Anti-hunger advocates still see options to fight IA’s hunger crisis

As the hunger crisis worsens in Iowa and Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds again rejected federal money for summer feeding programs, anti-hunger advocates say they’re not giving up on finding ways to get people help.

“There are some steps that we could take that would not have a large financial impact to the state that would really help to address hunger and food insecurity,” said Luke Elzinga, chair of the board for the Iowa Hunger Coalition and the policy and advocacy manager at DMARC, an organization that manages food pantries in the Des Moines area.

The Iowa Hunger Coalition in November released five recommendations to tackle food insecurity, and they plan to continue pressing legislators to do them.

Elzinga said these are direct, lower-cost and easier ways to help people compared to other solutions.

Those include:

1. Ensure Iowa participates in Summer EBT ;
2. Increase participation in SNAP, WIC, free and reduced-price school meals, and summer meals;
3. Raise the income eligibility for SNAP to 200% of the federal poverty level;
4. Invest state money in the Double Up Food Bucks program, which provides matching funds for purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables;
5. Explore ways to get rid of Iowa’s food deserts by keeping stores open or establishing stores in places without.

State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott (D-West Des Moines) said a big way the state could help would be to put state money toward feeding programs already in place.

Help buying healthy

When people on SNAP buy fresh fruit and vegetables, the Double Up Food Bucks program matches that cost up to $10 at farmers markets and some grocery stores.

The program is funded with grant money and private funds, and it’s so popular, Trone Garriott said, that it runs out of money quickly every year. It also isn’t available in every county because it doesn’t have enough funding to expand.

“[The program] benefits local producers, and it incentivizes healthy choices,” Trone Garriott said. “The state could contribute there. And that would help those dollars go further, help our local produce growers, and it would really, really make a difference for families who are wanting to provide healthier food for their kids.”

Help with groceries

The state could also expand access to SNAP. Reynolds’ food box plan would cover families up to 200% of the federal poverty line, and Elzinga said that makes him think she may be open to expanding SNAP eligibility to 200%, which would mean more people are able to get help.

Elzinga said it’s good Reynolds is acknowledging the problem, and a lot of different ideas can work together to help the crisis.

For example, last year, Reynolds created a $900,000 grant program that expanded summer feeding sites. Elzinga said she could do something similar to work with the federal government and promote her idea for food boxes.

“If the governor and the legislature wanted to create this food box program and a grant that could still access federal funds through the summer food service program, but would help incentivize sites to host these boxes, they could absolutely do that,” he said.

There are also indirect ways to help families who can’t afford food.

“We know that if the state is going to be increasing access to child care or affordable housing, that does have a ripple effect,” he said. “But for making sure people’s immediate food needs are being met, those [five] are the policies that we think would have the biggest impact.”

But he acknowledged many of these suggestions are likely to run into walls in the legislature.

No Republican will

Republicans who don’t listen to data about how to fight hunger or to Iowans who are struggling is one of the biggest hurdles to addressing food insecurity, Trone Garriott said.

“Republican lawmakers have been very resistant to feeding kids. I don’t know why,” she said. “And for some reason, it’s just not something that we can get them interested in doing.”

There have been a few bills to expand free school lunch for all children. One from 2023 would have made school meals free for children who already qualify for reduced price school meals. It had bipartisan support, but died in the Education Committee.

And, of course, the state could apply for Summer EBT, a program that has already been funded by Congress.

Last year, Democrats introduced a bill to require the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and the Iowa Department of Education to submit a letter of intent to apply for Summer EBT.

The bill got a subcommittee hearing, but didn’t go any further, and it failed to get Republican support.

“We’re going to make our best effort to bring it forward again because we know it’s popular. We know a lot of people in Iowa are very upset that [Reynolds] said no to this money,” Trone Garriott said.

“There are Republican legislators who are supportive of the program, who understand it works,” she said. “We just have to see if those legislators have the courage to stand up to the governor and do what is in the best interest of their constituents.”