School lunch is about so much more than tater tots and chocolate milk. In this episode, you’ll discover how local food in schools not only improves nutrition for kids, but also fuels Iowa’s economy, supports independent farmers, and strengthens rural communities.

You’ll hear what made the now-defunded Local Food for Schools (LFS) program so successful and why proposed legislation like SF 525 threatens to undo that progress. We dig into what’s at stake and what you can still do to protect real food and real farms in Iowa.

[You can read the transcript below.]

Featured Voices:

* Jessy Sadler – Food Service Director, Urbandale Schools

* Julie Udelhofen – Food Service Director, Clear Lake Schools

* Chelsea Krist – Farm to School and Early Care Specialist on Iowa State Extension's Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Team

* Teresa Wiemerslage – Local Food Systems Specialist, ISU Extension

* Chris Schwartz – Executive Director, Iowa Food Systems Coalition

Take Action Now

1. Support the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Program

Ask the Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee to invest $3 million in the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Program to replace lost federal funding and strengthen Iowa’s local food economy.

📞 Senate Switchboard: (515) 281-3371📞 House Switchboard: (515) 281-3221

Senate Subcommittee Members:

* Sen. Tom Shipley (R, District 9) – Chair

* Sen. Annette Sweeney (R, District 27) – Vice Chair

* Sen. Art Staed (D, District 40) – Ranking Member

* Sen. Mike Zimmer (D, District 35)

* Sen. Dan Zumbach (R, District 34)

House Subcommittee Members:

* Rep. Norlin G. Mommsen (R, District 70) – Chair

* Rep. Helena Hayes (R, District 88) – Vice Chair

* Rep. Sami Scheetz (D, District 78) – Ranking Member

* Rep. Sean Bagniewski (D, District 35)

* Rep. Chad Behn (R, District 48)

* Rep. J.D. Scholten (D, District 1)

* Rep. Craig Steven Williams (R, District 11)

* Rep. Devon Wood (R, District 17)

* Rep. Derek Wulf (R, District 76)—

Also Contact:

* Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink – Senate Appropriations Chair

* Rep. Gary Mohr – House Appropriations Chair

2. Oppose SF 525: Contact All State Senators NOW

SF 525 threatens to rewrite school nutrition standards to favor commodity crops like corn, pork, and dairy—prioritizing corporate profits over kids’ health and local food access. It could also jeopardize federal funding for school meals.

📞 Call your Senator today and urge them to vote NO on SF 525.

🔍 Find your Senator: Iowa Legislature Contact Page

📚 Resources & Links:

* Iowa Food Systems Coalition

* Procurement Team

* Policy Team

* Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Program (School applications open until April 7)

* Iowa Local Food for Schools (LFS)

* Find Your Iowa Legislator

* 2024 Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Pilot Report

Swarm of Birds (ID 1835) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Music also by Chris Schwartz

Transcript

School Lunch Script

This is At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast, brought to you by the Iowa Food Systems Coalition. I am your host, Beth Hoffman.

I’ve reported on food and agriculture a long time, but I’ve never done a story about school lunch. It seemed, well kind of boring to be honest, a lot of talking heads going on nutrition and cost. And politics, so many politics around school lunch. And there is gobs of that, as we will see in this episode. The Trump Administration and the Iowa legislature are dramatically impacting school lunch as I speak.

But I was surprised to learn why that mattered so much. School lunch, I learned and you will too in this episode, is a major economic driver, a massive lesson in logistics, and a place to celebrate some pretty amazing people.

hanks to the Iowa State Extension’s Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Team. Mallory DeVries edited this piece and Chris Schwartz and Lobo Loco wrote the music. I’m Beth Hoffman with the Iowa Food System Coalition. Thanks for listening.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit attheiowafarmtable.substack.com