Food insecurity on the rise in Eastern Iowa, report shows. What can Iowans do about it?

A recent report found food insecurity is on the rise in Iowa as COVID-19 pandemic nutritional benefits have sunset.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life because of financial constraints.

The Hawkeye Community Action Program saw record-high numbers for people seeking food assistance at the worst of the pandemic, but demand tapered off until around 2023, HACAP Food Reservoir Director Kim Guardado said. HACAP works with partners to serve families in Benton, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Washington and Cedar counties.

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Agency partners running food pantries are reporting an increase in users, Guardado said, with about 1 in 7 people new to a food pantry. Guardado said she suspects the inflationary economy has contributed to this higher demand, as it’s driven up everyday costs for fuel, groceries and housing, straining Americans’ pocketbooks.

“We haven't seen the rates of pay increase at the same rate that the cost of food or transportation has increased, and that just puts families in a place where they have to make difficult decisions about how they're going to feed their family,” Guardado said.

The most recent annual “Map the Meal Gap” report from Feeding America, a national network of food banks, released in May found 9.9 percent of people in HACAP’s seven-county area were food insecure, or 48,020 people. Guardado said 13.4 percent of all children in the area experience food insecurity — about 15,000 kids.

The report uses publicly available state and local data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics on factors that research shows contribute to food insecurity.

“In response to the economic downturn that began at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal and local support programs expanded, and for a period of two years food insecurity levels were stable or declined,” the report stated. “As pandemic programs ended and prices for household expenses (including food) rose, food insecurity levels have also risen.”

Here’s what Guardado had to say about Eastern Iowa food insecurity:

Q: The study mentioned nearly 50 percent of people facing hunger are unlikely to qualify for benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. (Income eligibility thresholds for SNAP range from 130 to 200 percent of the federal poverty line, which is $40,560 to $62,400 for a family of four as of January.) What gaps does HACAP see in benefits available to Iowans? What are the areas of need we could better meet?

A: One thing looking at that data is that we saw those numbers … fluctuate up and down. But this most recent jump with the 2022 data release was huge. We went from 7.5 percent food insecurity up to nearly 10 percent, which is about 48,000 individuals in our seven-county area here in Eastern Iowa. And we know that data is from two years ago.

What the data doesn't tell us is that we know more people than that are facing food insecurity and we know there are more new people that are asking for help. We saw during the pandemic when there was an increase in SNAP benefits and the child tax credit payments, we saw a decrease in the amount of people facing food insecurity.

That tells us that those kinds of programs work to help families get what they need for their household. So we're not exactly moving in the right direction when it comes to the need and supports that are out there for families that are facing food insecurity.

Q: What would be the ideal way to support these families’ needs?

A: There's a lot of ways to support families. And the one thing that I would like to talk about is the public-private partnerships. We know that we can't rely on the government alone to solve food insecurity, but we also know that we can't rely on the private sector alone to solve food insecurity.

I feel like that's where the food bank is the perfect place in the middle between those two areas where we can make a difference. Most of our pantry partners are coming from churches … or other nonprofits. And there's so much work so many volunteers that are helping that happen on a regular basis.

But then we also have this piece about how the government can help. One of those ways is through the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). That's where we get food from the United States Department of Agriculture to be able to provide food for those in need. Another big component of that is the SNAP program … (which) is really the best way for families to get assistance with food. It allows them to use their benefits to best meet the needs of their family, versus visiting three different pantries to make ends meet and have enough food to feed their family.

SNAP is effective, but there's very low fraud rates, very low abuse of the system and just the best way for us to help families that need extra help. Because we do know that most of the people that are on SNAP are working families or seniors on a fixed income. One of the myths that is out there is that families aren't working and are just getting all these benefits, and that's really not true. There's a large percentage of the population that's getting SNAP that is part of the working population.

Q: What are other highlights that stand out to you and what can Iowans do with the findings from this study?

A: … When we think about the future of our state and education, there are 15,000 children every day that don't have enough food to fill their tummies. They're not going to learn in school. And when we look at the productivity of our state as a whole, we need to find ways to support those families so that kids aren't going hungry and we can continue to develop our population in the way that we need to.

There's a lot of things that can be done. I mentioned the SNAP program. Certainly free and reduced (price) meals at school is a way that our kids are getting fed at school through breakfast and lunch. There are a lot of community programs that are providing meals or snacks after school. We have the backpack program that also aims to get some food into the hands of those kids facing food insecurity. …

I think that the data just tells us that we're not doing enough and that there are more families that are struggling than we recognize. And looking at new ways to find those families, being creative about how we can help them get the resources they need to be successful and looking holistically at all the factors in a family's life that can impact your ability to have food. We know that those facing food insecurity are often facing many other challenges as well.

Being in a community action program, we do our best to be able to get families connected to resources, whether it's Headstart for early childhood education or the WIC program, maternal health education, energy assistance during the winter months. There's a lot of different ways we can help families and I think the key is all of those programs coming together to make a difference for families that are struggling.

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com