Strategies to Stabilize Locally Grown Produce for Year Round Sales: A Feasibility Study

Through expert analysis, it was determined that the most acceptable and efficient method to stabilize locally grown products was by freezing. Pathogen reduction was determined for steps in the freezing process and found to be sufficient to provide a safe product. Work done in the second year of this project evaluated the minimum unit operations required to operate a portable on-farm processing unit. The feasibility of such a unit is remote. Several factors play into this determination: energy costs associated with cooling, blanching, and freezing unit operations; availability of enough acreage or product to sustain an operating unit in any one county; and overall cost to build customized equipment was very high. The cost to build the system including energy generation was approximately $1.4 to $1.8 million dollars. Further work should show that a static building with receiving coolers, frozen storage, and packaging equipment will be a more sustainable operation.

Contact:
Sam Beattie
Food Science 2312
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-3963
beatties@iastate.edu
515-294-3357