Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Physician headlines three local food events November 10-11

Back to News Release Archive

October 24, 2008

AMES, Iowa -- California obstetrician Dr. Preston Maring insisted that his patients eat healthy food, to the point of organizing a farmers' market out in front of the hospital where he worked. Five years later, Maring's idea has spread to 30 other Kaiser Permanente health care facilities and his blog gets about 50,000 page views each month.

Maring will be in Iowa November 10-11 to share his passion and discuss the economic, health, community and environmental benefits of local and sustainably produced food. His presentation,"Sustaining Iowa: Making the Connection between Food, Health and the Land," will be offered in Iowa City and Cedar Falls on November 10, and in Ames on November 11.

Maring is Associate Physician-in-Chief at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland. He is responsible for tertiary care services planning and development for Oakland’s 200,000 health plan members as well as members from around the Northern California region.

An enthusiastic cook, he helped start a weekly farmers' market for hospital staff, visitors and the community in 2003. The project has resulted in different market models, community outreach and a program-wide focus on health eating. More recently, he has worked with Kaiser Permanente and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers to create a system that sources product for inpatient meals from small family farmers.

His presentation is scheduled at the following times and places:

  • Noon, November 10, 140 Schaeffer Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City;
     
  • 7:30 p.m., November 10, Commons Ball Room, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls; and
     
  • 7 p.m., November 11, 2050 Agronomy Hall, Iowa State University, Ames.

Following each presentation, speakers will share Iowa stories about the benefits of local food. They include: Iowa City chef Kurt Michael Friese, author of the 2008 book, A Cook's Journey: Slow Food in the Heartland, and editor for Edible Iowa River Valley magazine; and Story County Planning and Zoning director Leanne Harter, about the county's new Local Foods Systems Initiative report. In Cedar Falls, Maring is the featured speaker for the annual local food dinner.

The series is sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at ISU, the Center for Energy and Environmental Education at UNI, and the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the U of Iowa. 

For more info contact:

Rich Pirog, Associate Director, (515) 294-5272, rspirog@iastate.edu,

Laura Miller, Leopold Center Communications, (515) 294-5272, lwmiller@iastate.edu

Back to News Release Archive