Policy and Advocacy Manager at Des Moines Area Religious Council and Mid-Iowa Health Foundation HealthConnect Fellow
(April 2022-September 2023)
Increasing children’s and families’ access to healthy foods through systems-level advocacy
Elzinga began his fellowship with a focus on reframing the narrative on food insecurity through storytelling and data, but his efforts grew in scope as he transitioned from managing communications to focusing on advocacy full time. Elzinga used these strategies and built strategic partnerships, allowing him to advocate more strongly for and against policies that influence people’s access to food.
Working with a local advocate and an advisory board, Elzinga developed DMARC’s Storytellers Roundtable to engage individuals who have experienced hunger in DMARC’s advocacy efforts and decision-making processes. During the 2023 legislative session, Elzinga supported individuals with lived experiences in sharing how they would be impacted by the policy decisions state legislators were considering. A collaboration with the Iowa Food System Coalition and the Iowa Farmers Union led to a second roundtable series across Iowa featuring community meals where people shared experiences with hunger and were engaged in advocating for policy changes to address hunger in their communities.
With a focus on using data, Elzinga established a new DMARC report and event called, “Portrait of a Food Pantry Visitor: Data, Demographics, and Disparities” that highlights the disparities DMARC sees among those who use a food pantry in Greater Des Moines and historical reasons for these disparities. He also developed tools for advocates to understand the use of SNAP benefits in their area of the state.
Partnering with stakeholders from various systems that interact with food insecurity has also been an important advocacy tactic. For example, Elzinga has worked with the Iowa Food System Coalition to explore policies that help reduce hunger as well as support small beginning farmers and BIPOC and women-led farms. He has become more engaged with Closing the Hunger Gap, a national group of people who work at food banks and pantries that are pushing the sector toward advocating for changes that address root causes of hunger.
Anti-hunger advocacy efforts continue to grow with more engaged supporters as Elzinga has worked with a consultant to help the Iowa Hunger Coalition develop an advocacy roadmap for the future. The result is work on many fronts to confront policies and decisions that are preventing people’s access to healthy food.
The 2023 Iowa legislative session was challenging for anti-hunger advocates as state lawmakers advanced policies that placed greater restrictions on receiving public benefits, including SNAP. The advocacy efforts Elzinga coordinated successfully fought off pieces of legislation that would be the most restrictive, having the potential to increase food insecurity. For example, Elzinga’s efforts to draw attention to a bill that would limit SNAP purchases to only foods on an extremely narrow list garnered more than 100 media stories, including national press. As the bill SF 494 moved forward, placing greater administrative hurdles for accessing public benefits, Elzinga drew enough attention that a hearing on the bill was called, and several advocates helped convey the message the bill was not something Iowans wanted and would be harmful to the well-being of residents. More than 200 interfaith leaders signed a letter calling for the Governor to veto the bill.
“Every step of the way, we presented both data and stories to debunk the harmful narratives being pushed by the bill’s proponents,” said Elzinga. “We gathered dozens of stories from Iowans on SNAP who would be impacted. We rallied people at the public hearing and held multiple press conferences. We gathered data for every single district to show how fraud is non-existent, and how SNAP enrollment in the state is at a 15-year low. And we built our coalition even stronger — expanding the number of advocates taking action on this and tying them into our wider advocacy efforts.”
The work continues as Elzinga has pulled together multiple stakeholders to form the SF 494 Implementation Working Group to engage in administrative advocacy, limit the negative impacts of the bill going forward, and update the public on impending changes.
With Elzinga’s coordination, anti-hunger advocates also successfully pressured the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to reverse course and submit a plan to the USDA for Pandemic EBT benefits this fall — resulting in $28 million in additional nutrition benefits received by Iowa’s children.
Now, Elzinga is working to ensure the state participates in a new permanent version of the child nutrition program, Summer EBT. The Hunger Coalition and partners are also pushing for a $1 million appropriation for the Double Up Food Bucks program and expanding free school meals to more low-income Iowans. Elzinga is also engaging advocates in preparing for the 2024 state legislative session.
Through these efforts, Elzinga gained confidence as more people saw him as a coalition and system-change leader. His approach of bringing stories of Iowans to the forefront of conversations on hunger and food insecurity has drawn the attention of other advocates. He has presented locally and nationally on how stories and data can be used as key strategies in advocacy efforts.
