According to government estimates, over 47 million Americans do not have enough food to eat, despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent annually
Under President Donald Trump’s second term, US government policies have significantly worsened food waste while millions of Americans go hungry. Measures such as immigration raids, tariff changes, and cuts to food assistance programmes have left farmers short of workers and funds, leading to crops and produce rotting in fields and warehouses, and millions of people facing food insecurity.
According to government estimates, over 47 million Americans do not have enough food to eat, despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent annually on federal and state food aid programmes. Meanwhile, nearly 40 per cent of the country’s food supply goes uneaten each year, equivalent to 120 billion meals. This is more than double what would be required to feed all those 47 million Americans three times daily for a year.
The economic and environmental costs are enormous. Wasted food squanders water and other resources, while decomposing produce emits over four million metric tons of methane annually, a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.
Fresh produce, dairy, and other perishable foods require skilled labour for timely harvesting, processing, and distribution. Aggressive immigration enforcement under Trump’s administration has targeted agricultural fields, food processing plants, and distribution centres, arresting thousands of farmworkers and food-handling staff.
Reports indicate that in some regions, up to 70 per cent of workers stopped showing up to work by mid-2025 due to fear of deportation, leaving crops to rot. The US Department of Labour warned in October 2025 that such raids could cause “supply shock-induced food shortages,” threatening national food security.
