Gov. Kim Reynolds says she has not withdrawn from a federal program to provide food to needy Iowa children next summer; she is simply waiting to see if the U.S. Department of Agriculture will allow her to use the money to set up a new system to distribute food in Iowa.
“I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be excited about allowing us to be a demonstration project that maybe other states across the country could say, ‘I can feed 60,000 more children. I can actually provide more food and I can help get those children involved in a healthy eating program,'” Reynolds said.
Iowa was one of 13 states this summer that did not participate in the USDA program that provides families with an additional $140 in food money for each child who qualifies for a free or reduced-price lunch at school. Reynolds has devised a plan to distribute the $29 million in grants by having the state buy and package the food.
“By offering a healthy food box, we can actually buy it wholesale instead of buying it retail by card,” Reynolds said. “With inflation and food prices today, the amount of food they can buy is really limited.”
The governor told reporters that the packaged food would be distributed by the state’s 1,200 food banks and food pantries, as well as the 500 facilities across the state – mostly schools – that provided summer meals this summer. Critics say that by issuing electronic benefit cards, Iowa parents can meet their family’s nutritional needs and avoid foods their children are allergic to. Reynolds said the focus of her alternative is healthy eating.
“One of the things Michelle Obama did was make sure we provide healthy food for our children and families,” says Reynolds. “We’re building on that.”
Reynolds made the comments during a press conference yesterday, but did not say whether she will pull out of the summer feeding program next year if the USDA does not fund her food box alternative. The director of the governor’s Department of Health and Human Services says she has had some productive conversations with a senior USDA official about the governor’s request for a waiver.
