WC Iowa News

Crawford County saw a 7.4 percent decrease in the number of residents who participated in Iowa's Food Assistance Program from 2020 to 2021, according to a Crawford Guide analysis of data from the state's Department of Human Services.

In 2021, 1,503 recipients (674 households) in Crawford County participated in the Program compared to 1,623 recipients (719 households) in 2020.

Overall, $2,825,770 in food assistance payments were allocated to Crawford County recipients in 2021.

In 2020, $2,111,037 was allocated for Crawford County program participants.

Qualified recipients in the Program are eligible to receive financial assistance in the form of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, which then can be used to buy groceries. The Program is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's larger Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Number of Food Assistance Program Participants in Crawford County 2012-2021

Year	Number of recipients
2012	2,151
2013	2,196
2014	2,125
2015	2,027
2016	1,978
2017	1,965
2018	1,880
2019	1,623
2020	1,503
2021	1,350