Some programs that help low-income Iowans access healthy foods are at risk after federal SNAP-Ed funding was eliminated in the major tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump last month.
SNAP-Ed has paid for nutrition experts who teach youth, older adults and caregivers how to choose healthier foods and prepare meals. The nutrition specialists have also worked with food banks to provide more nutritious options to Iowans facing food insecurity, and with food pantries to make it easier for clients to make healthy choices.
Iowa was slated to receive $3.1 million in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
Kim Guardado, food reservoir director for Hawkeye Area Community Action Program, said ending SNAP-Ed is detrimental to the health of Iowans.
“To me, [SNAP-Ed] fits with the work that the current administration is doing in ‘Make America Healthy Again,’ and that is having healthier choices available for people facing food insecurity,” Guardado said.
It’s not clear how these programs and staff will be affected by the loss of funding. Spokespeople for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach declined to provide details about the impact.
Guardado said the SNAP-Ed funded experts have had a big impact on food banks, which distribute food to pantries.
“As the food banks focus more on getting some of that nutrition into the food pantry, then it continues to be easier for families facing food insecurity to make those choices,” she said. “And so we’re committed to doing this work, and we’ll do what we can to keep it going in some form or fashion.”
According to ISU Extension, SNAP-Ed funded experts have helped food pantries stock a greater variety of fruits and vegetables and market healthy options. Most individuals participating in SNAP-Ed nutrition education improved their diet quality and food security.
Iowa’s all-Republican congressional delegation voted for the wide-ranging bill, including Sen. Joni Ernst.
“Sen. Ernst is working to bring back integrity to the mismanaged SNAP system to ensure benefits are getting to the hungry families who need them — not scammers, ineligible bureaucrats, or in this case, a program that has struggled to show any long-term health benefits,” a spokesperson for Ernst said.
Donation gardens lose federal support
“Growing Together Iowa” gardens that donate fresh produce to food pantries were also supported by SNAP-Ed funding, but those grants will no longer be available.
Julie Robeson manages the garden at Waypoint Resources in Waukee, which provides fresh produce like green beans, tomatoes and potatoes to food pantry clients. She said SNAP-Ed grants have covered the majority of the garden’s budget, but that money will no longer be available. The link to ISU Extension also provided a source of master gardener volunteers to work in the garden.
She said she was “very, very sad” to hear SNAP-Ed funding for the garden was being eliminated.
“This particular use of SNAP education dollars and how it was used for the gardens around Iowa has received just an overwhelming support from the community, and then from the clients themselves,” Robeson said. “It’s just precious to them to be able to come out to a garden.”
She said the garden has helped pantry clients eat healthier.
“They experiment with new produce, like Swiss chard,” she said. “People will say, ‘How do I use Swiss chard?’ And we’ll give them suggestions of how they can cook it. So we’re expanding what they’re exposed to nutritionally, as well.”
Robeson said the garden will continue operating, but the nonprofit that runs it will need to find other sources of funding.
More than 87,000 Iowans with low incomes received fresh produce from the Growing Together Iowa gardens in 2024, according to ISU Extension.
U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, representing Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, also voted for the bill that included the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding.
“Iowa has shown you can provide food assistance to those who need it while cracking down on fraud and holding the system accountable,” Nunn said in an emailed statement. “That’s why I’m backing the Local Farmers Feeding Our Communities Act—bipartisan legislation to ensure federal nutrition dollars support local farmers and families in need while delivering healthy food to Iowans.”
That bill would replace some of the funding canceled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year that helped schools and food banks purchase locally-produced foods.
