As Prices Climb, So Does Hunger in the U.S.
More than 18 million U.S. households couldn’t count on regular meals.
As fallout from the ongoing trade war continues, food insecurity remains a pressing issue for millions of Americans.
Research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that 18 million households — 13.5% — were food insecure in 2023, up from 12.8% in 2022.
Nearly 7 million households — 5.1% — experienced very low food security, meaning families were forced to cut back on meals due to a lack of resources.
“You hear this in health care — that, ‘I skipped my medication for a day,’” said Catherine D’Amato, CEO of the Greater Boston Food Bank, in an interview with CBS News.
“But now people are making these same choices with food. It's shocking, though not surprising, that families are in a situation where they have to make trade-offs.”
More than 14 million children in the United States are affected by food insecurity. Arkansas and Oklahoma have the highest rates, with 24% of children impacted. According to the Dallas Morning News, Texas tied with Alabama for the fifth-highest rate of child food insecurity, with nearly 1.7 million children affected.
Inflation: A Boiling Point
Studies found that the average American now spends $235 a week on groceries — totaling more than $900 a month — as inflation reached 2.7% in June.
“Rising prices will make it ... tougher for families living paycheck to paycheck,” economist Heather Long wrote in a study.
“The grocery store price increases hit especially hard for middle- and moderate-income households.”
Many families with six-figure incomes are now turning to food banks to offset the rising cost of groceries. Chandra Kelsey, a mother of three and program director at Yale University’s School of Public Health, said she had to take a second job.
“To be in a position where you are doing OK and then you lose everything the next day — it's humbling, it's scary,” she said in a report.
She later noted that despite her household earning a total of $150,000, it’s still not enough as the cost of living continues to rise.
“That's not what you bring home after taxes. You know, we have a mortgage, insurance. We've got one kid on the way to college, one in college. Something as small as a $1,000 expense could throw things off significantly,” she added.
In San Diego, 26% of residents face food insecurity, with numbers rising to levels not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It affects children in the way that they grow up or are able to develop in their life,” said Joseph Kendrick, research manager for the San Diego Hunger Coalition, in an interview with NBC San Diego. He emphasized that a lack of proper nutrition can lead to higher risks of diabetes and hypertension.
Kendrick acknowledged that short-term solutions like government assistance are helpful but stressed that the region’s high cost of living is worsening the problem.
“In the long term, this is about wages and people not earning enough to be able to afford three nutritious meals without assistance. So a long-term solution — you’d have to be talking about a living wage, where everyone is earning enough in San Diego County.”
Research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and SmartAsset found that the prices of groceries such as meat, eggs and poultry rose by more than 9% between March 2024 and March 2025. Honolulu saw the steepest increase in grocery prices, followed by Tampa, Florida; Minneapolis; San Diego; and New York City.
Trade War Impacts
Previous reports from The Introspective have followed the ongoing trade war that began in April, after President Trump announced a 10% tariff on all countries that trade with the United States — the highest such rate since the 1800s. Trump later imposed 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union (EU), a 35% tariff on Canada, and a 17% tariff specifically on tomatoes imported from Mexico.
“Mexico remains one of our greatest allies, but for far too long our farmers have been crushed by unfair trade practices that undercut pricing on produce like tomatoes. That ends today,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a press release.
“This rule change is in line with President Trump’s trade policies and approach with Mexico.”
In Florida — where tomatoes are grown domestically — many farmers praised the decision, claiming the tariffs protect American growers from “unfair” Mexican trading practices.
“This action ensures that American consumers will have more choices and higher-quality products, while strengthening America's food system against future disruptions,” said Robert Guenther, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, in a statement.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development criticized the Trump administration’s decision, saying it runs counter to the interests of both Mexico and the United States. Tomatoes from Mexico account for 90% to 93% of all fresh tomatoes shipped to the U.S.
“The traction fresh tomatoes have gained in the U.S. is derived from the quality of the product, and not from any unfair practices,” the agency said in a press release written in Spanish.
Research from Yale University found that the average American household may lose up to $4,900 as a result of the tariffs.
Government Cuts
Social programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — the formal name for food stamps — have faced deep cuts following the “Big Beautiful” spending bill, which was signed into law over Fourth of July weekend. The legislation impacts roughly 40 million people who rely on the program.
“We’re adding things like the biggest tax cut in the history of our country, a child tax credit — so many things are being added that we wouldn’t even have time to discuss them when we were doing it,” President Trump said in a previous Introspective report.
“It includes the largest tax cut in American history, the largest spending cut — $1.7 trillion. And yet you won’t even notice it. Just waste, fraud and abuse in American history.”
Research from the Urban Institute estimates that more than 22.3 million families could lose SNAP benefits, with 5.3 million of them losing at least $25 per month.
“I’m just trying to be a decent, functioning human being,” said Jade Johnson, a mother in Germantown, Maryland—a suburb of Washington, D.C.—who relies on SNAP benefits, in an interview with The Guardian.
“Can’t they let me get my life together first, before they start snatching stuff away from me?”
In Nevada, where one in six residents relies on SNAP, food banks have reported increased demand throughout Trump’s second term.
“The things I think about are kids having fewer meals, seniors literally having to skip dinner and ration more than they already do, and then families that are working so many jobs and can barely make ends meet already,” said Yolanda Kemp, a state employee, in a report by the Nevada Independent. She added that these cuts are taking people’s livelihoods away, while also pushing back on stereotypes of those receiving assistance.
“The public perception is that someone is sitting at home in a basement or on their mom's couch, but that is not at all the case,” she said.
A report from NewsNation found that food banks across the country reported a 25% to 40% increase in need, with the rising cost of living and government cuts being the primary drivers.
“The cost of living is just crushing people right now,” said James Cunningham, head chef at Bread and Roses Soup Kitchen in Venice, California.
“Even folks with jobs can’t afford rent and food at the same time, and with a lot of the support programs getting cut, more people are slipping through the cracks.”
In North Carolina, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina (CENC)—the largest food bank in the state—has seen the number of people receiving assistance grow to more than 600,000, up from 150,000 in 2023. At the same time, the amount of food distributed dropped from 115 million pounds last year to just 92 million pounds.
“And that's with increased need for food,” said Amy Beros, president and CEO of the Food Bank of CENC, in an interview with Axios. She noted that 30% of last year’s revenue came from government spending, but this year’s number is expected to fall to just 11% or 12%.
“People are going to receive less, or there’s going to be distributions where people will get turned away.”