DMARC Holds Second Storytellers Roundtable on Hunger and Food Insecurity

DMARC held its second Storytellers Roundtable on Hunger and Food Insecurity on Saturday, February 26, at Central Library in downtown Des Moines. 10 participants joined DMARC to share about their own experiences with hunger and food insecurity.

Some common themes and beliefs that were shared by the group included:

• Many people have medical reasons that keep them from working, either mental or physical, both acquired and innate. Some participants expressed that they wish they could work, but can’t.
• A general sense of despair, feeling looked down on, exploited, stigmatized, and cast aside by society.
• Politicians on both sides are completely out of touch with the lives of poor and low-income Iowans, and only serve the rich and corporate interests.
• Being poor is expensive, and just when you think you’re getting back on track something else happens.
• Sometimes things are okay, sometimes they’re really bad, and you just have to keep going and hope things get better.
• The COVID-19 pandemic was a “godsend” in a way for some people, due to increased resources such as stimulus payments and maximum SNAP benefits, but many people in our community did not receive any of these additional benefits due to immigration status. Multiple participants shared that they will be going back to the minimum SNAP benefit amount in April and expressed how worried they are.

Like the first event held in August 2021, DMARC’s second Storytellers Roundtable on Hunger and Food Insecurity was made possible by a mini-grant from WhyHunger. DMARC is planning to hold a third Storytellers Roundtable event in May 2022.

To learn more about the Storytellers Roundtable, background, and project goals, check out the recent Iowa Public Radio piece on the project by Kassidy Arena.