Americans need food, not empty promises

“Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods.”  

“Prices will come down. You just watch: They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast, not only with insurance, with everything.” 

“Starting the day I take the oath of office, I will rapidly drive prices down and we will make America affordable again. We’re going to make it affordable again.” 

“Energy is going to bring us back. That means we’re going down and getting gasoline below $2 a gallon, bring down the price of everything from electricity rates to groceries, airfares, and housing costs.” 

“Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again. We’ll do that. We’ve got to bring it down.” 

According to a report entitled “Trump’s Economic Promises Timeline” on the website of Lloyd Doggett, a U.S. Representative of the state of Texas’s 14^th district, these are some of Donald Trump’s campaign promises surrounding Americans’ ability to afford basic things tha they need, such as food and gasoline. Trump has not only not delivered on these promises but has carried out actions that have actively worsened the affordability crisis, such as instigating a war that has led to an increase in gas prices and spearheading the war on SNAP. 

According to a November 2025 Harvard Kennedy School report entitled “Explainer: Understanding the SNAP program—and what cuts to these benefits may mean,” the SNAP program, commonly known as food stamps, helps more than 42 million Americans buy food each month. 

Additionally, 70% of the 42 million SNAP recipients are elderly, have a disability or who are children. According to a Fortune article entitled “Trump celebrates 2.4 million Americans ‘lifted’ off SNAP benefits after his tax-cut law slashed funding and tightened work requirements,” the One Big Beautiful Bill made 4.2 million Americans stop receiving food assistance- which Trump celebrated.  

The USDA has released its final report on food security, entitled “Food Security Status of U.S. Households in 2024.” According to this report, in 2024, before SNAP benefits had been cut, 18.3 million American households experienced food insecurity, meaning that at times during the year, these households were uncertain of having or unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources for food. 

Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that 7.2 million American households experienced very low food insecurity, a term that denotes in how many households normal eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake was reduced at times during the year because the members had insufficient money or other resources for food. 

At the time of the publication of this article, there have not been any comprehensive governmental surveys discussing food insecurity in a post-Big-Beautiful-Bill America. This is because, on Sept. 20, 2025, in an announcement entitled “USDA Terminates Redundant Food Insecurity Survey,” the USDA did just that- deeming the surveys redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies” that “do nothing more than fear monger. 

It is a travesty that, in one of the most prosperous nations in the world, members of 7.2 million households are forced to go without adequate food, and our federal government is reducing one of the few programs that help them get food.  

Reader, if you take one thing away from this article, it is that everyday Americans like you and I need to do what we can to feed our neighbors. If you have extra money, even just a few dollars, consider donating some to a food pantry- they can often buy food in bulk for pennies on the dollar. If this is not possible, then volunteer your time. 

Troy University offers a free on campus food bank for students- the Trojan Pantry. It is always accepting donations and volunteers, and information about dates and times the pantry is open is available on the Office of Civic Engagement Instagram at troy_service.