Prairie Dog

From the January 2025 edition of The Prairie Progressive, Iowa’s oldest progressive newsletter. The PP is  funded entirely by reader subscription, available in hard copy for $15/yr.  Send check to PP, Box 1945, Iowa City 52244. Click here for archived issues.

by Jon Krieg

When I was a kid, I’d often hear good news/bad news jokes in the halls and lunchrooms of Byron Rice Elementary School in Des Moines. Most of them weren’t that funny, but that kind of humor has come to mind in the wake of Governor Reynolds’ approach to child hunger in our state.

The good news is that last August, thousands of Iowans raised their voices via calls, emails,  social and conventional media and a petition that advocates presented to the
governor. The petition called on her to implement the SUN Bucks program in 2025, providing $120 in a Summer EBT card that would enable families to purchase healthy
food of their own choosing. Around 240,000 of Iowa’s kids already missed out on the program in the summer of 2024 due to the governor’s inaction.

And it was a bit of good news when the governor announced her intent to do something to address the issue. However, instead of simply accepting around $29 million in Sun
Bucks benefits, she applied for a waiver to the USDA to do something completely different from the policy that passed a divided congress with bipartisan report.

The bad news is that the governor’s proposal, however well intentioned, has serious problems. In lieu of a simple card that allows families to choose their purchases, her idea is to give low-income children whose families opt in to the program a box of food as chosen by the government. And presumably poor kids will be expected to eat that food
whether they like it or not.

While it is to her credit that she at least proposed some action, it’s still paternalistic. The USDA subsequently denied Iowa’s proposal, with one official saying, “Through this waiver request, the governor is asserting that the State knows better than its own families do about what their needs are.”

Would we like total strangers to select our food at restaurants or grocery stores? Would most kids like that? Giving everyone the same contents doesn’t allow for variations in tastes, dietary needs, allergy concerns, or cultural food traditions.

It’s a bit like issuing everyone an identical pair of size 7 shoes. If you’re lucky and the shoe fits like Cinderella’s glass slipper, great. But it’s probably not what many people would pick for themselves, and you’re out of luck if your feet are bigger or smaller.

A spokesperson for Gov. Reynolds now says the state will again apply for a waiver under the new Trump administration. But even if the USDA grants the waiver—and I wouldn’t bet the farm on that since it’s so different from the enabling legislation and intent of federal lawmakers—the process would be so cumbersome that many would miss out even from this one-size-fitsall approach. By contrast, the SUN Bucks program ensures that the food credit goes directly and pretty much automatically to the vast majority of eligible children.

If Iowa’s waiver request is denied by Trump’s USDA, we’d be back to zero again, which puts hundreds of thousands of kids at risk of food insecurity.

Iowa’s businesses and farms would also miss out on the economic impact of SUN Bucks. The governor’s proposal would have the state purchase merchandise wholesale from distributors. By contrast, farms, farmers markets, and grocery stores all across the state
would benefit by the $29 million the original program would bring— not counting the $1.50 to $1.80 multiplier effect in economic activity for each dollar spent.

Governor Reynolds needs to listen to what Iowans are saying about SUN Bucks.

“Many children are in need as parents struggle to keep a roof over the heads and the lights on; feeding their children should never be an issue, especially in Iowa,” said Kelly, a SUN Bucks petition signer from Oelwein. “Yes, Iowans are resilient, yes, we’re tough, but access to food due to pricing is forcing working parents to use food banks if they are lucky to have one nearby.”

A letter signed by over 150 Iowa organizations puts it well: “In a country as wealthy as the United States, and in a state with as rich an agricultural tradition as Iowa, no child should ever go hungry. No matter who takes care of them, no matter where they live, no matter what.”

Given all these issues, it would be a good idea to think again and take advantage of this federal food program as originally intended. It would be a win all around for kids,
families, and communities. Pick up your phone, get on your computer, and tell your state
legislators: Take the federal money.  Feed our kids.

—Jon Krieg is a regional communications specialist with the American Friends Service Committee