Leopold Center - FOOD SYSTEMS PROGRAM PROMOTES RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

AMES, Iowa — A food systems program created by a $560,000 W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has leveraged more than $280,000 in additional funds for projects that are creating new opportunities for Iowa farmers and rural communities.

This innovative program, Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture, (VCPSA) will celebrate its first anniversary at a special event Thursday, February 26. The event, which is open to the public, will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Jischke Honors Building on the ISU campus in Ames.

VCPSA is one of 42 projects funded by the Kellogg Foundation's Food and Society Initiative and one of eight at higher education institutions. Collaborating with the Leopold Center are Practical Farmers of Iowa, Iowa State University Extension, the Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture and the ISU College of Agriculture.

The new program seeks to reward small and midsize farmers who use production practices with high standards of environmental and community stewardship. Activities are planned by three working groups -- the Pork Niche Market Working Group (PNMWG) that began in fall 2002, the BioEconomy Working Group initiated in August 2003, and the Regional Food Systems Working Group that started in October 2003.

"The PNMWG has already addressed some of the challenges for midsize pork producers who are interested in niche markets and our bioeconomy group will offer opportunities for farmers who want to be part of a value chain that shares rewards across all parties," said Rich Pirog, Leopold Center program leader and VCPSA project director. "Our third working group will be documenting the economic and environmental impacts of regional food systems."

Pirog said the VCPSA project has received additional support from the SYSCO Corporation, and the working groups have received grant support from organizations such as the Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Farmers Union and the Iowa Energy Center. Several projects also have received grants from the USDA's value-added program and the Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education (SARE) program.

"Our program is unique because we're trying to address challenges across the entire value chain," Pirog explained, adding that participants come from more than 70 organizations and groups. "Each working group brings a variety of players to the table, from producers, processors and distributors, to people involved in economic development and finance."

Each working group develops its own budget and goals, identifying the type of research needed in a specific area. Mini-grants are offered to working group participants.

In its second round of grants for research and development, the PNMWG has funded eight projects totaling more than $25,000. Work includes winter farrowing that uses a greenhouse as an outer structure, supplemental heating systems for hoop and deep-bedded systems, transportation logistics, a series of producer meetings in Des Moines and southwest Iowa, development of a resource guide for new product development, and evaluation costs for a USDA-SARE funded farrowing project.

The BioEconomy Working Group has awarded grants totaling $28,000 for four projects. Several projects involve Poweshiek County producers who are studying the feasibility of raising kenaf, a plant in the hibiscus family related to cotton and okra, as an alternative crop in Iowa. The group is working with HON Industries of Muscatine to make a natural fiber mat that would replace fiberglass in office partitions. Another project looks at the logistics of collecting and delivering one million tons of corn stover annually from farms along the Missouri River to use as feedstock for a biobased processing plant.

The Regional Food Systems Working Group will award its first grants in March.

Pirog said VCPSA also brings together ISU resources to better serve farmers and other entrepreneurs who want to enter these emerging markets. In 2003, VCPSA helped the ISU College of Business add a minor in sustainable agriculture to its MBA program. At least nine other departments, colleges or centers at ISU have been involved in various VCPSA activities.

The group's new web site, www.valuechains.org, will include research reports as they are completed, dates for upcoming meetings and conferences, and news reports and newsletters produced by the working groups.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health, food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.