Shopping cart still open (get your gooseberries, garlic scapes, lettuce, beef, chicken, eggs, garden transplants, etc!)

Shop until midnight on Sat., May 19th, with delivery on Thursday, May 24th. Please check us out! To shop go to http://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username and password, please send an email to info@iowafood.coop

Also, we depend on volunteer to help during distributions, so if you have some time this coming Wednesday afternoon or evening (the 23rd) or during the day on Thursday, please send an email to volunteer@iowafood.coop.

Product Updates:

Wagner Enterprises added $4 pint jars of fresh home-grown gooseberries to go along with a wide range of pies, cakes, cookies, and cheesecake.

The Berry Patch added peanut transplants (yes we can grow peanuts in Iowa) and they still have zucchini, fresh cut sweet basil, and parsley, chive, basil, blueberry, and raspberry plants available.

Wildwood Farms added 8 oz bags of red & green spring lettuce mix and 6″ potted strawberry transplants to go along with her salsa, granolas, baking mixes, and roasted nuts.

Raccoon Forks Farm and Sunrise both have garlic scapes still available (great chopped into salads or for pesto, grilling, or simply saute).

SalAmander Farms added fresh dill and a new tomato transplant variety (orange-1, a Russian heirloom with 4-6 oz. light orange fruit with rosy-orange interior).

Producer Updates:

The move by the Chupp family/Country Lighthouse Bakery to near Atlantic, IA, has been delayed, so Mabel’s offering her baked goods again (try her Cappuccino Chip Muffins) along with fresh rhubarb from her garden (or get some already made in her fresh rhubarb crisp).

Anna’s Place hasn’t been able to offer chicken for quite some time because of the loss of the processing plant in Kimballton, but Ron Bartelt came back this week with three sizes of whole chicken, plus half, cut-up, hindquarters, and breast meat with wings attached.

Iowa both leads the nation in hog production and contaminated water. We have some of the worst levels of bacteria, nitrogen, and phosphorous pollution. Between 1992 and 2004, there were more than 450 manure spills from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in Iowa. These spills have killed millions of fish and have jeopardized public health by contaminating surface and ground drinking water. There is also ample evidence of the destructive social and economic impacts on rural communities and family farms from CAFOs.

Pigs in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)

I don’t know much about Brelsford Pork other than they build large hog confinements and the owner does not live on the facility. Brelsford Pork may be the exception to the commonly held perception of corporate farms. Maybe they are good stewards of the land and are able to control odor. Maybe they build a 10000 head facility and fill it half full to reduce crowding. Maybe they provide cheap food to people who otherwise would go hungry. I don’t know much about Belsford or their practices.

What I do know is that corporate farms exist because they take advantage of economies of scale and, it seems to me, are driven by a passion for profits. Environmental stewardship is too often treated as merely a cost of production. Most local producers like Small Potatoes, on the other hand, appear to be driven by a passion for environmental stewardship where profits, unfortunately, are a cost of production.

In the livestock business economies of scale are generally achieved by spreading costs over larger and larger livestock outputs (i.e. more animals units produced per square foot/man hours/month). Accomplishing these increased outputs can sometimes lead to negative environmental impacts like the ones described by Rick. And sometimes accomplishing these increased outputs can lead to another type of environmental impact… the loss of local producers!

We also learned a few days ago that a fellow local producer, Iowa Farm Families, is closing it’s doors. Iowa Farm Families produces phenomenal hormone free, gluten free, and antibiotic free pork products.

We are a small group of Iowa farm families determined to remain independent pork producers. We are dedicated to producing the best pork you can buy. The owners of our company have combined their talents to naturally select animals that consistently have ideal meat PH values and instramuscular fat levels. The result is pork that is consistently tender, with more internal marbling and moisture than commodity pork.

Little piggies on a family farm.

According to a spokesperson, Iowa Farm Families’ can no longer compete in today’s economy. Once supported by 47 pork producing farm families, Iowa Farm Families now struggles to provide its quality pork product from 4 pork producing farm families. Is it coincidence that the downward trend of Iowa pork producing farm families is inversely proportional to the increasing trend of CAFO’s?

Just as we must all do our part to preserve fragile environment, we must all do our part to keep our fragial local farms alive. Do your part by supporting our markets and cooperatives that offer local products.

For more information on the Small Potatoes Farm “Call to Action” initiative, contact farmer Stacy Hartmann at 515-677-2438. As for Iowa Farm Families, we may be too late. But next time you have the opportunity to buy quality local pork… don’t complain about the price!

The shopping cart is open!

Shop until midnight on Sat., May 19th, with delivery on Thursday, May 24th. Choose from 977 different products from over 40 producers (see below updates from producers). Good food from good farmers – please check us out! To shop go to http://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username and password, please send an email to info@iowafood.coop  

Product Updates:

Crooked Gap Farm replenished their pork inventories from their heritage-breed herd, so they’ve got ground pork, two kinds of breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, bratwurst patties and links, sliced ham, and shoulder roast.

Sunrise added one and five pound sizes of certified organic garlic scapes (“delicious and tender, ready for pesto, grilling, saute, garlic butter”), plus a cherry tomato tranplant (“meaty, very sweet, early with prolific yields”).

SalAmander Farms added four new varieties of heirloom vegetable transplants (#3037 through #3040), bringing their total to 34 different kinds of transplants. They’ve also got asparagus and rhubard listed.

Audubon County Family Farms added rendered lard and pork dog bones.

Early Morning Harvest added 2.5 pound bags of rye flour to go along with their ground wheat and corn products.

Producer Updates:

Iowa Farm Families let us know last Friday they are going out of business. We are sorry to see them go. They’ve been members since our launch in October of 2008, but the downturn in the economy has finally taken its toll. We’ve still got plenty of pork listed (see product update info to the left), but their products will be missed.

Country Harvest is a new producer member from near Bloomfield with 13 different types of jam made with fruits from their farm listed this month.

The Cory’s have changed their name to Cory Family Farm, so you won’t find them in the same place in the alphabetized list of our producers.

Wildwood Farms is back (they are selling every other cycle so they have more gardening time), and they’ve added strawberry transplants and greens (Asian Stir-Fry Mix and Mesclun Mix) to go along with their baking and soup mixes, granola bars, and roasted nuts.

LaVentosa Ranch is back as well, and they’ve added grassfed beef patties, beef sticks, dried beef, and beef jerky.

Note: We are a bit short on volunteer help for the different parts of what happens Thursday (9am-noon producer check-in, 12:30-3 pm mid-day sort, and 4-7 consumer pick-up), so if you have time and can help (even for an hour or two), send an email volunteer@iowafood.coop.

Shopping cart still open!

Shop until midnight on Sat., April 28th, with delivery on Thursday, May 3rd. Please check us out! To shop go to http://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username and password, please send an email to info@iowafood.coop

Product Updates:

The Iowa Food Cooperative added 16×20 limited-edition signed and numbered prints (product #3020) that were created as a fundraiser by IFC member Rick Vonholdt. Because of the age of the materials and press used by Rick, each print is unique.

Twin Girls Garden is back with this message: Both rhubarb and dandelions are in season, so we are making our Rhubarb Butter and Dandelion Jelly. Both are an excellent tasting of all spring in Iowa has to offer. We also are listing our Jalapeno Jam, Chocolate Cherry Jelly, and Chocolate Raspberry Jelly.

Valley View Poultry has started to process chickens again; they’ve listed boneless skinless breasts, leg quarters, thighs, and wings.

Iowa Heritage Foods got their egg handlers license, so they’ve added eggs as well for the first time ever.

Foxhollow Farm added eggs in recycled plastic cartons.

Meet Lisa Bean:

Lisa Bean has stepped forward to volunteer to serve as our Distribution Coordinator.  This job is crucial because nearly 2,000 products are delivered on a typical distribution day. Making sure they are handle appropriately and get to the people who ordered them are big tasks.

Recruiting plenty of volunteer help is another big part of the job (and we are always looking for more people willing to help; just send an email to volunteer@iowafood.coop to sign up).

Lisa joined the IFC in early 2010. She’s been a regular distribution volunteer, so she knows about the work involved in our distribution activities.  She grew up in Manhattan, went to Duke for her undergraduate degree (botany and education), and taught high school for five years in West Virginia. She got a master’s in horticulture from West Virginia University before coming to Iowa with her family. She is married with four children and lives on an acreage west of Waukee.

Lisa cares deeply about the environment and small farmers, which are key motivations behind her involvement in the IFC. She’s also a joy to be around. Please welcome her aboard – lbean1006@gmail.com.

The shopping cart is now open!

Shop until midnight on Sat., April 28th, with delivery on Thursday, May 3rd. Choose from over 900 different products from over 40 different producers (see below for updates from producers). Lots and lots of transplants for your home gardening dreams, plus fresh rhubarb. Please check us out!

To shop go to http://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username and password, please send an email to info@iowafood.coop

Product Updates:

Two Rivers Honey: I’m about out of my last year’s honey, and this year’s crop isn’t quite ready. The bees are getting some comb filled, but nothing is really quite full and nothing is capped. Therefore, I’ve removed our honey. Sorry. Hopefully they’ll get some capped soon!

The Berry Patch: We’ve updated by adding strawberry hanging baskets, plus more blueberry plant varieties (Rubel is an older type that is very high in anti-oxidants and flavor). We’ve also added zucchini and swiss chard.

SalAmander Farms: My updates are done: in addition to the herb and heirloom veggie transplants I had already listed, I’ve added a new tomato variety (#2954) and a new eggplant variety (#2955).

The Homestead: We added 4″ pots and 4-packs of a wide variety of Certified Naturally Grown tomato and pepper transplants, and we’ve also got a variety of veggie transplants for sale (and some butternut winter squash that we managed to keep since last fall’s harvest).

Wagner Enterprises: We’ve added a couple of sizes of cheesecake – half and quarter pans. They went over really well at the open house, so we thought we give them a try online.

Producer Updates:

From Mabel Chupp with Country Lighthouse Bakery: We are moving to south of Atlantic, IA, so this will be my last cycle. All I’m listing is our fresh rhubarb. It has been wonderful to be part of the coop. Thanks to everyone.

From Lorna Martin and Wildwood Farms: I have unlisted myself for this cycle.  This spring and summer I will be participating in only the second ordering cycle each month, so I will have more time to spend on my garden, farmer’s markets and with my daughter.

From Pam at Krieger Greenhouses: We have updated our product listing to none available for the next few cycles. The next couple months are our busy season.

From Carrie Meyer at LaVentosa Ranch: We’ll be taking this cycle off because the first farmers market of the season will be on the following Saturday. The first one is always a challenge, so we need to be focused on getting ready.

We remain short on volunteer help for the different parts of what happens Thursday (morning producer check-in, mid-day sort, and 4-7 consumer pick-up), so if you have time and can help (even for an hour or two), send an email volunteer@iowafood.coop.

Also, don’t forget our Spring Open House and Plant Sale this coming Saturday (April 14) from 9:30 am to noon at our Merle Hay Mall location.

  April 14,  9:30am to 12noon

 for our Spring Plant Sale and Open House! 

We will have lots

 of transplants for sale,

oodles of baked goods, honey and

many other terrific products for sale and to sample!

We are located in our new space in Merle Hay Mall,

on the south side,

just inside  the Kohls – Aeropostale entrance.

See you there!