The U.S. Department of Agriculture is canceling a survey that hunger groups use to understand — and respond to — food insecurity across the country.

The USDA has collected data using the Food Security Supplement for about 30 years. Once a year, the questionnaire was included in the U.S. Census’ monthly Current Population Survey.

The survey asked questions such as how often people couldn’t afford food that year or if they lost weight due to a lack of food. It specifically measured food insecurity, which the USDA calls a “household-level … condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.”

“With that data, we’re able to know estimates for food insecurity rates across the country and then also at the state level,” said University of Missouri Senior Project Coordinator Bill McKelv

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