Leopold Center - Northeast Iowa group hopes to build stronger food economy

The old adage says that you need to get on the train before it leaves the station. A northeast Iowa group is not waiting for the train to arrive in rural Iowa. They’ve found their own ride into the future, and seats are filling up faster than anyone imagined.

This is the story of the Northeast Iowa Farm and Food Coalition that was organized in April 2006. The story has food, all kinds of farmers, business leaders, educators and others from communities in five Iowa counties. At first the outlook appeared gloomy, but with more discussion and ideas, a new picture began to emerge. Fresh, local foods are being grown and served in homes, hospitals, restaurants and schools, thanks to the work of local investors, farmers, distributors and processors. The picture expands to include not only local business and farming communities but also the health care, education and fitness communities. And everyone would be a winner.

At least that’s the goal of the Northeast Iowa Farm and Food Coalition: to develop a vibrant and sustainable food economy. But it didn’t start out that way.

The coalition had its beginnings nearly two years ago when several ag producers in Winneshiek County asked their local ISU Extension office to help them promote agriculture. This led to a series of meetings with producer organization boards and their leadership to better explain the economics of agriculture to northeast Iowa communities.

A wake-up call
One of the invited speakers was economic consultant Ken Meter, who shared information about Winneshiek and Allamakee counties that he had collected as part of a study funded by the Leopold Center’s Regional Food Systems Working Group (RFSWG). Meter’s presentation in March 2005 marked a turning point, recalled Brenda Ranum, Winneshiek County Extension and Education director, who organized the meetings.

Meter’s study revealed disturbing trends (based on USDA data):

"The news was sobering and we were caught off guard,” said Ranum. “His conclusions ran counter to the conventional wisdom that increased productivity of commodities will save rural communities. Instead, we learned how quickly agriculture was changing.”

On the bright side, the study also showed that in 2002 farmers in the two counties actually led the state in organic production ($2.7 million) and sold $611,000 of food directly to consumers. However, almost all of the region’s food dollars ($70 million in 2000) were going to businesses outside the region.

Ranum said the message was clear: the region’s farmers had an opportunity to strengthen their local economy by growing more foods that people in the region could purchase directly from them or local processors and distributors.

“We were all discouraged,” said Lora Friest, who is USDA’s coordinator for Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development Inc. in Postville. “But instead of waiting for agriculture to change, we all felt strongly that we wanted to shape our own agriculture future in the region.”

A boost from planning
Group members also shared their frustrations with Leopold Center Marketing and Food Systems Initiative leader Rich Pirog, who suggested that they submit a second project proposal to RFSWG to conduct a series of strategic planning sessions. The sessions included 35 diverse stakeholders spanning the entire food chain, including commodity producers, community supported agriculture growers, lenders, market gardeners and orchard owners, extension agents, retailers, independent meat processors and fund raisers from a three-county region.

Eric Nordschow, a cattle producer, tree farmer, and owner of Windridge Implements in Decorah, said an important part of the effort was to include all types of producers, along with the direct-market farmers and organic growers.
“We listened to everyone’s ideas,” he said. “People felt they could be part of the process, and that it was a professional process.”

Ranum said diverse views energized the group, too. Each member brought a different strength, such as knowledge about business and finance.

“We have some real champions on this team and a sense of community, but we don’t always come together to talk about it,” she said. “There really is a culture of entrepreneurism and we need a place for these people to explore opportunities.”

A strategic plan was reviewed by more than 80 people in public meetings last spring. The plan has three general goals to:

The coalition was formed in April 2006, and expanded in May 2006 to include Clayton and Fayette counties because of their similar topographies. The group is now in the process of collecting information from institutions, health care facilities, schools and businesses as well as households in the region. Other assessments are planned to determine what food is currently produced in the area, its economic impact and other baseline data.

Another RFSWG grant of $20,000 is being used for several of the planned assessments. The coalition also has received grants from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation ($3,500), local county Cattlemen’s associations ($3,500), the Community Vitality Center ($2,000), and Buy Fresh Buy Local ($1,000).

The coalition is awaiting news about its biggest potential source of support: a $250,000, two-year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The coalition is among 11 organizations nationwide competing for six grants as part of the foundation’s new Food and Fitness Initiative. The project proposal includes work with schools, colleges, health departments, local governments, farmers markets, health care facilities and many other partners.

Ranum said she has been amazed at the new partnerships and support the coalition has cultivated.

“We weren’t writing these strategic plans to go after grants,” she said. “Our group met because we wanted to solve our own problems. The Leopold Center [through RFSWG] was the first outside money we received and that really invigorated us because it meant someone else thought that what we were doing was worthwhile.”

The coalition of nearly 40 members is co-chaired by Brenda Ranum, Winneshiek County Extension, and Larry Grimstad, a Decorah farmer and former bank president. Other organizations in the coalition are:

The Regional Food Systems Working Group will support local food systems efforts in two other parts of Iowa during 2007.

In southwest Iowa a group known as the Cultivators has been awarded a $20,000 RFSWG grant to build capacity and develop a strategic plan for a regional food system. The group includes Cass and the surrounding counties of Adair, Adams, Audubon, Montgomery, Pottawattamie and Shelby.

“We believe there are opportunities for new farmers in our region,” said Steve Olsen, Iowa State University Extension education director in Cass County who has raised strawberries for many years. “But it will take work and commitment.”

The group includes representatives from the Wallace Foundation for Rural Research and Development and the National Center for Appropriate Technology, both with offices in Lewis; Cass County Memorial Hospital; Harrisdale Homestead and the Global Horizons entrepreneurial development program.

RFSWG has awarded a $7,400 grant to the Southeast Iowa Local Food Network in Jefferson, Davis and Van Buren counties. The southeast Iowa project will focus many of its efforts in Fairfield but will include surrounding communities. The network includes representatives from Pathfinders RC&D, Fairfield Buy Fresh Buy Local, and Jefferson County Extension. The group plans to invite more organizations to its network, and develop a vision, strategic plan and action plan for the region. Like the southwest Iowa group, its efforts will start after an assistance plan is developed.

“Our support for these regional efforts is strategic,” explained RFSWG coordinator Rich Pirog, who also directs marketing research at the Leopold Center. “We wanted to invest in groups that are working in defined geographical areas to help them make a better case for local and state investment in regional food businesses and the groups that provide assistance to those businesses.”

Since 2003, RFSWG has conducted research and facilitated partnerships to increase investment and support of community-based, economically sustainable, and environmentally and socially responsible food enterprises. The group has awarded 13 other grants and assisted an organic dairy in southwest Iowa. With assistance from RFSWG, Woodbury County developed incentive policies for farmers to transition to organic production, the first such program in the nation.