Fruit and Vegetable Working Group

This group operated from 2007 through 2011 as part of the Value Chain Partnerships project. Many of the group's activities are now offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. For information, contact Ajay Nair, ISU Horticulture [read his Iowa Vegetables blog]; or Joe Hannan, extension field specialist, [read his blog, IowaProduce,org].

Purpose

This group involved fruit and vegetable growers and buyers and various supporting organizations. The group formed to address issues limiting the growth of these businesses and their ability to deliver products to local and regional markets. Working group members identified the most important challenges: beginning farmers; recruiting, managing and retaining good employees; postharvest handling; and improving marketing.

Working group resources

• FVWG Brochure [PDF]
• FVWG Poster [PDF]
• FVWG Supply or Value Chain presentation [PDF]
• Iowa On-Farm Food Safety presentation [PDF] November 2010
• Two Vegetable Wash Station Designs - an online tool with detailed instructions and diagrams explaining how to build two types of low-cost vegetable wash stations
• Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Market Planner - a web-based tool developed by the ISU Institute of Transportation and the Leopold Center that calculates rates of demand for 80 crops
• Post-Harvest Handling Decision Tool - a project of the FVWG funded by the ISU Extension Value Added Agriculture Program and the Leopold Center
• 2009 Field Days Slideshow - photography by Jerry DeWitt and Allison Severson
• Beginning Vegetable Operations presentation [PDF]
• "Handle with Care" by Malcolm Robertson

Links we like

• SARE - Local Harvest: A Multifarm CSA Handbook
• Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association
• Iowa Network for Community Agriculture
• Practical Farmers of Iowa
• ISU Horticulture Department
• ISU Horticulture Extension: Commercial Vegetable Crops
• ISU Extension Organic Agriculture: Weed Management
• ISU Extension Organic Agriculture: Video Clips on Organic Weed Management
• ISU Value Added Agriculture
• Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS)
• IDALS Diversification and Market Development Bureau
• IDALS Horticulture and Farmers Market Bureau
• IDALS Fresh Cut Produce and Light Processing Webinar - scroll down
• Iowa Farm to School
• Community Food Security Coalition
• Community Food Security Coalition - "Food Safety and Liability Insurance" [PDF]
• Local Foods Connection - Iowa City