Healthy Kids Iowa left much to be desired

Gov. Reynolds summer meal pilot program Healthy Kids Iowa ended. Her proposal stated “each household will be allowed to choose a selection of nutritionally balanced foods per month, per child.” Foods were to be fruits and vegetables, dairy items, grains and proteins. The goal was increasing healthy food access. An evaluation of the program is “coming.” The assumption was accessing an increased quantity of healthier foods would increase consumption of healthier foods.

I volunteered at both the Iowa City and North Liberty distributions. In Johnson County just over 6000 children would have been eligible. Before each distribution the coordinator told volunteers the distribution hoped to serve about one third of those eligible. Neither distribution allowed families to select foods; all foods were prepackaged. No vegetables were distributed at the Iowa City site except for frozen hash brown patties; both distributions included a bag of frozen chicken nuggets, pound of frozen ground beef and a dozen eggs per child. Hopefully families had plenty of freezer space for all those chicken nuggets.

I wonder if families would have preferred the $40/month per child through the Summer EBT program; allowing families to actually shop and select a wide variety of foods their children. Hopefully, for summer 2026 Gov. Reynolds and Iowa legislators will opt for Summer EBT which would actually reach every eligible child in the state.

Diane Duncan-Goldsmith

Iowa City