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News & Notes

Scaling-Up report

A new report explores the challenges and opportunities for farmers looking to scale-up their operations to serve wholesale markets. Prepared by Practical Farmers of Iowa, the report was funded as special project of the statewide Local Food and Farm Initiative coordinated by Craig Chase at the Leopold Center. The report summarizes interviews with 15 Iowa growers and 12 wholesale buyers. Find the Scaling-Up report here.

Farmscape

A readers’ theatre production about the plight of Iowa farmers, written by students in an Iowa State University creative writing course, is part of a new book by ISU Distinguished Professor and Iowa Poet Laureate Mary Swander. Farmscape: The Changing Rural Environment (Ice Cube Press 2012) also has a number of essays related to the project. Swander used a Leopold Center grant to present the play in rural Iowa communities in 2008 and 2009.

Nutrient reduction plan

Iowans are asked to comment on a proposed state plan to reduce nutrient loading from farms and sewage treatment plants to improve Iowa's water quality and help shrink the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy was developed over the past two years by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University. Read the plan on the Web at: www.nutrientstrategy.iastate.edu.

Climate statement

Leopold Center Director Mark Rasmussen and Distinguished Fellow Fred Kirschenmann were among the 138 science faculty from 27 Iowa colleges and universities who signed a 2012 Iowa Climate Statement. The document says the 2012 drought is consistent with climate change and urges state action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve resilience in agriculture and move toward greater energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy. Details are on the University of Iowa’s Center for Global & Regional Environmental Research website: http://www.cgrer.uiowa.edu/

Erle Ellis

"If you want to know what the biodiversity of the planet is going to be like in 2050, there's only one way to find out -- and that's to find out what we're going to do, because it's going to be up to us." Ecologist Erle Ellis presented the 2012 Pesek Colloquium October 29 about human impact on the global landscape. A link to the podcast of his lecture is available on the Leopold Center web calendar.

Two people making a difference inspire conference attendees

“The food revolution is all about the ability to grow our own food. It’s a revolution because we have a new generation of young people under 40 who want to get involved in the food system, and there are thousands of jobs that could be created around the food system. We need more farmers and we need those working in renewable energy, and architects and engineers and every occupation there is.” – Will Allen

Will Allen, founder and CEO of Growing Power, spoke to more than 350 people who attended the 2012 Iowa Organic Conference November 19 in Iowa City. The Leopold Center was among the co-sponsors of the event. Allen’s Milwaukee-based organization has expanded from year-round food production and CSAs to provide youth training programs, urban renewal projects, fish-breeding research and international outreach.

Now in its 20th year, Growing Power operates eight farms and a five-acre composting facility where 40 million pounds of food waste, including brewery and coffee roasting materials, are turned into compost for growing fruit, vegetables, mushrooms and herbs. They also raise tilapia, perch, honey bees, goats and chickens, delivering CSA baskets to 40 locations every week in Chicago and Milwaukee. Growing Power demonstrates its growing methods through on-site workshops and hands-on demonstrations and has established satellite-training sites in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Mississippi.

Fred Kirschenmann, who presented the other conference keynote, said he was encouraged by Allen’s comments because they offered “difficult hope – doing the right thing even if you don’t know if it will all work out, because then you have the courage to go into the future.”