Building a Local Food Culture: Engaging & Marketing Direct to Consumer

What is Grow. Eat. Play?

Grow. Eat. Play. is a regional marketing campaign designed to cultivate a thriving local food culture across North Iowa. It connects producers, food businesses, and communities in an exciting journey of discovery and engagement. For producers and local food advocates, it brings practical support, visibility, and access to shared resources, workshops, and collaborative opportunities. This campaign is here to help you connect directly with local consumers who are eager to support and celebrate North Iowa’s unique food landscape.

Grow. Eat. Play. is more than just a campaign—it’s a guide to enjoying delicious food and fun experiences throughout North Iowa. It’s a fun and engaging way to talk about something incredibly important: the impact that local food has on our economy, our health, and our communities. Today, we’re diving into how campaigns like this can influence the very fabric of our region: our culture.

Why Does a Strong Local Food Culture Matter?

You might be wondering, “Okay, cool, but I just want to increase my sales. Why are we talking about culture?” Well, I’m so glad you asked!

A strong local food culture will inherently increase demand and your sales. More than that, it will:

  • Improve Community Health: Prioritizing local foods means increasing access to fresh, nutritious produce, fostering healthier eating habits throughout our community.
  • Build Resilience: A strong local food culture connects people to their food sources, creating a more resilient food system that is less reliant on external forces.
  • Boost the Local Economy: Supporting local food directly benefits the economy by keeping dollars in our community, supporting small businesses, and creating jobs.

Like it or not, you are doing incredibly important work! Our local food scene is vibrant and has come a long way in the last decade—but we still have work to do.

How We Build a Local Food Culture

Step One: Define Our Collective Goal
The primary objective of Grow. Eat. Play. is to shift perceptions around local food. We know that many people still view local food as inaccessible, expensive, or even “weird.” Our goal is to change that narrative and show that local food is invaluable, accessible, and essential.

Step Two: Shift Perceptions Through Shared Messaging and Action
A thriving local food culture starts with consumers seeing local food as important, approachable, and worth seeking out. By joining the Grow. Eat. Play. campaign, we’re able to share a unified message across North Iowa. Together, we can educate and excite our communities about the value of local food.

Step Three: Educate & Engage Eaters
Building a local food culture goes beyond transactions. It’s about cultivating meaningful connections between producers and consumers. Use Grow. Eat. Play. to help you share your practices, tell your unique story, and offer preparation tips that make local food easy and enjoyable. When consumers feel more connected, they’re more likely to become loyal supporters.

Step Four: Maintain Consistency
Consistency is key to sustaining a local food culture. Reinforce the Grow. Eat. Play. message through regular engagement—at farmers markets, online, in-person at events, and in everyday conversations. A consistent and reliable presence builds trust and helps reinforce the cultural shift we aim to create together here in North Iowa.

 

Introducing the Grow. Eat. Play. Toolkit

To make it even easier to engage consumers and build our local food culture, we’re excited to share the Grow. Eat. Play. Toolkit, which members will receive at the start of 2025. This toolkit includes resources such as:

  • Recipe Sharing Tools
  • Social Media Toolkits
    • Food & Farm Business Resources
    • Farmers Markets
    • Chefs & Restaurants
    • Agritourism
  • Getting Started with Canva
  • Email Marketing Guidance
  • Brand Standards
  • Press Release Templates

Our toolkit will help you tell your story and connect with your audience effectively, reinforcing the shared goal of building a thriving local food culture.

Let’s Keep Growing Together
We’re inviting you to renew your membership and continue this incredible journey with us. As a member of Grow. Eat. Play., you’re not just part of a campaign—you’re part of a movement that’s changing the culture of North Iowa. Together, we’re fostering a resilient, healthy, and prosperous food system that benefits all of us.

Let’s make our local food culture even stronger. Renew your HHNI membership today and be an active part of the change!