Portraits of Hunger in Iowa--an IPR Conversation
Sharing what we learned with Charity Nebbe on Talk of Iowa
Jason and I were honored to be on Iowa Public Radio’s Talk of Iowa with Charity Nebbe on Thursday. Charity was interested in interviewing us after we published a series of columns called “Portraits of Hunger in Iowa” that drew great interest and thoughtful commentary. As of Thursday morning, our columns had nearly 35,000 views.
Jason published the series at The Racountourist, and I published it at Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture. Here is the link to the Talk of Iowa program with Charity. We hope you enjoy it. As a Deep Midwest subscriber, I think you will love The Racountourist, and I encourage you to subscribe.
As background, on October 31, as November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments were about to be halted by the Trump administration, we sought to understand how some of our fellow Iowans would be affected. More than 267,000 Iowans received SNAP benefits in May, and we wanted to help a few of them tell their stories. So, Jason and I went to the Des Moines Area Religious Council’s (DMARC) food pantry on Army Post Road, talked to some people, and shared some of their stories. Luke Elzinga with DMARC, set it up and volunteers like the woman helping Scott above answered our questions. Thanks to them.
Here, we feel the need to say we are not experts on hunger or poverty. We are simply storytellers.
We are also compassionate human beings who know that with a different roll of the dice of life, we could be in the same or similar situation as the hungry and homeless people we met. So could you, dear reader.
One of the things that came out in our conversation with Charity was that much of society treats the hungry and homeless as “disposable.” Scott told us that he felt that people wanted him and others like him to die.
Is he wrong? Consider, for example, that the Des Moines City Council made homelessness illegal earlier this year, essentially making Scott and people like him criminals for simply existing.
While all of the people we interviewed had thoughtful comments to share, one of the important things Scott told us was that people in poverty had a great many barriers that impeded their success, and that they received what he called “extra scrutiny.”
Low credit scores, not allowing pets in housing, couples having to split up before receiving services, curfews in shelters, remission ending treatment services, and much more are all barriers to people getting back on their feet, according to Scott.
Now we have a new hurdle.
As we were writing this Friday night, we learned that the Trump administration will require everyone who currently gets SNAP payments to reapply.
SNAP is a very efficient program with little fraud. Yet, the Trump administration says the reapplication process is because of fraud in the system.
No, it’s not. It’s a purposefully constructed policy barrier to the hungry getting fed in the richest country on earth.
Millions of Americans will go hungry, including children.
Is this the America you want to live in?
In Trump’s America, most of us are disposable.
And the cruelty is part of the point.
Never forget, under Trump and the Republican Party, part of the built-in cruelty is letting children starve.
The conversation about the hungry people Jason and I spoke with continues. This is from our friends Doug Burns and Nik Heftman:
The upcoming episode of Nik and Doug’s America, airing Saturday at 11 a.m. CST on Substack Live, will feature Iowa writer Bob Leonard, who will discuss an extraordinary series on homelessness that he developed with fellow Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member Jason Walsmith. Leonard will also talk with Heftman about filmmaking projects and delve into other issues of the day.
Click here for the link. I hope to see you at 11:00 CT.
Doug writes at The Iowa Mercury, and Nik at The Seven Times. They both produce remarkable stories—please consider subscribing.
Jason will be the guest of Doug and Nik at a future date. Substack live is restricted to three people, so I will talk with Doug and Nik today. Besides, Jason is on tour in Florida this week. He will also publish his version of this story when he can.
Jason is an Iowa treasure and I am proud to call him friend. Please consider subscribing to The Racountourist. Please also consider booking a performance here!
We very much appreciate each and every one of you for reading and supporting our work. Our holiday party for paid subscribers to any column written by a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative will be on December 17 at the Harkin Institute at Drake in Des Moines. The program begins at 7:00 p.m., and our friends The Weary Ramblers will perform.
We are both proud members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.
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Thanks for putting this together Robert.
The choice is clear. Do we want to be a nation grounded in the values of white Christian nationalists or do we want to be a pluralistic democracy grounded in common human values no better represented than by the Beatitudes in the Christian Gospels? As long as Republicans bend the knee to Trump and the MAGA movement, their choice is clear. And people will go hungry. The sick will not be healed. People will be taken off the streets and dumped into prison to be forgotten or worse. In terms of Christianity, we're living in biblical times.