Mike Naig announces $200K investment to connect food banks with Iowa producers

HIAWATHA — Skim milk from Ely, sweet corn from Springfield and ground pork from Jones County are among the many items HACAP has been able to source locally over the past year, thanks in part to a state program now entering its second year.

HACAP, short for the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program, operates a food reservoir in Hiawatha that distributes food to pantries across Eastern Iowa, including those in Linn and Johnson counties. It’s also one of six food banks to receive state funds via the Choose Iowa Farms to Food Banks program.

“It’s a great way for us to have some funding to expand (and) have different kinds of food,” said Kim Guardado, director at the HACAP food reservoir. “We have some great opportunities … that allows us to be able to buy local, and this program has helped us continue that.”

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The Choose Iowa program, which launched last year, provides food banks with funds to purchase food produced or grown in Iowa with the dual purpose of addressing food insecurity and opening up new markets for local producers.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig on Thursday visited HACAP’s Hiawatha location to announce the $200,000 allocated during the most recent legislative session for the program’s second year.

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Same as last year, food banks will match the state’s investment dollar-for-dollar toward eligible purchases such as dairy products, meat, poultry, eggs, grains, honey and produce.

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“The Choose Iowa Farm to Food Bank program really is, at its core, about addressing food insecurity and providing fresh and nutritious food to Iowans in need,” Naig said. “But it also supports local farmers and small businesses by creating new markets for agri-products.”

In its first year, the Choose Iowa program contributed to nearly $481,000 in local food purchases across the state when accounting for local matches. That included 728 dozen eggs, 5,289 gallons of milk and 109,939 individual items like yogurt cups and meat packages.

This year, Naig said the state hopes to strengthen that success through continued funding and ongoing networking opportunities between food banks and local producers.

Other participating food banks include Food Bank of Iowa in Des Moines; River Bend Food Bank in Davenport; Northeast Iowa Food Bank in Waterloo; Food Bank of Siouxland in Sioux City; and Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha. For its part, HACAP will receive $40,000 of the year-two funds.

Guardado said the reservoir went through its Choose Iowa allocations within a few months last year, but it continued on with its effort to source local foods using matching funds and donations. In total, the organization spent $300,000 on locally sourced goods in the last year.

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“We have some great stories. I could just talk all day about the growers that we’ve had,” she said. “Absolutely, it’s just good to be a part of that.”

Recognizing the success of Choose Iowa, Naig noted the state’s openness to a potential program expansion in the future, and said the state already has launched a similar program to connect Iowa schools with local food.

“We’re very open to that and really interested in” potentially expanding our food bank program, he said. “At this point, we’re still going to treat it somewhat as a pilot because we’re still trying to learn — and the food banks are still trying to learn — … what the demand really is.”

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