Demand at Iowa food banks continue to break records with ‘an emergency level of need’

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) - Iowa’s hunger problem is growing worse. A new report from the hunger nonprofit Feeding America shows that nearly 11% of Iowa adults and one in six children are facing food insecurity. That translates to nearly 345,000 adults and 110,000 Iowa children.

While the data in the study is from 2022, the Food Bank of Iowa says they’re distributing 30% more year over year.

At the Des Moines Area Religious Council food pantry, demand for this food is the highest they’ve seen in the 50 year history of the food bank. Blake Willadsen with DMARC said, “Just this last month, we saw 25,000 people receive assistance from the DMARC Food Pantry Network.” Willadsen adds about a third of those people are kids.

Willadsen says a third of people coming to the food pantry have never been to one before. “Organizations like DMARC are prepared to try and meet the need for these kinds of situations but this is more food than we’ve ever seen going out of our doors. Right now, it’s really an emergency level of need,” Willadsen said.

Luke Elzinga with the Iowa Hunger Coalition says there’s no end in sight. “There’s really nothing that would indicate that we’re going to see, you know, this number going down anytime soon.,” Elzinga said.

Next week, the House Committee on Agriculture could vote on changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, when it takes up the Farm Bill. Iowa Representatives Randy Feenstra and Zach Nunn sit on the committee.

Elzinga says part of the Farm Bill would freeze updates to SNAP benefits, which would translate to a $30 billion cut in assistance from 2027-2033. “If we see SNAP benefits, you know, not keeping up with changes in our economy and changes to the way people are eating, and eroding that purchasing power, we’re going to see more people turning to food pantries when SNAP benefits don’t last to the end of the month.,” Elzinga said.

Elzinga says he doesn’t think the state is doing enough either. “SNAP enrollment is actually at a 16 year low in Iowa right now. And that dynamic of food banks and pantries breaking records while SNAP is at a low, something’s off in that equation,” Elzinga said.

There were a number of bills to address hunger this legislative session. For example, Democrats tried to force the state to participate in the Summer EBT program. That would’ve given families $40 per month per kid to buy food. However, Republican leadership didn’t allow the bills to advance.

Instead of participating in the Summer EBT Program, Governor Kim Reynolds announced competitive grants to create a smaller program for new summer feeding sites.