Thanksgiving is one day in the year that no one in the United States should go hungry. Ya think? If you don’t agree with that, you probably are not reading this post.
While Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds pardoned Tailfeathers and Wing-ding the turkeys this week, it’s worth noting that she and others in the majority party who consent to her schemes don’t mind depriving people of food access other times of year.
No, I am not related to Debbie Downer, who spoiled Thanksgiving dinner. However, now that I have gathered some evidence, this holiday seems an appropriate time to point out that the governor’s Healthy Kids Iowa summer food “pilot” program for school children did exactly that—deprived kids of food.
Healthy Kids Iowa offered boxes of government-selected food to families able to show up at designated distribution sites in June, July, and August. Families of students who qualified for the federal free and reduced-cost lunch program at preK-12 schools were eligible, along with all students in “Community Eligibility Provision” schools. That program allows schools in high-poverty neighborhoods to serve free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of family income, eliminating the need for household applications…