Statewide Iowa (RI) – Food banks across Iowa are seeing exceptionally high demand since SNAP payments temporarily ended this past weekend due to the federal government shutdown. Julia Nelson, with the Hamilton County Social Service office in Webster City, says people who are being impacted by the interruption in SNAP benefits should plan ahead for long lines at Iowa food pantries.
According to the latest study from the group Feeding America, 12% of all Iowans and almost 17% of Iowa children face food insecurity. That translates to 385,000 people who don’t know where they will find their next meal, including 120,000 children. Nelson says the only avenue left for many SNAP recipients is to use community food pantries until the government reopens.
Ryan Bobst is the executive director of the North Liberty Community Food Pantry.
A woman who gave her first name, Chakia, but declined to give her full name was at the North Liberty Community Food Pantry Monday. She had hoped the government shutdown would end so she could get enough food to feed her four children, two of who have special needs.
The 63,000 Iowans who receive Women, Infants and Children benefits have continued to receive payments during the shutdown, but the nearly 271,000 Iowans who received SNAP benefits in September and October are affected. Federal data shows 14.4% of the residents of Des Moines County in southeast Iowa received SNAP in September, the highest percentage of any Iowa county. The unemployment rate in Des Moines County – the Burlington area, was 5.2% percent in August.
KIWA Staff Photo
