Value Chain Partnerships working groups transition to new leadership

By MELISSA LAMBERTON, Communications research assistant

From its inception, the Leopold Center has served as a catalyst and a convener to initiate new ventures and enterprises that become self-sustaining. These enterprises help fulfill the mission that the Groundwater Protection Act established for the Center in 1987 – to conduct research that informs and enhances sustainable practices, and disseminate that research to the public.

One such enterprise is the Value Chain Partnerships (VCP) project. Since its beginnings in 2002, VCP has operated throughout Iowa to foster communication and forge alliances among producers, processors, distributors, and consumers – all the links in the food chain. With the help of Craig Chase, interim coordinator for the Leopold Center’s Marketing and Food Systems Initiative, working groups in the VCP program have begun the transition to be able to self-convene under new leadership.

Chase has longtime connections with the Leopold Center, reaching back to the tenure of the first director in 1988. An expert in the economics of regional food systems, Chase describes his work as “putting dollars and cents to the research.” He assumed responsibility for assisting the VCP working groups in making successful transitions, as well as other duties in the marketing initiative, in April.

VCP launched in 2002 when the W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded the Leopold Center a $560,000 grant to develop and direct the project. The Leopold Center soon leveraged additional funds from the SYSCO Corporation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education (SARE) program and other organizations. In 2006, the Henry A. Wallace Center became a major partner when it offered $500,000 to cover three years of operation.

The sponsors hoped to develop self-sustaining “communities of practice” that would bring together people with diverse backgrounds, develop innovative solutions for sustainability, leverage funds and even offer seed grants.

In the past, working groups convened under the umbrella of the VCP program coordinated by the Leopold Center. Each group will transition to a new leadership structure by the end of 2011 when the Leopold Center’s funding ends. Groups can still receive support from the Leopold Center by applying for competitive grants.

The Regional Food Systems Working Group (RFSWG), a collaboration of 16 autonomous groups, will continue to convene under the Leopold Center’s leadership until December when it finalizes its transition. Chase said that the RFSWG currently covers 83 of Iowa’s 99 counties, and he hopes eventually every county in the state will have a connection to a developing food system group. One notable success story took place in northeast Iowa, where a food co-op quadrupled its sales of locally grown products between 2006 and 2008.

The Pork Niche Market Working Group (PNMWG) will transition to the Iowa Pork Industry Center at Iowa State University to continue its work. The oldest of the working groups, the PNMWG began in 2002 with some of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s original funding. The group supports various projects to address challenges in niche pork markets. In 2007, for example, the group secured funding to research how companies could improve their ability to sell all parts of the hog carcass. That led to the creation of Prime Pork Supply, a business-to-business entity that helps companies pool their excess product for sale. Two competing companies teamed up to distribute products to market and saved more than $20,000.

Two working groups are already housed elsewhere. The Food Access and Health Working Group, formed in 2010 by a Leopold Center competitive grant, functions in association with the Iowa Food Systems Council. Members have developed a comprehensive report on the resilience and health of Iowa’s food systems.

The Farm Energy Working Group (FEWG) is stationed at the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Energy and Environmental Education. This group provides education and resources to farmers who want to reduce their use of fossil fuels, and offers small seed grants to help them get started. Because of the FEWG’s funding, Greg Hoffman in Waterloo upgraded the insulation on his hoop house and installed a wood-burning boiler to heat it; and Jason Gomes in Waverly built a solar-powered curing/drying chamber – and wrote a manual so other farmers could follow suit. The FEWG received a competitive grant this year from the Leopold Center’s Cross-cutting Initiative to continue work.

Plans for the remaining two groups, the Grass-Based Livestock Working Group (GBLWG) and the Fruit and Vegetable Working Group (FVWG), are still being developed. The GBLWG began in 2008 with three-year funding from a Leopold Center competitive grant. The FVWG began in 2007 and provides farmers with assistance and information such as the Post-Harvest Handling Decision Tool, a comprehensive web document that helps vegetable growers optimize their post-harvest handling.

“It’s because of the work the individuals have done within these groups and the connections they’ve made between producers and buyers that these types of successes happen,” Chase said. He points to the Leopold Center’s early guidance as a spark that allowed each group to pursue additional funds elsewhere. In many cases, the groups distribute that money to start smaller projects across the state, becoming catalysts themselves for new enterprises.

The VCP working groups characterize the heart of the Leopold Center mission – to explore alternatives in agriculture and work with partners to offer those options to Iowa farmers. “The hope is that they continue to move forward, and continue to learn from each other,” Chase said.

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Value Chain Partnerships working groups transition to new leadership