Tom Barton Gazette Des Moines Bureau
Iowans receiving food assistance would be prohibited from purchasing food-producing plants and seeds in addition to candy, soft drinks and certain granola bars under a federal waiver submitted by Gov. Kim Reynolds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking to restrict certain foods and beverages from purchase with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
A similar waiver was approved for Nebraska, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday, making it the first such approval in the nation.
"Today's waiver to remove soda and energy drinks from SNAP is the first of its kind, and it is a historic step to Make America Healthy Again," Rollins said in a statement that includes the Iowa governor being among "the pioneers in improving the health of our nation," although action on Iowa's waiver request was not announced.
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Nicole McAlexander, executive director of Southeast Linn Community Center and vice chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition, said the Iowa waiver request, however, would increase stigma for SNAP participants and "perpetuate misconceptions about hardworking, hungry Iowans."
Iowa Public Radio first reported on the governor's request to restrict the purchase of some foods, including sugary beverages, through SNAP in Iowa.
According to a March 12 letter from Reynolds to Rollins, the state is seeking to restrict any food or beverage that qualifies for the state sales tax from purchase with SNAP. That list includes:
garden seeds and food-producing plantscandy, gum and candy-coated itemssoft drinks, lemonade and fruit punchfruit snacks, certain granola bars and caramel corn
The request states Iowa wishes to refocus the SNAP program on its designed intent, "to promote the general welfare and safeguard the health and well-being" by encouraging SNAP participants to purchase healthier food items. It references the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention citing sugar-sweetened beverages as the leading source of added sugar in Americans' diet and its association with weight gain, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart and kidney disease and tooth decay.
"We can and must do better for Americans and Iowans by encouraging healthy choices that will help people thrive, not simply providing cash benefits with no focus on holistic well-being," Reynolds wrote in the letter to Rollins. "Iowa has proven our commitment to innovation and change -- all with a focus on improved health and well-being for our families, communities and farmers."
To evaluate the changes, the state proposed a random sample study that would track SNAP participants' health behaviors and outcomes before, during and after the demonstration period. The study also would compare SNAP participants who receive nutrition education with those who do not.
While similar waiver requests from other states have been rejected in the past by former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump in his first term, Rollins recently encouraged states to submit "innovative" requests for federal nutrition programs.
USDA OKs request for summer meal program
The USDA earlier this month approved Reynolds' proposed summer meal plan to provide boxes of food to low-income households with children this summer. rather than participate in the federal direct-benefits food program.
The pilot program will provide low-income families across the state with $40 worth of "fresh and nutritious food" per child per month in June, July and August. The program is an alternative to the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Program, now known as SUN Bucks, which gives households preloaded cards with $120 per child to spend on SNAP-eligible food to substitute for school meals during the summer months.
The program will use federal funding to expand a summer meal sites program that the state ran last year, where qualifying families were provided three monthly food boxes.
Last summer, the state used $900,000 in federal pandemic relief funding to start a new state grant program that supported 61 new free summer meal sites for Iowa children in low-income families.
Iowa was one of 13 states that opted out of federal Summer EBT funding in 2024, rejecting $29 million in federal funding for an estimated 240,000 children. The state would have had to pay roughly $2.2 million to administer the program.
The summer meal site program aims to assist 65,000 children in Iowa this summer, far fewer than the roughly 24,000 kids who could have benefited from Summer EBT, according to anti-hunger advocates.
Reynolds said the state's plan leverages existing food distribution networks and maximizes wholesale pricing to reach more families in need with direct distribution of healthy and nutritious food.
She also pointed to the state's Double Up Food Buck program to highlight "Iowa's steadfast commitment to addressing food insecurity and supporting healthier families with increased access to nutritious food." The program provides a 1-to-1 match to SNAP recipients to purchase fruits and vegetables. The program has been running since 2016, but it has received funding only through private donations so far.
Iowa lawmakers this year introduced legislation (House File 970) that would have provided $1 million in state funds for Double Up Food Bucks, but only if Iowa were granted a waiver by the USDA to limit what food products meet SNAP eligibility.
Democratic lawmakers and the Iowa Hunger Coalition said the proposed restrictions would further limit low-income families' ability to purchase food that fits their individual needs and diets.
'Zero nutritional value'
State Rep. Carter Nordman, a Republican from Dallas Center who pushed the legislation, said it would encourage healthier eating habits by putting in "reasonable guardrails" to help combat Iowa's rates of obesity.
"House Republicans do not believe tax dollars should be purchasing things like Skittles and Monster energy drinks within a program that is supposed to help alleviate hunger," Nordman said during a legislative hearing on the bill. "These items have zero nutritional value and are a waste of taxpayer dollars."
HF 970 passed the House, but died in the Senate. Separate legislation in the House with 33 Republican cosponsors that would appropriate $1 million to the Double-Up Food Bucks Program without requiring acceptance of a USDA waiver, also did not advance.
"Iowans should be trusted to make the best food choices for their families," said Sheila Hansen, an Iowa Hunger Coalition board member and senior policy advocate/government relations manager at Common Good Iowa. "Let's make sure all Iowans have greater access to nutritious food, not punish our low-income neighbors and deny kids a candy bar when they want a treat."
John Boller, the coalition's secretary and executive director of Coralville Community Food Pantry, said barring the purchase of garden seeds and food-producing plants from SNAP "is counterintuitive."
"If Gov. Reynolds' idea is to teach a man to fish, so to speak, this waiver request would essentially take away people's bait and tackle," Boller said in a statement.
Paige Chickering, Iowa state manager for Save the Children Action Network, said Iowa needs sustained investments in programs proved effective at improving nutrition, like Double Up Food Bucks, to ensure low income families can afford healthy foods.
"The research is clear, we won't Make America Healthy Again by banning products from SNAP," Chickering, a coalition board member and Iowa state manager for Save the Children Action Network. "We need sustained investments in programs we know are effective at improving nutrition, like Double Up Food Bucks, to ensure low income families can afford healthy foods."
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