(Radio Iowa) – Feeding America — a non-profit network of over 200 U-S food banks — has reviewed the most recent federal data and found at least 400-thousand Iowans didn’t have enough to food to eat in 2024 and Tami Nielsen — president and C-E-O of the Food Bank of Iowa — says given the traffic at Iowa food pantries, that number is far higher today.
Neilsen says hunger is a pervasive and chronic issue in Iowa.
Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” report found nearly one in eight Iowans faced food insecurity two years ago and nearly 18 percent of them were children. The Food of Bank of Iowa distributes food to 55 counties and operates 190 food pantries in schools.
Nielsen says due to rising food prices and the rising need, the Food Bank of Iowa spends as more money each MONTH buying food than it did the entire year of 2019.
The “Map the Meal Gap” report shows one in four children in Appanoose, Crawford, Montgomery and Wapello Counties faced dhunger and in 14 other counties over 20 percent of children were food insecure in 2024. It also found 30 percent of black Iowans and 24 percent of Hispanics experienced hunger during 2024.
The report shows these these counties had the highest levels of food insecurity in 2024: Crawford County, where 17.1% of the population faced food insecurity in 2024 (served by Food Bank of Siouxland); Appanoose County, where 16.7% of the population faced food insecurity and Wapello County where 16.1% of residents faced food insecurity in 2024.
