Look beyond food pantries to solve Iowa’s hunger

Iowa is a state of 3 million people and the land of “plenty.” Yet, Iowa has a quarter million people who don’t have enough food to eat. Iowa State University and ISU Extension researchers are personalizing those numbers as they explore food insecurity in Iowa communities.

Researchers define food insecurity as limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited, uncertain ability to acquire foods in socially acceptable ways. Studies show that the food insecurity situation is getting worse in Iowa, but that can change.

“While food pantries and soup kitchens help address immediate needs of the hungry, they are not an answer to community food insecurity,” said Doris Montgomery, director of the Iowa Nutrition Network. “We want communities to take a look at food insecurity in a systematic way to explore the social and economic changes needed within their community.”

Those changes will vary from community to community. Availability of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, community gardens, public transit and jobs that pay a livable wage factor into a community’s ability to be food secure, as does participation in federal food assistance programs. Tools being developed by ISU Extension as part of the Iowa Food Security Project, with funding from the federal government through the Food Stamp program, help communities identify the needs of their hungry residents.

The Iowa Food Security, Insecurity and Hunger Web site links definitions, key Iowa studies and tools for measuring food security in a community. Food Security Project partners have produced and are sharing a video, “Food for all? The status of hunger in Iowa,” to explain the Iowa situation. A copy of the video or video presentations can be scheduled by contacting the Iowa Nutrition Network at (800) 532-1579 or ISU Extension at (515) 294-5906.

“When we give talks to communities, train volunteers or do any other kind of food insecurity awareness in our 16-county area, we show the video,” said Barbara Prather, executive director of Northeast Iowa Food Bank. “We want people to know that the food bank is not the whole answer; we are only part of the equation. By educating along with supplying food, we are making Iowans more aware of food insecurity issues.”

Some 250,000 Iowans live in food insecure households. Food banks, congregate meals and local food sources are part of the solution in some Iowa communities.

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Summer 2004 homepage

The Extension Connection is a quarterly publication of Iowa State University Extension.

Laura Sternweis, editor, lsternwe@iastate.edu

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Last update: July 2004

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