Meet Kim, IFC Shopper Extraordinaire

Check out this shopper profile from IFC cheerleader, site helper, and expert shopper!

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Name/location:

Kim Jackson/Osceola 

 

Originally from:
Always Osceola 


What got you interested in the local foods movement:

I guess we started by getting a whole beef from my grandpa to fill our freezer each fall for a few years, and then, I was intrigued by the ‘eat local & know your farmer’ educational concept by the Farmer’s Markets (both in downtown Des Moines & then our local Clarke County Farmer’s market) and was soon a big fan but missed the product & thrill of the hunt in the off season until Shanen Ebersole introduced me to the IFC. Before all of this I never thought about all the extra ‘stuff’ in our food, never thought about our animals being given drugs to encourage growth or production, or chemicals on crops & the effects it all has on our bodies. Now I love knowing what I know about or foods.

 

How you heard about IFC:

Shanen Ebersole, Ebersole Cattle Company!!  We had become friends through my childcare business & she has been instrumental in educating me about eating local, being healthy, as well as actively monitoring what we expose ourselves to in general.  

 
What did you buy your first IFC order:

At first the website was overwhelming, so I put off joining until I was finally brave enough to attend a December open house at the MHM location & was instantly hooked.  Being able to know the producer, hear how the product was made/grown, & know that the money I spent was going to a family rather than a store, yea, sign me up. At that open house I think I bought jams to put in Christmas gifts, a pie for an upcoming family dinner and I think this is when I was introduced to the Huber Family’s awesome carrots. That seems like a really long time ago, when its really just been a lot of IFC orders ago.

 
What motivates you to keep buying:

I love seeing the IFC grow in producers as well as meeting new consumers.  There are always new products added, new families or farms or products to learn about and try.

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We heard that your daycare has the most local menu around:

The kids eat so much local & have no idea.  The milk, the yogurt (that we often freeze into yogurt-cicles), veggies, potatoes, cheese curds, chicken, butter, popcorn, cornmeal, apples. They have some favorite products, so when we run out & have to wait for distribution day by subbing in grocery store product, they comment on the difference & how they can’t wait for Coop day.

 
Being a participant on the Iowa Child & Adult Care Food Program that is run by USDA, I have to follow specific & sometimes frustrating guidelines when deciding on what to serve the children. When WW Homestead Dairy’s milk came to the IFC, I linked up the creamery’s information to my sponsor who sent it on up the chain to get approval. (Who then replied directly to me about how in favor of it she is.)
 
 All of our garden plants were either started by us from seed, Farmer’s market or IFC transplants this year. 

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How did you get involved in the Osceola location/help starting it:

When I started ordering I would space the orders out as my husband was picking them up on his way home from work, eventually, after a couple of years, I had eased him into picking up an order at almost every distribution.  This sometimes meant him waiting around after work for the site to open, or helping carry in product or leaving work early to get my order. Keep in mind he still isn’t entirely on board, so he suggested I see what I could do to get an Osceola site going. Shanen invited me to see what I could do about finding a location.  She then put me in contact with Pete & Cindy Woltz (Timber Ridge Cattle Company) who are located just south of Osceola so I would have a local board member for information, after a couple of failed attempts we unofficially put it on the back burner until Pete & Cindy offered to share their new retail space on the Osceola square.

 

How you see IFC and local foods movement growing in Osceola:

It is so exciting! We had 9 orders the first month & we continue to add members with orders at almost every distribution! Our local farmer’s market has also added some new producers to their Saturdays, so I think the local foods movement in southern Iowa is growing as a whole. 

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Please tell us some of your favorite IFC items:

 

Osceola pick up is on distribution Thursdays from 5-6:30p at 117 W Washington St.

 

Thank you, Kim! She is one of our most enthusiastic members and has put in countless efforts to make the Osceola site a reality!