Reynolds is failing hungry Iowa kids

Gov. Kim Reynolds said "Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic," Although a permanently funded program, Iowa did not participate.

Reynolds should know Iowa hunger facts. Feeding America’s annual report showed nearly 11% of Iowans (1 in 9) and 15.4% of Iowa children (1 in 6) face food insecurity. Therefore, refusal to participate in Summer EBT (SUN Bucks) was baffling. SUN Bucks would have provided $28.8 million in federal funds to give 240,000+ eligible children a $40/child/month EBT card for food purchases. State administrative costs were estimated at about $9 per child; a drop in the bucket when compared to Iowa’s budget surplus. Legislative efforts requiring submission of a letter of intent to apply for and participate in 2024 failed.

Instead, the Iowa Department of Education offered $900,000 in competitive Summer Meal Expansion Grants to help expand summer programs. Funds could be used to enhance meal quality, incorporate more locally-grown foods, update program equipment, conduct program outreach, and operational or administrative personnel expenses not fully covered through meal reimbursement. Based on these criteria, I wonder how much of the $900,000 was spent on food. According to the Hunger Coalition, even with these grants, 176 of 327 school districts (54%) were not expected to have a 2024 summer meal site. Collectively, these districts represented 45,843 free or reduced-price eligible students.

In August, Reynolds announced a 2025 SUN Bucks summer feeding demonstration project waiver was submitted to USDA. The governor believes bulk state purchasing will stretch dollars and provide healthier food for more hungry children. Three monthly food boxes will be available at distribution sites or for delivery.

I retired after 25 years as director of a school nutrition program. I am very familiar with summer meal challenges and children’s access to meal sites. As a district of about 30% free and repriced-price eligible students, we fed thousands of students daily during the school year, but only a few hundred a day at our summer sites.

An easy way to purchase healthy foods is to shop the edges of a grocery store which provides fresh produce, dairy, a variety of protein sources and frozen fruits and vegetables. In our program, specifications were written for bulk purchasing for all these types of foods and more. I also started the district’s Farm 2 School program.

For Iowa’s project, who will write the purchasing specifications? In a monthly food box, how will fresh, frozen and other perishable foods be offered? How will a child’s special dietary, religious, cultural and ethnic food preferences be considered? In rural counties, how will easy access to distribution sites be managed?

Unfortunately, it appears Iowa’s families cannot be trusted to use the USDA’s SUN Bucks program to purchase healthy foods for their children. We must do better.

Diane Duncan-Goldsmith lives in Iowa City.