Fighting food insecurity together

In our region and around the nation, the struggle against food insecurity has quietly intensified. Food insecurity now affects thousands in the Corridor, and more families are relying on food pantries and community organizations than ever before.

Johnson County has an estimated 11.5% overall food insecurity rate, and nearly one in five children are affected. The crisis is expanding due to grocery prices outpacing wages and a reduction in government assistance programs that address food insecurity.

Government funding has often been a lifeline, but the current political environment has slowed or halted programs that once kept families afloat. Lost resources include cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program, cancellation of USDA food delivery, the State of Iowa opting out of the Summer EBT program and loss of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in November due to the government shutdown.

As federal support becomes less certain, local action has become even more essential.

Community organizations, faith groups, and volunteers are the backbone of our regional food insecurity response. Food pantries distribute millions of pounds of food to tens of thousands of people each year. Churches organize weekly meal programs. School districts quietly fill backpacks with food for children to take home over the weekend. Nonprofits like Table to Table in Iowa City collect surplus food from grocery stores, restaurants, and farms, and redirect it to those in need instead of letting it go to waste. Yet, despite all these efforts, the need still outpaces the collective service capability of these organizations and volunteers.

Please consider joining our family to financially support local food pantries and organizations that have the infrastructure in place to effectively combat food insecurity:

CommUnity Food Bank of Iowa City (builtbycommunity.org/donate).

North Liberty Food Pantry (nlcpantry.org/donate).

Coralville Food Pantry (coralvillefoodpantry.org/support).

Table to Table (table2table.org/donation).

Combating food insecurity offers more to recipients than groceries — it strengthens families, stabilizes communities, and opens doors to economic opportunity. When people have reliable access to nutritious food, they can focus on work, education and building a better future with dignity and hope. Government action may eventually catch up, but our community can’t afford to wait. The solution begins with us looking out for one another.

Sheila and Brad Baldwin live in Iowa City.