Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Scenic Valley Produce connects local growers, summer camps

Back to Leopold Letter Winter 2011

Kids in summer camps across central Iowa enjoyed fresh, local produce on their plates at lunchtime, thanks to a new entrepreneurial program called Scenic Valley Produce.

Scenic Valley Produce began collecting and distributing fresh fruits and vegetables earlier this year with a small special project grant from the Leopold Center’s Cross-Cutting Initiative and the City of Ogden. The program, created by the Value Added Agriculture Program at Iowa State University Extension, began with five growers and five summer camps in central Iowa. It focused on using high tunnels - simple plastic-covered structures heated by sunlight- to extend the growing season.

 “We wanted kids to be aware of local foods outside of the school system,” said Molly Foley, an undergraduate in ISU Agricultural Communications and the first intern for the project. “We wanted them to know what they’re eating is local stuff and it came from five miles down the road.”

Growers delivered their produce to a central facility in Ogden that had been converted from an old convenience store. There, Scenic Valley Produce staff washed and packaged it before making deliveries to camps and other facilities. Joe Monahan of Heavy Hooves Farm noted that combining produce harvests makes it easier for small farms to create a reliable, consistent supply.  

“As a group we can come a lot closer to meeting the needs of large-scale consumers much more efficiently than any one of us would be able to do individually,” Monahan said.

In its first year, the program encountered several challenges with coordinating between the amount the growers could provide and what customers required. “While it took a while to get product to match our needs, the quality of the food was always impeccable,” said Will Shelton, the program coordinator at Camp Hantesa. “We enjoyed the opportunity to engage with our local growers, and to support a greener central Iowa.”

Scenic Valley Produce hopes to continue the program for at least five years. The growers involved for the program’s first year included Heavy Hooves Farm, Swanson Family Farm, Healthy Berry Farm, Rinehart Family Farms, Wilber’s Northside Market, and Nature Road Farm. The summer camps involved were Camp Hantesa, 4-H Camp, Camp Sacajawea, Hidden Acres Camp, and Sunstream Retreat Center. 

Back to Leopold Letter Winter 2011