Food & Farm Day on the Hill Recap: Advocating for Iowa’s Local Food Systems
Tommy Hexter, Iowa Farmers Union Policy Director
On January 23rd, 2025, members of the Iowa Food System Coalition gathered at the Iowa State Capitol to celebrate food systems success and advocate for a stronger, more sustainable food system in Iowa. As part of our "Food Farms Deserve a Bigger Slice of the Pie" campaign, we served fresh pie and met with over 50 lawmakers, highlighting key issues that matter to Iowa’s rural communities and food systems.
One of our top priorities is the expansion of the Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program, which allows SNAP recipients to double their dollars on fresh produce, both in grocery stores and at farmers markets. This program not only helps low-income Iowans access healthy food but also provides a vital market for Iowa’s farmers. We were thrilled to see bipartisan progress on Senate Study Bill 1012, which would allocate $1 million to expand the DUFB program and broaden its impact across the state. A similar bill is now moving in the House with nearly 20 co-sponsors (shoutout to Save the Children Action Network and Global Greens for all your work on this bill)!
Another major focus is the Choose Iowa local purchasing program and value-added grants program, which help connect Iowa-grown products with food banks and schools and provide much-needed grants for small farms to invest in equipment and infrastructure. Coalition members recognize this program as an engine for local food markets to become viable in Iowa, providing farmers around the state with the capital and the purchasing dollars to support their communities with high quality food and through local food donations. We are pushing to substantially increase the budget for Choose Iowa so that it can continue to grow and benefit farmers and consumers alike, both through the value-added grants program and through the purchasing program. The Iowa Department of Agriculture has included this in their draft budget, so it seems likely it will move through!
Additionally, we are advocating for House File 59, which would create a $2 million fund to support rural grocery store improvements and local produce processing equipment. These investments will help ensure food access in rural communities and keep our local economies strong. This bill now has sponsors from the majority party in both chambers, so we are very hopeful that this will move forward. Thanks to the Center for Rural Affairs for all of their work on this issue over the past 2 years!
Our day at the Capitol, with over 60 advocates present from around the state and 8 different organizations tabling together, was a reminder of the power of collaboration and the importance of continuing to fight for policies that support Iowa’s farmers and food systems. The bipartisan support we are achieving on all of our issues across the board is a sign that healthy food and supporting sustainable farmers are issues that all of us can get behind. We’re excited to keep pushing for these and more critical initiatives in the years that come.
Iowa Food System Coalition Partners at the Iowa State Capitol January 23, 2025.
