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Out of the mouths of babes: Food in the summer?
Should Iowa deny food assistance to school kids during the summer?
As a former board member of the Dubuque Food Pantry, a volunteer for Dubuque Area Labor Harvest, a participant in Dubuque Eats Well (DEW) and a supporter of my parish's St. Vincent DePaul Society, I have worked on food and hunger issues my entire time in office. When the Legislature reconvenes on January 8, I will be asking questions about Iowa's commitment to child nutrition in light of Governor Reynolds’ Christmas season decision to decline $28 million in federal food aid for school children from low and moderate-income families.
The program is offered by the United States Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. The assistance would come in the form of $40 a month for each eligible child, using "Summer EBT (electronic benefit transaction) cards" for the three months that kids are not in school. The cards could be used to match the state's Double Up Food Bucks Program at places such as farmers' markets.
Word has it that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (and former Iowa governor) Tom Vilsack can waive the application deadline if Iowa still wants to get in on the program. Gov. Reynolds should take him up on it. The Iowa Legislature should appropriate the money to run the program. We could also fund research through the University of Iowa College of Public Health to identify Summer EBT's health and nutrition impacts.
In the meantime, Government Oversight Committee hearings could explore issues related to childhood obesity and the health benefits of food assistance programs. The committee can propose changes to Iowa laws, programs and appropriations so that state and local governments, as well as non-profit community organizations, can address critical concerns that are identified.
Entities that could be called upon to testify include, among others:
1) Institute of Public Health Research and Policy in the University of Iowa College of Public Health
2) The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Obesity Research and Education Initiative
3) University of Iowa College of Public Health Nutrition Center
4) The Iowa State University Nutrition and Wellness Research Center
5) The Iowa Healthiest State Initiative
6) School Nutrition Association of Iowa
In light of their support for Governor Reynolds in her decision to decline participation in the Summer EBT program, at least 10 questions should be posed to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education. These include:
1. What would the actual direct additional cost to the state be for administering the summer EBT program (i.e., money that is not already being spent on nutrition programming)? $2.2 million? $1.1 million? Some other number? How are the administrative costs calculated? What are the components? Are they all recurring costs? Or are some of them one-time costs? Are those costs controlled by the state?
2. Were the leaders of the Iowa Healthiest State Initiative, Institute of Public Health Research and Policy at the University of Iowa or the Carver College of Medicine Obesity Research and Education Initiative consulted on the decision? What studies did the department rely on for its determination that this federal food assistance program does promote or would promote obesity?
3. What are the family-focused, community-based solutions to support child nutrition and well-being in the summer that the state is supporting? What is being spent on these programs? How much is paid by the state, how much by the federal government and how much by others? What are the administrative costs being borne by local and private entities for these community-based solutions? How is the effectiveness of existing programming evaluated and publicly documented? Please provide links to and the most recent reports on the existing childhood nutrition programs providing food for school students during the summer months.
4. How have the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services planned on expanding these existing partnerships in the future? What funding and authorization from the Legislature would be needed? Were these expansions included in the departments’ budget requests submitted to the governor?
5. The departments reported that, last summer, more than 1.6 million meals and snacks were served to children 18 and younger throughout Iowa as part of the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option program. How many unique children were served, by month, by each county/city/school district, as applicable. What were the costs of these programs? How much was spent on food? How much for administration?
6. The departments reported that each of the 500-plus meal sites in low-income areas across Iowa are run by local sponsors to ensure children can get nutritious meals during the summer at no cost. That averages out to five sites per county. Where are those meal sites and who are the local sponsors? Does the “no cost” claim apply to the families/students, the local sponsors or both?
7. The departments state that almost 16 percent of children in Iowa ages 10 to 17 are obese and that Iowa is in the top ten states for teen obesity. What is the source of these data? What is the breakdown based on family income? What are the departments’ other plans to address these problems, including through secure access to healthy foods for all, including families not eligible for publicly-funded food assistance?
8. What resources is the State providing to county boards of health and other local sponsors of healthy diet and obesity prevention programming?
9. How will the state’s public health modernization plan, funded to the tune of $33 million by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, address the issues of nutrition, diet-related disease prevention and obesity?
10. Are the departments coordinating with the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship “Choose Iowa” program or proposing additional funding for the Double Up Food Bucks program?
The reasons offered by the Department of Health and Human Services to support the governor’s decision merit serious investigation. I believe a General Assembly inquiry will reveal the justifications to be a hollow cover story, unsupported by scientific research, that contradicts common sense and the governor’s own principle that parents can be counted on to make good decisions for their own children.
Many people in our state like to repeat the slogan that “Iowa feeds the world.” With this decision, the governor seems to be saying that Iowa is unwilling to feed its own children. Let's change that perception.
The bottom line is: This is an important policy determination that should be made by the Legislature, not just the governor.
As usual, I will keep readers informed of any responses we receive.
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