Polk County Seeks Assistance From USDA to Continue Summer Meal Program

Des Moines, IA- The Polk County Board of Supervisors on Monday, sent USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack a letter offering to take the lead role in the distribution of a summer EBT meal program for children. This comes after the State of Iowa last month announced it would not accept federal funding for the program that serves thousands of underprivileged and food insecure children during the summer months.

In the letter to Secretary Vilsack, Polk County Board Chair Angela Connolly proposed that the county accept the federal funds to help operate the program so that children in Iowa’s most populous county don’t have to worry about where their next nutritional meal will come from when school is out of session. “We’re talking about our most vulnerable population. Children should not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, especially if the federal government has already funded the program. Nutrition is the most important basic need to prepare children for success in schools and should not be compromised for political gain,” said Supervisor Connolly.

Approximately 22,000 Des Moines Public School children would benefit from this program which provides $40 per child per month for food. Polk County is hopeful that the USDA will allow the funds to be administered at the local level.

The decision by the Reynolds administration to terminate the program could not come at a worse time. According to the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC), the program was used by more than 65,000 children state-wide in 2023. That is an increase of 22% from the previous year. A trend that looks likely to continue in 2024. Additionally, local food pantries are serving record breaking numbers of individuals.

“We are not prepared to turn our back on the future of our community. Polk County will not sit back and let children go hungry this summer. If the state is unwilling to administer a federally funded program that puts nutritional meals on the table of our most vulnerable children, then we will,” said Supervisor Connolly.