(Radio Iowa) – There’s a fear among some organizations that a prolonged federal government shutdown could have significant consequences for Iowa’s food banks and pantries that serve low-income families. Those organizations get a substantial amount of food from U-S producers through the U-S-D-A’s Emergency Food Assistance Program. Kim Guardado is director of HACAP Food Reservoir, a food bank serving seven eastern Iowa counties. She says food banks often order food through the program months in advance.

“As long as it’s a brief shutdown, we’ll be fine,” Guardado says. “If it goes too far, then there won’t be staff that will be able to place those orders for the future, so then we would see a disruption in the future.” Guardado says food insecurity is on the rise in Iowa, and a long government shutdown could also disrupt programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which already faces significant budget cuts. A federal report estimates two-point-four million people will lose benefits in an average month.

Kaitlyn Scheuermann, the dietitian for nutrition services in the Waukee Community School District, says families that lose access to SNAP benefits will also lose automatic eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals. “It’s really important that we’re communicating with families and making sure that they know they may have to apply,” Scheuermann says, “because we don’t want them to end up in a situation where they start to accrue a negative balance.”

Scheuermann and Guardado spoke during a recent virtual town hall hosted by the Iowa Food System Coalition.