The Iowa State Department of Health has applied for a waiver to participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Summer Food Assistance Program to implement a separate summer nutrition project.
Activists working to combat food insecurity have repeatedly called for Iowa to join the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer EBT program, a $2.5 billion initiative that provides eligible low-income families in school $120 per child per month through an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. The money can be spent at stores that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Iowa and 12 other states with Republican governors have withdrawn from the program. Governor Kim Reynolds justified this by saying that states have to pay half of the administrative costs and that there are no regulations on the purchase of nutritious food.
Reynolds said in a news release Thursday that Iowa HHS and the state Department of Education are proposing a summer feeding demonstration project separate from summer EBT that they say is “better tailored to the specific needs and capabilities of our state.”
“Last year, I invested $900,000 to expand two additional USDA summer feeding programs operated by the Iowa Department of Education that provide healthy, balanced meals and snacks to school-age children statewide,” Reynolds said in a statement. “Our 2025 plan builds on that concept to promote food security and better health for more Iowa children.”
Reynolds said the proposed Iowa plan would feed nearly 60,000 more children at a lower cost than the federal program while promoting healthier diets.
According to the press release, the state’s demonstration project would expand eligibility for existing summer feeding programs to 200% of the federal poverty level — an annual household income of $62,400 or less for a family of four. The proposed program would provide three monthly boxes of healthy food at distribution sites during the summer months, an initiative the state estimates would help 300,000 children who don’t have enough to eat — more than the 244,000 estimated to be served through the Summer EBT.
The demonstration program will also include options for delivering food to families who cannot travel to distribution sites, the press release said.
Kelly Garcia, director of Iowa HHS, said in a statement that the state’s proposal would help feed children outside of school hours while promoting better eating habits.
“The complex problems of food insecurity and obesity cannot be solved with cash grants that do not actively promote health, provide nutritious food, or reach all of Iowa’s children in need,” Garcia said. “In Iowa, our focus is on the comprehensive well-being of this generation of young Iowans. Our solutions to promote healthy behaviors and balanced, nutritious diets for children must be comprehensive and holistic.”
While Reynolds and members of her Cabinet criticized the Summer EBT program, advocates and Democrats argued that the state’s decision not to participate would allow it to waste federal funds that could be used to feed children.
The Iowa Hunger Coalition presented Reynolds with a petition with more than 3,500 signatures in early August calling on the state to opt for Summer EBT in 2025.
