Two-thirds of Iowans say food insecurity is a problem in their local community, according to a survey released by the Iowa Food Bank Association.
It found 35-percent of respondents said groceries and food were their biggest monthly expenses, while more than half said the state isn’t doing enough to support people facing food insecurity.
Chris Ackman is communications & volunteer manager at the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program, a food bank in eastern Iowa.
“We’ve been talking about food insecurity for a long time, and we’ve obviously known that it’s been an issue for Iowans, and we’ve been saying all these things,” Ackman says, “but to have hard numbers and to have data associated with it, it just confirms what we’ve been talking about.”
Ackman says releasing the survey results was strategic in getting the attention of state legislators.
“It’s easy to share stories and the stories make a big impact, but I think legislators also want to see numbers behind it,” he says, “and they want to see numbers if how it’s specifically affecting people in their state and in their communities.”
Ackman says food insecurity is not a partisan issue, and that fighting food insecurity has bipartisan support.
The survey was conducted by the online polling company Civiqs.
(By James Kelley, Iowa Public Radio)