As Healthy Harvest fulfills its mission to connect and educate in support of the local food system, there are many projects underway all across North Iowa. We are excited about North Iowa’s local food movement and invite you to get involved if you are not already. If you have a question or a connection you’d like to share, please contact us.
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Consumers: A Focus on Food Access
Thanks to the partnership and support from Mercy One North Iowa Medical Center, we have been able to continue and expand our programing that focuses on Food Access – including giving consumers the education and resources they need to successfully enjoy all that local food has to offer. A new face has joined the Healthy Harvest team to coordinate these efforts. Mallory Devries is our new Food Access Project Coordinator, and has jumped right in starting in late-July hosting recipe demonstrations all over North Iowa (you’ll learn more about her in our Winter newsletter).
As the regular growing season comes to end, Mallory is looking forward to the “off-season” to focus on planning out programing for 2020, including new cooking classes for kids and adults – so keep an eye out for those!
Producers: NI Local Food Connection Update
Our last NI Local Food Connection “field” day will be at Simply Nourished in Clear Lake this Sunday, Oct. 20th at 2:00-4:00PM. Come tour the store, learn how Ashley Coleman & her staff have expanded their prepared food capacity, and how they are playing an essential role in providing healthy, locally sourced products. A perfect cap to a year’s exploration into North Iowa local food businesses – plus you know there’s always good snacks and networking!
The full series included stops to Paul Willis’ Farm, Red Shed Gardens, J&J Drydock Shrimp, and Purple Ribbon Beef Farm & General Store. We will begin hosting Winter workshops and networking events in the off-season, and very much encourage anyone who owns a food and farm business, or those who are considering jumping in, to join us! For updates on this programing, join the North Iowa Local Food Connection group on Facebook.
Support in 2019 for the NI Local Food Connection program comes from a partnership with Practical Farmers of Iowa’s USDA Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Grant.
Communities: The Season of Agritourism Events
What a season it was! We hosted agritourism events in four communities, each one with their own flavor. We started in Mitchell County with their Farm to Fork Dinner which focused on conversation in the food system; Next was A Meal on Main in Clarion, which even with moving indoors due to the threat of rain, was a brilliant celebration of local farm and business partnerships; Then came Hampton’s Food &Friends Dinner hosted at the historic Harriman-Nielsen Farm which showcased cultural and agricultural history through food and entertainment; finally, we wrapped things up with a showing of ‘Biggest Little Farm’ at the Historic Park Inn in Mason City, complemented by evening specials at four local businesses that featured local produced.
We extend our sincere thanks to the planning teams in each of the communities that make it happen. The impact of these events extend far beyond the event, as the relationships that are developed through the planning process continue to grow throughout the year as we continue to dream big for the local food system here in North Iowa! We also send many thanks to the Iowa Arts Council’s Cultural Heritage grant who helped us to dig a little deeper into local heritage at these events.
Regional Partnerships: The NI Food Coalition
Our Fall Quarterly meeting of the North Iowa Food Coalition to be held on Tues., October 22nd at 2:30pm at the Landfill of North Iowa in Clear Lake. Join us for update on Farm to School programing in North Iowa and a discussion on various projects and partnerships going on! Plus we’d LOVE to hear your local food updates and questions!
As many of you know, the Coalition is a great way to stay engaged in our local food system, including participating in our five priority project teams: Community Gardens, Farm to School, Farmers Market, Food Hub, and Food Waste. See brief updates from our teams below.
Community Gardens Team – It’s the time in the season that the gardens are wrapping up, so as you do your own garden clean up, we recommend you check out the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s 10 Fall Cleanup Tips for a Better Spring Garden.
Farm to School Team – Several local schools celebrated Iowa Local Food Day on October 11th, including local baked potato bar, garden fresh cucumbers and spinach on the salad bar, local apples, and more! We have just completed a USDA Farm-to-School planning grant and learned a lot and built partnerships, which will be written into an application for a USDA Farm to School implementation grant to be submitted in December. The schools also hosted ‘farmer in the classroom’ days including tastings of local products, and Summer garden programs were a hit in Franklin County. If you’re interested in getting involved, contact Michelle Sackville, ISU Extension – Franklin County or Katelyn Nicholson, Cerro Gordo County Public Health.
A “make your own salsa” activity at PoP Club at the North Iowa Farmers Market in Mason City.
Farmers Market Team – Our markets here in North Iowa are wrapping up for the season, but not without several things to celebrate! Local markets witnessed new vendors, new locations, new PoP (Power of Produce) Club for kids, recipe demonstrations, and more – all thanks to the hard work of volunteer boards and strong market management. As we look forward to the 2020 Market season, project may bring programing such as Double-Up Food Bucks and online ordering to farmers markets near you. If you’re involved in a market that wants to collaborate with others and/or want to be connected into what’s happening, contact Marie to get involved this with this!
Food Hub Team – North Iowa Fresh has wrapped up the second regular season of their Bounty Box Program, but there’s still time to get in on their Thanksgiving and Winter Box deliveries – each is $75 and will be distributed in November and December. Their program was also featured on Iowa Public Radio – if you haven’t gotten a chance to listen, check it out now:
They will be looking to double their customers in 2020, so get your community on the drop-site list! Learn more on their website or reach out to Andrea Evelizer, Broker for North Iowa Fresh, LLC.
Food Waste Team – Members of this team worked to host a table at the Clear Lake Farmers Market for four weeks were they collected 165 pounds of produce and food donations for the Clear Lake Food Bank. They are also working on scheduling their food waste sort with Lincoln Intermediate in Mason City, so the students can visually witness and learn about their impact on the food system. To get involved in these efforts, reach out to Sue Marshall, NetZro.
Producer Profile Highlight
Mossycup Farms is a beginning farm that sells pasture raised and organic fed pork, cattle, and poultry proudly raised in Clear Lake, Iowa. They recently expanded their offerings to include value-added products including lard-based “old lady soaps” and spice mixes. Owners Laura and Jesse, along with their two daughters, work hard to bring quality products to their customers, and are active in the effort to build the local food system in North Iowa.
We were fortunate to host a field day on their farm in July, and caught up with Laura Tidrick to get some insight into their operation and what farming means to them. Read more about their farm…
Become a Member of Healthy Harvest of North Iowa
Like what you see here? Consider becoming a member of Healthy Harvest of North Iowa to ensure our work to connect and education in support of the local food system continues! Memberships start at just $50 a year, and come with some benefits and ways to stay connected to the action. Click here to learn more….
