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I had the opportunity to attend the Marshall County Food Access meeting this week at the ISU Extension Office. Meetings are held quarterly. You would be surprised at how many people and groups are working their tail off to help people have access to food. Food banks, little food boxes that you see around town, grocery stores, churches, Meals on Wheels, House of Compassion, School Districts plus many more coordinate together trying to meet families and individuals who could use a little help. This is no small enterprise putting it all together, kudos to all the helpers.
This quarter, one of the topics was Hunger-Free Schools. Marshalltown School District already offers free breakfast and lunch programs, but many other schools locally and statewide do not.
Paige Chickering from ISU is putting together a group together to discuss moving forward with local State Leaders to fill in the gap that many schools are experiencing. Iowa dropped from 24th in 2025 to 27th in 2026 for school rankings nationwide. This hurts. 25-30 years ago Iowa always ranked in the top 5 if not number 1.
If you were from Iowa, you could get hired anywhere.
So, what does food have to do with it?
Studies continually show that 85% of A and B grade students eat breakfast and lunch regularly.
D and F grade students only eat breakfast and lunch 20% of the time. Hungry students don't make good students.
I have volunteered to serve on the committee to push our State Lawmakers to change. The cost is somewhere between 2 million and 9 million dollars yearly for the state, depending on how much is enacted.
The Marshalltown Street Steering Committee has developed a 5 year plan to slowly improve the conditions of our streets in town. The committee consists of Heather Thomas and Ben Daleske from the City Engineering Department, City Administrator Carol Webb. Greg Nichols, Mark Mitchell and myself as elected officials. Citizens Mark Eaton, Terri Gibson and Robert Proffit also served on the committee giving valuable insight.
The results are sobering, but do-able.
The committee will have a presentation at the next council meeting on Monday night (Sept. 14) to give information and solutions. It is well worth your time to attend or watch on YouTube.
Planning and Zoning will be meeting on Sept. 17 to look over a draft of zoning changes for data centers that in the end, will come to the City Council for approval. By the time it gets to the City Council, citizens will have had at least 7 times to voice their opinions on the changes. My biggest concern is to make sure that we are consistent, protecting our quality of life and not placing more burdens on the industries that have helped build our town.
"We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” -- Max De Pree
Mike Ladehoff is the mayor of Marshalltown.