The Mid America Store

By Cami Koons

Iowa senators advanced a bill Tuesday to implement nutrition guidelines and education in Iowa schools that prioritize the state’s “unique” food sources like corn, pork and dairy.  

The bill would also update school health class curriculum to include a section on nutrition and include instruction on food production and the benefits of local sourcing in agriculture, as well as natural resources career and technical education instruction.

Senate Study Bill 1158 would instruct the Iowa Department of Education to apply for a waiver for exemption of certain parts of federal nutrition standards for school meals. 

The bill asks for exemptions from sodium limits, whole grain requirements and stipulations on fruit and vegetable varieties and general permission to substitute federal nutrition guidelines with those that “align with Iowa’s dietary recommendations or cultural food practices.”

The Iowa Department of Education, if the waiver were approved, would then work with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, nutrition experts, educators and other stakeholders to develop guidelines for a “nutritionally adequate meal” in Iowa.

Per SSB 1158, these guidelines must be as stringent as federal guidelines in promoting health and preventing chronic diseases and must prioritize animal-based protein, dairy, vegetables and fruits, in that order. 

Sen. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids, opposed the bill in the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing because of this section. 

“You’re basically rewriting the food pyramid by writing into law that certain food groups must be prioritized in the order listed,” Bennett said in the committee hearing. 

Bennett said she’s not against animal proteins but said she does not see “nutritional research evidence” supporting the prioritization outlined in the bill. 

Lobbyists from Iowa commodity groups including the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and Iowa Corn Growers Association spoke in favor of the bill during its subcommittee hearing Feb. 26. 

Sen. Mike Zimmer of DeWitt, ranking Democrat for the Senate Ag Committee, echoed Bennett’s sentiment and said students should be taught the harms as well as the benefits of animal proteins and should similarly be exposed to other sources of protein. 

“If we’re going to focus on proteins, what about plant proteins – where do those fit into the pyramid?” Zimmer asked.

Zimmer said the bill attempts to “reinvent the wheel” on nutrition education and school meal programming that are already established by the Department of Education. 

Sen. Kevin Alons, R-Salix, who chaired the subcommittee on the bill last week, said the proposed legislation does not ignore federal nutrition guidelines; it instead asks for a waiver. 

“We’ve seen a lot of changes, and I’m not sure a lot of those are positive,” Alons said of federal changes to nutrition guidelines. “I think our state can make better decisions about the health of our children and establish those guidelines quite well.” 

The bill was amended in committee to remove references to “sustainable farming” practices from the section on career education. 

Sen. Dan Zumbach, R-Ryan, said the language was removed to avoid complication in the curriculum since “the word sustainable is not defined.” 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sustainable agriculture is defined in U.S. Code as “an integrated system of plant and animal production practices” that, among other goals, “make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls.” 

The bill passed with the amendment, 11-4 with Democrat Sens. Zimmer, Bennett, Tony Bisignano of Des Moines and Herman Quirmbach of Ames voting no.

A similar bill, House Study Bill 173, has advanced from subcommittee in the House.

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