Iowa leaders declined to participate in the 2024 federal EBT program that provides low-income families with funds to ensure children don’t go hungry, half of which would be funded by the federal government. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds argued that by giving parents EBT cards directly the state government is unable to regulate what types of foods are purchased, allowing parents to buy food that is not necessarily nutritious. “An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Reynolds said in a press release. “No child should go hungry, least of all in Iowa, but the Summer EBT Program fails to address the barriers that exist to healthy and nutritional foods.” Reynolds pointed to existing childhood nutrition programs in lieu of the millions of federal dollars the state turned down.
