Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request to send monthly food boxes to low income families over the summer, instead of sending them money for food, has been denied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, leaving summer food assistance for at least 240,000 Iowa kids hanging in the balance.
In August, Reynolds announced she was declining to join the federal Summer EBT program for the second time, and was instead asking the USDA for permission to use that funding to distribute boxes of food. Her proposal was denied, according to a letter dated Oct. 4 that was released Monday by the Iowa Hunger Coalition.
Anti-hunger advocates are now calling on Reynolds to join the Summer EBT program for 2025, as food pantries are assisting record-breaking numbers of Iowans.
“Summer EBT, also known as SUN Bucks, is evidence-based policy and has been shown to improve healthy eating while reducing childhood food insecurity,” said John Boller, executive director of the Coralville Community Food Pantry. “Parents should be trusted to make the best food choices for their children.”
Reynolds' push for food boxes
Iowa has until Jan. 1 to notify the federal government if the state will participate in Summer EBT. But Reynolds said she will continue to pursue her summer food box proposal after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
We look forward to presenting our plan to the new administration.Gov. Kim Reynolds
“As I’ve said from the start, our summer feeding demonstration project would feed nearly 60,000 more Iowa children than the USDA’s SUN Bucks program, with healthier, more nutritious food at a lower cost through bulk buying,” she said in a statement Monday. “Our plan also addresses transportation challenges by offering food box deliveries for eligible recipients — an option not available through the Summer EBT program. We look forward to presenting our plan to the new administration.”
Reynolds has said her opposition to Summer EBT stems from concerns about childhood obesity, government spending and administrative costs, which would be shared with the state. She said distributing boxes of food would do more to promote health than cash benefits.
Last year, Reynolds rejected $29 million in federal funding that would have provided $120 per child on debit cards to food-insecure families for the summer of 2024. That would have reached an estimated 240,000 kids in families with an income up to 185% of the federal poverty level. Instead, she put $900,000 into expanding free summer meal sites, increasing the total number of sites from 512 to 533.
This year, Reynolds said she did not want to implement the Summer EBT program in Iowa for 2025, but she proposed an alternative. She would use the federal funding to provide three monthly boxes of food during the summer to families making up to 200% of the federal poverty level to reach an estimated 300,000 children.
Reynolds said this would also be more cost-effective than Summer EBT because food would be purchased at wholesale prices rather than retail prices. Her administration has not publicly said how much the program might cost.
The USDA’s response
Vista Suarez Fletcher, Midwest regional administrator with the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, wrote that Iowa’s proposal would be considered a demonstration project because it did not fit the guidelines for using Summer EBT funding, and Congress did not designate enough funding to support the project.
The Oct. 4 letter also stated that research on more than a decade of Summer EBT trials has found it is effective at reducing food insecurity and improving diet quality.
“The proposed demonstration project does not provide compelling evidence of the potential benefits of an untested alternative model rather than implementing the research-backed Summer EBT,” Suarez Fletcher wrote.
The letter highlighted that Summer EBT reached as many as 21 million kids in the 37 states that participated this past summer, while meal sites reached fewer than 4 million children.
Suarez Fletcher also wrote that the summer meal site program already allows for distribution of food boxes without using funding that is designated for Summer EBT.
Anti-hunger advocates have doubts about Reynolds’ proposal
Luke Elzinga, chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition, said he would be “extremely surprised” if the incoming Trump administration approved Iowa’s food box proposal. He said the program is called Summer EBT — it’s an electronic benefit transfer program meant to help people buy their own groceries.
“The state’s asking to waive 29 separate pieces of federal code,” Elzinga said. “They’re essentially saying, ‘We would like this money. We don’t want to participate in this program.’”
He said he questions Reynolds’ request to use Summer EBT money for monthly food boxes when there are flexibilities within the summer meal site program that could be used to distribute food boxes every ten days.
Elzinga also said he is glad that Reynolds proposed raising the income cap for the food boxes to 200% of the federal poverty level, but he said families would have to sign up to participate, and that would take a lot of outreach by the state.
I am very skeptical that they would be able to get more folks signing up to receive that food box than they would participating in Summer EBT.Luke Elzinga, chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition
“I am very skeptical that they would be able to get more folks signing up to receive that food box than they would participating in Summer EBT,” he said.
The Iowa Hunger Coalition is calling on the state to instead raise the income cap for regular food assistance, known as SNAP, to 200% of the federal poverty level, which would also increase the number of kids eligible for Summer EBT.
The coalition also wants the state to make more efforts to get people to participate in SNAP and other food assistance programs, as 42% Iowans who qualify for SNAP are participating. They are also calling for state investment in a program that incentivizes SNAP participants to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and to work on eliminating food deserts.
Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, said anti-hunger advocates have to be ambitious because Iowa is facing a hunger crisis.
“Food banks and food pantries are breaking record after record, and some are closing because they can’t keep up with the demand, and others are fundraising for larger facilities,” she said. “We have to do something, and thankfully, we have proven policy solutions to address the crisis.”
The Iowa Hunger Coalition encouraged Iowans to contact the governor’s office to urge Reynolds to participate in Summer EBT.
