Polk County rejects Food Bank of Iowa offer

• As of yesterday, Polk County’s two pantries remain among those food banks without an FBOI contract.

Catch up fast: FBOI is similar to a wholesale distributor. It provides cheap or free food to hundreds of central Iowa charities.

• DMARC has its own warehouse service but has traditionally also partnered with the food bank to obtain some goods for its metro pantry network, including federal commodities.

Meanwhile, Polk County has contracted with DMARC for years to operate the River Place and Northside pantries.

Driving the news: FBOI recently approached the county about creating a program that would allow it to order food from FBOI inventories without DMARC's involvement.

• It was part of an effort to rebuild a relationship with the county, food bank spokesperson Annette Hacker tells Axios.

• The county notified the food bank of its decision in a June 23 letter obtained by Axios.

What they're saying: The county chose not to accept the proposal because the DMARC arrangement with its pantries works well, county administrator John Norris tells Axios.

• DMARC officials declined Axios' requests for comment.

The bottom line: Polk County's pantries still have no access to federal commodities in the Emergency Food Assistance Program.