Hunter
05/08/25
Governor Kim Reynolds has announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service approved a demonstration project submitted by Iowa Health and Human Services for the state’s own summer food pilot program.
Healthy Kids Iowa is an alternative to the federal summer EBT program that Reynolds says serves Iowa children healthier foods at a lower cost by leveraging Iowa’s already-existing, successful network of summer feeding programs and community providers.
In 2023-24, Iowa received over $12 million in USDA meal reimbursements for summer nutrition programs administered by the Department of Education. Governor Reynolds invested an additional $900,000 into the program last year. As a result, 61 new meal sites were added in 2024, bringing the total to more than 500 access points statewide.
With the state’s summer feeding demonstration project, each family will be able to select $40 worth of fresh and nutritious food for each eligible child per month. Families will be able to choose their monthly items, respecting their preferences and cultural and dietary needs. Distribution sites across the state will offer a selection of foods that are healthy and kid- friendly. Sites will be selected in partnership with the Feeding America Foods Banks and will be established based on demonstrated need.
Critics of the program say it lacks the resources to reach those children in rural areas.
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. She 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.