By Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
Iowa has offered an alternative program that serves fewer children
Advocates for food aid called Wednesday for the state to participate next year in a federal program aimed at making sure children don’t go hungry during the summer when school meals are not available.
Advocates with the Save the Children Network and Iowa Hunger Coalition called for the state to participate in the federal SUN Bucks program, also known as Summer EBT, in 2026. Participants access benefits through a Electronic Benefits Transfer card that can be used to buy food at retail stores.
The state this year launched an alternative pilot program called Healthy Kids Iowa, which is now ending.
The organizations gave a petition with more than 600 signatures to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office Wednesday, saying the state is leaving $29.4 million in federal funding on the table by not participating in the federal summer nutrition program. The SUN Bucks program, which became a permanent program in 2024, provides eligible low-income families with $40 per child each month when school is not in session — $120 total — through an EBT card.
The state chose not to participate in the program in 2024 and 2025, with Reynolds saying she had opposed the program as it does not ensure families are buying nutritious food using the funds. Hunger advocates have criticized the governor’s decision, saying the choice is leaving funding on the table that is available for Iowa families in need.
While Iowa has not participated in Summer EBT, federal funding was awarded this year for a separate summer nutrition program: the Healthy Kids Iowa pilot program. This alternate summer feeding project, approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in May, provided eligible families with a premade box of food each month worth $40, available for pick-up at 266 access points — largely local food pantries — across the state. The governor said in August the program is a more efficient way to address summer food insecurity, as some Iowa food banks “said that they can actually buy up to six times more food than a person using that SUN Bucks program at retail prices.”
Though hunger advocates and food bank officials said they were supportive of the additional funding available for addressing food needs through Healthy Kids Iowa, some said the program presented its own issues. Families faced transportation barriers in getting to the food banks to pick up boxes, advocates said, and pantries struggled to meet the increased demand and work required to implement the program.
Paige Chickering, the Iowa state manager for SCAN, was one of the organizers dropping off the petition. Chickering said while the Healthy Kids Iowa program did help address some food needs over the summer this year, she said participating in Summer EBT would help more Iowa families in need.
“Healthy Kids Iowa was only able to serve less than a third of those who would have qualified for Summer EBT — which does make sense, it was about a third of the funding, and so the goal of the program was to serve about a third of those children,” Chickering said. “But put that in perspective, Summer EBT would serve 245,000 eligible children statewide, and Healthy Kids Iowa, the goal was to serve about 65,000 kids.”
The USDA granted a waiver for $9.1 million for Healthy Kids Iowa that would have otherwise gone toward Summer EBT program funding. This amount is a significant shortfall from the $29.4 million available to serve 244,000 children statewide through Summer EBT, Chickering said — though participation would require Iowa fund half of the administrative costs for the program, roughly $2.2 million.
While the USDA approved Healthy Kids Iowa funding in 2025, federal funding may not be available in 2026, Chickering said. Healthy Kids Iowa received federal dollars because was a pilot program, she said, but typically, “there’s an expectation that if a program like that is to continue, it would need to be state-funded.”
“I believe … that’s what would have to happen with Healthy Kids Iowa,” Chickering said. “And now we’re back to this disparity with Summer EBT, right, if Iowa were to put state dollars into a program, they can only do so much with those state dollars. Even if they were to match that $9 million that happened for Healthy Kids Iowa this year, we can only serve so much need that way — whereas, the state could just put in $2.2 million to receive that $29.4 million in federal funds through Summer EBT. And if we think about return on investment and how to stretch our funding and budget further, that really seems like a no-brainer.”
Chickering, alongside Luke Elzinga, board chair of Iowa Hunger Coalition, said there have been discussions on implementing similar restrictions on Summer EBT that are in place for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Iowa that would limit the purchase of unhealthy foods and beverages. Elzinga said in June the coalition was not able to persuade the governor to pursue SUN Bucks implementation with these restrictions in place.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the petition or future plans for summer nutrition programs in 2026.
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