Category: Events

Food For Change Free Film Screenings

What kind of food system do you want?

“This movie made me believe we can do anything.”

Next week, see the film. Free. Two locations.

Food For Change is a documentary film focusing on food co-ops as a force for dynamic social and economic change in American culture. Let’s come together and rebuild our regional food system.

All are welcome at the film screenings. Bring your friends for an evening of provoking film + thoughtful discussion.

IFC’s Thursday Farmers’ Market

Please join us EVERY Thursday from 4-6p for our Summer Farmers’ Market Series!

 

Every week you’ll find a variety of your favorite IFC vendors, offering fresh produce, grassfed meats, pastured poultry + pork, farm-fresh eggs, local raw honey, baked goods, and more! Our market will feature products that are 100% Iowa-grown, made + raised–come meet your farmer and buy the freshest available. All are welcome. You do not have to be a member to attend or shop! WIC/FMNP checks accepted here.

 

SPECIAL JULY 4TH WEEK MARKET: Market will be held TUESDAY, July 3rd, same time (4-6p). Stock up before the holiday!

Click here to invite your friends on Facebook

The IFC Presents: Summer Farmers’ Market Series!

 

Please join us every other Thursday (the weeks ‘off’ from distribution) for our Summer Farmers’ Market Series! Every other week you’ll find a variety of your favorite IFC vendors, offering fresh produce, grassfed meats, pastured poultry + pork, farm-fresh eggs, local raw honey, baked goods, and more! Our market will feature products that are 100% Iowa-grown + raised–come meet your farmer and buy the freshest available. All are welcome. You do not have to be a member to attend or shop!

 

We look forward to seeing you at our Franklin space (4944 Franklin Ave.) on the following dates, from 4:30-6:30p.

 

  • June 15th + 29th
  • July 13th + 27th
  • August 10th + 24th
  • Sept. 7th + 21st

Save the Date: Annual Meeting and Potluck Cooking Contest

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Save the date for the annual Iowa Food Cooperative Member Annual Meeting AND Potluck Cooking Contest!

When: Saturday, December 3, Time 4:30-8:00 PM
Where: Grace United Methodist Church, 3700 Cottage Grove, Des Moines

NEW THIS YEAR, we are hosting a cooking contest. Start thinking about what dish you would like to make for a chance to win in one of the following categories.

Most Iowa Ingredients
Crowd Favorite

Keep checking back at this post for more information or RSVP on Facebook!

A Message From Our President

Hi Everyone,

Wow – what a great year the Iowa Food Coop is having! Our membership is thriving, enabled by our amazing volunteers and our dedicated staff. Producers continue to keep our mouths and tummies happy with their amazing food, and consumer members remain committed to our ongoing success. Thank you for whatever role you play in this wonderful organization.
There are so many things that I want to share with you – ideas that our energetic staff, board members, and other volunteers have for how we can keep growing the IFC so that we can get all that we need to eat in one place, and producer members can provide food in a sustainable way – environmentally, socially, and financially. Instead of writing a novel here – I would like to invite you to attend our annual meeting! We are working to make it a great event where we can talk about the IFC today and in the future, sharing our ideas with you and collecting your input for how to shape the IFC. And of course there is the potluck — and if you’ve been to one of our potlucks, you know that the food will not disappoint. We are even planning a little competition this year – with prizes for dishes:
  • Using most number of IFC ingredients
  • With IFC ingredient best used in unusual way
  • Crowd Favorite

 

Please let us know if you’ll be able to join, and feel free to invite a friend! One of the best ways you can help the IFC succeed is to tell others about us – and this annual meeting would be a great way for someone to kick off a 6-month trial membership right before the holidays! (You can even give a trial membership as a gift – we won’t tell anyone that is free.) Bring a dish big enough to share, invite them along, and we’ll make sure they are thanking you for introducing them to the IFC.

Well, there are so many more things that I’d like to say – but need to go decide what’s for dinner (and what needs to go in my IFC basket this week!). Hope to see you on December 5th, if not before.

Always growing,
Tony

Leadership needed!

Interested in joining our board? This is a fun, challenging, and rewarding position that allows you to have a larger voice in the future of IFC. We have two spots for producer members and one for consumer members. Please let me (Tony Thompson) know if you are interested in applying (or if you have questions) by sending me an email or calling 515-367-0110.

 

Volunteers needed

If you think joining the board might be too much of a commitment right now, but would be willing to volunteer during our distribution cycles, contact Lisa Bean (lbean1006@gmail.com) or Mary Mathiasen (mkmathiasen@icloud.com) to find out about volunteer opportunities.

 

Driver needed

We are looking for a dependable person to drive the IFC van between distribution sites on alternate Thursday afternoons. This is a paid position. If you or someone you know could help out for a few hours by driving between our Franklin, West Des Moines, and Ankeny sites and loading / unloading products that are being delivered to those distribution sites, please contact Gary – 515-450-6812or gary@iowafood.coop.

 

Explorations in Culture and Food at Global Greens Farm

When I arrive at Global Greens Farm I walk up to the barn to find farm manager Zachary Couture washing produce with a group of enthusiastic, joyful women. Two of the women, Anastasia and Katie, discuss some beautiful tongue of fire fresh beans.

“You don’t even have to soak them,” they told me. “Just boil for 15 minutes and they’re ready to eat.”

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I’m immediately intrigued. My love of eating beans is equal to my hatred of soaking them. I never think to do it ahead and always have to use a quick soak method, which doesn’t always yield tasty results. These fresh beans sound easy to prepare and they’re beautiful to look at.

“Everyone eats beans,” says Zac, as we walk around the farm to see what other beans are out there. We find long beans, which hang like a beaded curtain over a doorway. There are also cranberry beans coming on, which I remember eating in my soups all winter.

Of course there are green beans as well, which Simon & Mariselina Bucumi of Simon’s Plant Collaboration are harvesting in preparation for the sale. Mariselina and Simon fled their homeland of Burundi in 1972 for the Congo and then lived in refugee camps in Tanzania. They continue their lifelong experience as farmers in Des Moines.

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Global Greens farmer Beuline Bucumi helps harvest green beans.

Register for the Global Greens Farm Field Day

It’s hard not to go to Global Greens Farm without learning something new or tasting something new and delicious. That’s why Iowa Food Coop members enjoy attending their annual Farm Field Day. Visit the farm and enjoy:

  • Cultural dances from Bhutan
  • Learning a few words and phrases in a new language
  • Trying new foods made by the farmers at our potluck
  • A farm scavenger hunt to learn about some of the more unique vegetables growing out at the farm
  • A raffle to win Global Greens Farmers’ Market coupons!

Event Details
August 4th from 5:30 – 7:30pm
4444 Fuller Rd. West Des Moines, 50265

It’s a potluck meal – bring a dish to share!
LSI will provide drinks, utensils and dinnerware.

Register here for the field day!

March Cooking Class at the Des Moines Social Club

This spring Iowa Food Cooperative is hosting the first Locavore Cooking Class series at the Des Moines Social Club. The second class in the series was March 1 and was a fantastic time! We made a healthier Fettuccine Alfredo with noodles from Zaza’s Pastas, greek yogurt from Country View Dairy, bread from Daily Bread Bakery, and chicken breast from Holdeman Poultry. Be sure to join in the fun by registering for our next class on April 5 where we’ll make sausages from Lucky George Farm, potatoes from Grimm Family Farm, and have wonderful Gouda from Frisian Farms.

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How the Class Works

Once everyone arrived in class we shared wine and introduced ourselves. Amanda Mae Phillips, Des Moines Social Club’s Culinary Director, took a few moments to teach us all about the five basic tastes: sweet, savory, sour, bitter, and umami. In every meal we cook at our Locavore classes we shoot to have every taste represented, because it leads you to feel fuller and more satisfied at the end of the meal. We divided into teams of 2-3 people to tackle the menu Amanda created for our class. Throughout the class Amanda was available for help, but we learned as much cooking with each other as we did from her!

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Tomato Basil Toast with Garlic Rub
We used the tomato herb bread from Daily Bread Bakery, which Ash had to admit she ordered kind of selfishly. We rubbed it with butter and garlic and it made for wonderful toast!

Vegetables with Herbs and Spices
The Des Moines Social Club provided carrots and green beans for the class and we used fresh herbs from their aquaponic display with spices for Allspice to make them even more delicious!

Fettuccine with Chicken
The star of the show was Zaza’s Pastas Fettuccine with herbed chicken breast from Holdeman Poultry. This was a big hit with everyone! It was easy to say it was the best chicken breast all of us had ever had and trying multiple kinds of pasta from Zaza’s was a real treat.

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What Did People Say?

Once the meal was complete we sat as a group to enjoy our food and talk about why eating local is so important. It was great to have Bob Howard from Country View Dairy present, as well as IFC members Inger Lamb and Rita Pray. A few students from the first class also joined us. We all agreed that even if it wasn’t good for our environment and community, eating local is still worthwhile because the food tastes so good!

This “casual but gently overseen” framework led to lots of fun conversation, wine and opportunity to learn cooking tips and locavore lore from Amanda and other attendees.  When we were done cooking the dishes were laid out buffet style so we could load our plates and sit down to enjoy the results of our efforts.  We chose from chicken breasts in a Greek yogurt –based “cream” sauce, cinnamon carrots, balsamic green beans, vinaigrette-tossed salad, several pasta flavors and garlic bread.  All were delicious and made all the better for having been part of our very recent cooking party.

It was a great opportunity to have a nice meal while meeting other people interested in cooking with local foods.  Many kudos to Ash and her team  –  I’ll be at the next event in this series, on April 5!

-Inger Lamb, IFC member and class attendee

That was a lot of fun last night. And what a great meal they all ended up putting together. Fun to be around so many “Locavores”

-Bob Howard, Country View Dairy producer and class attendee

As local food lovers it was refreshing to enjoy an amazing meal without having to do all the work, pick up a few new tricks, and get to take home leftovers. Included in the course fee was culinary instruction from DMSC’s Culinary Director, wine, a delicious meal, leftovers to take home, and a great selection of yogurt from Country View Dairy!

Register for April’s Class Here!

 

Locavore Cooking Class at the Des Moines Social Club

This spring Iowa Food Cooperative is hosting the first Locavore Cooking Class series at the Des Moines Social Club. The first class in the series was January 5 and was a fantastic time! The theme was cooking with storage vegetables and featured frozen corn and apples from Iowa Choice Harvest, fresh greens and sweet potatoes from Lee’s Greens, and carrots from Huber Family Farm. Be sure to join in the fun by registering for our next class on February 2 where we’ll make Fettuccine Alfredo using Country View Dairy yogurt, Zaza’s Pastas, and Pickle Creek Herbal Garlic!

Local Food Cooking Classes

How the Class Works

Once everyone arrived in class we shared a champagne toast and introduced ourselves. Amanda Mae Phillips, Des Moines Social Club’s Culinary Director, said every time you cook it’s a celebration. We agree, especially if you’re cooking with fresh local ingredients! We divided into teams of 2-3 people to tackle the menu Amanda created for our class. Throughout the class Amanda was available for help, but we learned as much cooking with each other as we did from her!

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Salad with Corn-Apple Topping
One team created a warm topping for our salad mix from Lee’s Greens by heating the frozen sweet corn and apples from Iowa Choice Harvest and adding in pomelo, champagne, and seasoning for extra flavor.

Sweet Potato Wedges
We sliced our sweet potatoes from Lee’s Greens and coated them thoroughly with olive oil and spices from AllSpice. Then we grilled them until they were crispy but soft.

Carrot Gratin
The star of the show was Carrots Au Gratin made with Huber Family Farm Bolero carrots, WW Homestead Dairy Butter, and La Quercia pancetta. This was rich, creamy, and delicious!

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What Did People Say?

Once the meal was complete we sat as a group to enjoy our food and talk about why eating local is so important. We all agreed that even if it wasn’t good for our environment and community, eating local is still worthwhile because the food tastes so good!

It was so fun learning new ways to cook with local food! I love that the IFC is doing this and definitely plan to attend future classes.

-Shelene Billups, IFC member and class attendee

This class was both entertaining *and* educational! I learned how to turn locally sourced ingredients to fancy-pants dishes that could impress friends and family alike! The best part was sitting around with my classmates, enjoying the delicious foods we prepared and extolling the virtues of local veggies and the perfect egg sandwich. I will definitely be attending future classes.

-Liz Johnson, class attendee

As local food lovers it was refreshing to enjoy an amazing meal without having to do all the work, pick up a few new tricks, and get to take home leftovers. Included in the course fee was culinary instruction from DMSC’s Culinary Director, champagne, a delicious meal, leftovers to take home, and a bag of salad greens from Lee’s Greens!

Register for February’s Class Here!

National Co-op Month Promotion!

October is National Co-op Month and we want to thank our members! Thanks to all of the great #iowavores that support the Iowa Food Coop, we have been able to work with more than 150 producers since 2008 and have an amazing 1,500+ products available online. We hope you continue to help us expand our reach!

Today we are starting a promotion that will run through November 30th. It’s pretty simple, the IFC member who refers the most new members to Iowa Food Coop will receive a $25 gift card. We will announce the winner at our Annual Meeting on December 5th. 

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Three Easy Ways You Can Help IFC Find New Members:

  1. Share our business cards. If you came to distribution on October 8th you should have received a stack of business cards in an envelope. Please share these cards with your friends, family, coworkers, yoga buddies, and neighbors!
  2. Share our Facebook posts. The more people who like and share our Facebook posts, the more people see them! Even by simply “liking” one of our posts on Facebook you’re helping us spread the word. Not a fan on Facebook yet? Join here.
  3. Use the #iowafoodcoop and #iowavore hashtags on social media to let everyone know you support Iowa producers! We LOVE seeing what you’re making and buying on Instagram and Facebook, and we know your friends are drooling over your tasty food pics too!

 

With your help we know we can grow IFC into an even bigger community that supports more Iowa producers and gets more healthy, local food onto Iowa tables. Think about it this way, if every member brought us one new member we could potentially double our sales! And since we are cooperatively owned and not a corporate run grocery chain that growth goes directly back to our mission, which is to facilitate farmer-consumer relationships and build our farms and communities through web-based marketing of primarily Iowa products.

So really, thanks so much to every single one of you who has help Iowa Food Coop get to the point we are today. We couldn’t do it without you.

Thanks for being#IOWAVORE

Iowa Food Coop Spring Open House and Transplant Sale!

Ben Saunders (Wabi Sabi Farm) at the 2012 IFC Spring Transplant Sale

Come to the IFC Spring Open House and Heirloom Transplant Sale!

Who: 13 different IFC producers

When:  9:30 am-noon, Sat. April 27

Where:  Merle Hay Mall (inside south entrance near Younkers)

What: Heirloom tomatoes, peppers, onions, cabbage, leeks, broccoli, brussel sprouts, swiss chard, herbs (basil, mint, thyme, oregano, sage, parsley, rosemary, lavender, chives) plus baked goods, jams/jellies, meats, olive oils, sorghum syrup, soaps and much more!