Heflin Discusses Data on Food Insecurity Status, Cuts to SNAP With The Hill, Grist and Marketplace

October 15, 2025

Grist,Marketplace,The Hill

Colleen Heflin

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Center for Policy Research

Federal

Food Security

United States

Grist

Marketplace

The Hill

Colleen Heflin

“ Now is not the time to stop measuring food insecurity,” co-authored by Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs, was published in The Hill. Following is an excerpt:

Monitoring the nation’s food security status is important in its own right and also because food insecurity is associated with a variety of negative health outcomes. This includes increased risks of some birth defects, anemia, cognitive problems and aggression and anxiety among children, and decreased nutrient intake, increased rates of mental health problems and depression, diabetes and poor cardiovascular health among adults.

As such, it adds tens of billions of dollars in additional health care expenditures in the U.S., and thus in recent years many health care settings, including the Veteran’s Administration, screen for food insecurity during patient in-take.

While poverty is certainly a key risk factor for food insecurity, it is by no means the sole determinant. Fewer than half of households living in poverty also report being food insecure, and indeed there are more persons residing in food insecure households with incomes above the poverty line than below.

Food insecurity among children has been linked to factors such as maternal mental health, and among seniors to factors such as disability status. Thus, measuring poverty alone is not sufficient for understanding the causes and consequences of food insecurity.

Heflin also spoke with Grist about the Trump administration's cancellation of the Household Food Security Report. She warns that the loss of the report will have wide-reaching consequences. “It really leaves a huge hole in our understanding of who is food insecure, where food insecurity is most prevalent, and how changing economic conditions and policy conditions are impacting the American population,” Heflin says.

She was also quoted in the Marketplace article, “SNAP is about to undergo some big changes.”