More than half of Oklahoma voters said they struggled to afford food over the past year, according to a bipartisan poll released this month, and the findings land at a moment when the state's safety net for hungry families is shrinking rather than growing. The survey found that 56% of respondents had trouble putting food on the table, while 54% said they had to choose between buying groceries and paying other bills.
The poll was conducted by Hunger Free Oklahoma in September 2025 and included registered voters across party lines, zip codes, income levels, educational backgrounds and lived experiences, according to The Journal Record. The organization released the findings during Hunger Action Month, saying it wanted to capture how Oklahoma voters actually experience food insecurity and what they think leaders should do about it. Chris Bernard, president and CEO of Hunger Free Oklahoma, said food insecurity is affecting household budgets across the state.
The poll numbers point to broad, cross-partisan appetite for government intervention. Eighty-three percent of respondents said the government should do more to address hunger, 73% supported increasing funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and 66% opposed cuts to hunger programs. Seventy-seven percent said they would support candidates who prioritize reducing hunger, with backing for these positions cutting across political affiliations and demographic groups, per the poll findings.
“Oklahoma voters expect leaders to protect nutrition assistance programs and pursue solutions that help families afford food,” Bernard said, according to the same report.
A State Already Near the Top for Food Insecurity
The poll results track with a broader statistical picture. Oklahoma ranked sixth in the nation for household food insecurity, with 16.9% of households reporting limited or uncertain access to adequate food between 2022 and 2024, according to USDA data reported by KGOU. That rate climbed from 15.4% in the prior survey period. USAFacts has separately calculated that an average of 694,200 Oklahomans, representing 16.8% of the state's population, received SNAP benefits each month during fiscal year 2025, the highest average monthly participation in state history.
Yet enrollment has since dropped sharply. Oklahoma SNAP enrollment fell 14% between February 2025 and February 2026, meaning roughly 97,000 fewer residents received monthly grocery assistance, KGOU reported. Anti-hunger advocates attributed the decline to federal H.R. 1 policy changes and state administrative shifts rather than any drop in actual need. Research from United Way's ALICE project, reported by The Frontier in January, found that nearly half of Oklahoma households do not earn enough to cover basic survival costs like housing and food, a metric that captures working families who sit above the poverty line but remain financially fragile.
Stitt Points to Food Banks, Advocates Push Back
The drop in SNAP participation has sharpened a political divide over how the state should respond. In a Stateline interview reported by the Tulsa Flyer, Governor Kevin Stitt said “nobody's going to go hungry in Oklahoma” without SNAP and suggested returning to “a little stigma” where families pick up commodity groceries at food banks. Hunger Free Oklahoma pushed back on that framing, noting that food banks supply only one meal for every nine meals provided by SNAP.
Other state decisions have added to the strain. The Oklahoma State Department of Education discontinued participation in a federal Child and Adult Care Food Program option that had allowed schools with extended days to serve federally reimbursed third meals to students, a move Hunger Free Oklahoma detailed on its website. The agency cited compliance concerns, but advocates noted it removed food options just as the school year began. Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services reported phone call wait times exceeding 3.5 hours in July as staff worked through a backlog of SNAP applications and recertifications, according to KOTV / News On 6, prompting the agency to authorize overtime and additional hiring.
Food Banks and Federal Trackers Feel the Squeeze
Regional data released by the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma in July showed that 25% of Oklahoma children live in food-insecure homes, while partner food pantries have seen a 15% increase in visits since 2022. Rural counties such as Choctaw County have reached food insecurity rates exceeding 20%, according to the food bank's data. Oklahoma has also moved to restrict what SNAP funds can buy: state rules that took effect in February bar beneficiaries from purchasing soft drinks, energy drinks, and certain candies, joining a wave of states using federal waivers to target sugar-sweetened products, as Hoodline previously reported.
Nationally, members of Congress introduced the Food Assurance and Security Act in June to reinstate the USDA's 30-year-old Household Food Security survey after federal officials announced it would be discontinued, calling it costly and politicized, according to the office of Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester. Hunger Free Oklahoma has compiled the voter poll results alongside broader food insecurity data and information about nutrition programs in a resource it calls Oklahomans on Hunger, underscoring the group's argument that voter sentiment and on-the-ground need are moving in the opposite direction from current policy.
