NI Local Food Coalition – Summer Field Day

NI Local Food Coalition – Summer Field Day

This Summer Field Day is hosted by the Community Gardens Project Team within the North Iowa Food Coalition, co-chaired by John Sjolinder of ISU Extension and Outreach – Cerro Gordo County and Angela Determan of Healthy-Mason City. The Community Gardens Team is one of five priority project teams of the Coalition. Others include: Farm-to-School, Farmers Markets, Food Hub, and Food Waste. The Coalition, including representatives from over twenty organizations and businesses, meets quarterly to share project updates and discuss trends and opportunities in the food system in North Iowa.

The Summer Field Day will be held Thurs., July 12th, starting at 9:00am at the Cerro Gordo County Extension Office (601 S Illinois Ave., Mason City). We will travel to the community gardens from there.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

“With two community gardens offered with 60 plots available, Mason City is literally growing well-being. Gardeners have grown nearly 30,000 pounds of produce since 2014. Approximately thirty-three percent donated some of their produce to friends, family, co-workers, our local food bank or community kitchen” said Determan.

While eating wisely impacts our health, the social aspect of gardening is as important. Chrystina Davis has gardened at the community gardens since 2015. Davis shared, “We enjoy it. It’s a big family event for us. We come out here together and hang out. It’s teaching my children how to garden and have family time, too. That’s important to me.”

The Mason City Community Gardens were established in 2013 as part of Mason City’s work to become a Blue Zones Community®. “We wanted education to be a priority and developed a strong partnership with ISU Extension and Outreach – Cerro Gordo County. We have provided education events including gardening 101, food preserving, freezing, canning and dehydrating, beekeeping, and how to use the produce you harvest,” said Sjolinder. “This year we have a demo garden plot showing the impact of different gardening techniques.”

For more information on this meeting or to get involved, contact libbey.jan@gmail.com or visit www.healthyharvest.com .

The North Iowa Food Coalition is North Iowa’s regional network of diverse partners who meet quarterly to share updates and explore emerging opportunities. This Coalition is supported by a contribution from POET Biorefining of Hanlontown and led by Healthy Harvest of North Iowa, Healthy-Mason City, ISU Extension and Outreach, Cerro Gordo & Franklin, Co. Cerro Gordo Co. Public Health, North Iowa Corridor Economic Development, the Landfill of North Iowa, and Netzero. The Coalition works in partnership with ISU Community Food System program.