Iowa’s Food System

Iowa doesn’t suffer from a lack of food. In fact, Iowans throw away more than 550,000 tons of food every year, accounting for 20% of landfilled materials.

We need to focus our efforts on getting this excess food where it needs to go. Some places have too much, leading to environmentally harmful food waste, while in other areas, people go hungry.

Although it does benefit some parties, our food system functions with major flaws. For example:

  • 90% of the food we eat is imported from out of state, not grown locally, despite Iowa’s reputation for feeding the world.

  • Huge amounts of safe, quality food is thrown away, filling up landfills, and contributing to climate change. This food could be shared with food-insecure households across the metro, or even among friends, family, and neighbors.

  • So called “Grocery deserts,” which exist when grocery stores are too far away to access easily, plague low-income neighborhoods and rural communities, forcing non-drivers to shop at nearby convenience stores that offer few healthy, affordable options.

  • Local food producers don’t have access to the same benefits, such as crop insurance, as large-scale row crop farmers. They also have to manage their own marketing, aggregation, and distribution — putting them at a significant disadvantage in the marketplace.

  • A limited number of meat lockers curtails the ability of small- and medium-sized producers to process their chicken, beef, or pork.

  • Planning and zoning ordinances hinder small producers from growing food in urban environments.

All of these issues are the result of the collective actions of thousands of people over decades. Since these systems were designed by humans, they can also be fixed by humans — by people like us working together.

 
Volunteer woman outside in Bountiful Blessings School Garden for Eat Greater Des Moines

Frequently Asked Questions

  • The food system consists of the human-designed structures, institutions, policies, practices, and cultural mores that direct how food is produced, distributed, and accessed. It includes all the processes and people involved, from the time the first seed is planted to the moment you take your first bite.


    The way people access food in this system is similar to how we connect to broadband internet. Although nearly everyone is connected to the network in some way, the speed, quality, availability, and price of your internet varies widely based on the company you use, your location, what you can afford, and other factors out of your control. The pandemic has shown us that high-quality internet access is crucial for work, school, shopping, services, and social connections.


    In the same way, food is not evenly distributed in our community. While retailers often end up with excess food they can’t sell and many communities offer convenient, cheap, and healthy options to residents, thousands of central Iowans still struggle to access enough healthy food, a basic human right.


    For some households, the nearest grocery store may be several miles away. Without reliable transportation, they are forced to rely on convenience stores with higher prices and fewer healthy options. Even a parent working full-time may not earn enough to cover both rent and food for their family, meaning they have to leave work early to stand in line at a pantry.


    In the same way we need the internet to function in modern society, we also need a food system that is accessible, reliable, and affordable for everyone. The problem is not that we lack food in our community. The problem is that our system does not provide equitable access to this basic need for all residents.

  • Food is powerful. Not only does it nourish our bodies, food affects how we feel physically and emotionally. It evokes powerful memories from times past and connects us to long-held traditions. Most importantly, it brings people together to share experiences and perspectives at the same table.


    The food people eat is connected to complex social issues, beyond hunger and food insecurity. Many people who use food pantries work full time or more, but they don’t earn enough to cover all their basic needs. A lack of nutritious food can cause significant stress and trigger issues like domestic violence and substance use, learning challenges, and poor health outcomes.


    By changing how, what, and where people eat, we can address these complex issues together, improving our own lives and strengthening our entire community.

  • • Reducing waste through food recovery efforts

    • Expanding access by putting food where people are, like health care clinics and affordable housing complexes

    • Making local, healthy options easier to access, by promoting community gardens and encouraging farmers markets to accept EBT and SNAP benefits

    • Revising policies and processes that create barriers to growing local food

    • Changing public attitudes about who deserves what kind of food and where they can access it

    • Promoting equitable access to food; for example, ensuring that lower-income customers get charged the same prices for fresh produce as wealthier shoppers and that they see healthy options front and center in their local stores