Iowa Food Security Forum Surveys Food-Insecure Residents

In a recent column for Business Record, Lendie Follett details the Iowa Food Security Forum, an in-person conference organized to survey between 150 and 200 food-insecure individuals in Central Iowa. Follett, who serves as chair of actuarial science, information management and business analytics and associate professor in the Zimpleman College of Business at Drake University, argues that finding effective, long-term solutions requires systematically and scientifically listening to people who have direct lived experience with food insecurity.

JustGive Uses Deliberative Poll Model for Conference

The conference served as the first project for JustGive, an organization formed by Follett and other collaborators. The event utilized a “deliberative poll” model, drawing participants randomly recruited from visitor lists provided by DMARC based on anyone who had visited a DMARC pantry in the previous year. The day’s schedule included a morning presentation by former DMARC CEO Matt Unger, small-group deliberations, and a lunchtime Q&A session featuring local practitioners. Among the participating practitioners were two public school district nutrition directors, Rep. Eddie Andrews, Blake Willadsen from DMARC, and Audrey Kennis from Health and Human Services in West Des Moines. Participants concluded the day with a follow-up small-group deliberation session to process the practitioners’ remarks before completing a paper survey.

Key Discussions and Identified Challenges

According to the column, the small-group discussions brought forward prominent concerns regarding local systems. Participants raised issues about the quality of food in local schools, noting the inherent trade-offs between food quality and the volume of food provided, such as Des Moines Public Schools offering multiple meals daily at no cost to all students. Additionally, participants repeatedly cited the administrative burdens associated with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Discussions highlighted that navigating the red tape, paperwork, required meetings, and strict deadlines to secure SNAP benefits was described by attendees as being harder than obtaining a home mortgage. Follett noted that organizers planned to translate the paper surveys into a database, clean the data, and analyze the results within two to three weeks.