announced it will stop its annual Household Food Security reports, calling the studies "redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous." But local hunger relief leaders say the data has been a critical resource for tracking food insecurity and securing funding to feed families in need.

"This data has historically been used to inform advocacy efforts, policy change, it's been used to guide funding, and it helps programs like ours understand the scale and scope of the need," said Hannah Chatalbash, director of Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program in Brunswick.

Chatalbash and volunteers like Susie