Tag: Iowa

6 Reasons to Eat Local in 2017

2017 is finally here! At Iowa Food Cooperative, we feel strongly there’s one resolution we should all commit to keeping: Eating local. Luckily, eating local is a great resolution to keep because it supports so many of things we want in our lives. Things like being healthier, being part of a community, and trying new things. Here are six reasons why you should eat local in 2017.

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1. Healthier, fresher food. Most of us start the new year with a goal of being healthier. We start going to the gym more, eat more salad and fewer chips, and pull out that yoga mat that was collecting dust in the corner of our living room. One way to stay on track with your healthy eating goals is to buy more fresh, local produce. You’ll find the food is more flavorful and lasts longer, which makes eating healthier more joyful. It tastes fresher because it is fresher. The salad mix you ordered was picked the day before you picked it up and traveled fifty miles instead of 1,500 miles.

2. Try something new! Maybe you said you’d try something new every week or every day in 2016. Maybe you have a Pinterest board full of bucket list items. If you’re adventurous you’ll love eating local and you’ll really love shopping at IFC. Our producers are always adding unique items like aronia berry brats, cardoon, and lard. Challenge yourself by ordering something you’ve never tried during every cycle. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite food!

3. A greater connection with your environment. By eating local food you’ll automatically learn about when foods are in season. You’ll find meals that represent winter to you, like hearty soups with lots of root vegetables, and meals that represent summer to you, like sweet corn and BLT’s. You will know that goats produce milk after they give birth, that you can eat the beet greens as well as the roots, and if you pay attention to what your local farmers are sharing on Facebook you might learn about farming too. Maybe you’ll start growing a few things yourself… or maybe you’ll decide to leave that to the professionals.

4. Become part of something bigger than yourself. When you eat local you do so much more than “just” eat local. At IFC we’ve seen our members and producers become friends who exchange holiday cards and congratulate each other on weddings and babies. At our annual meeting each year our members and producers sit together to share food and talk about the challenges and triumphs of farming, the environment, health, and the meaning of life. Okay, maybe not the meaning of life, but we wouldn’t put it past our members. By eating local you’re supporting a different kind of community that cares for each other.

5. Support Iowa’s economy. You love shopping in the East Village, bought your bike from the Des Moines Bike Collective, and prefer local restaurants to chains. You’re proud to be from Iowa and have the Iowa Native or Transplant sticker on your bumper to prove it. According to the 3/50 Project, for every $100 you spend locally $68 of that comes back to your community in the way of taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. When you shop at a national chain, only $43 comes back. And shifting just 5% of your out-of-area spending to support local produces and businesses would have a $1 billion impact on Greater Des Moines.

6. Local food preserves Iowa farmland and makes Iowa a more beautiful place to live. If you’ve ever visited one of our producer’s farms, or any diversified farm, you know they are beautiful places. Imagine if the drive across Iowa had more diversified farms raising vegetables, meat, dairy, and flowers, for miles and miles. It would be magical, but those farms and barns won’t be there for future generations if we don’t support them today.

6 Reasons to Eat Local in 2016

The New Year is well underway and our resolutions are going strong or forgotten. At Iowa Food Coop, we feel strongly there’s one resolution we should all commit to keeping: Eating local. Luckily, eating local is a great resolution to keep because it supports so many of things we want in our lives. Things like being healthier, being part of a community, and trying new things. Here are six reasons why you should eat local in 2016.

Copy of 3 Easy WaysYou Can HelpIFC Find NewMembers!(4)

1. Healthier, fresher food. Most of us start the new year with a goal of being healthier. We start going to the gym more, eat more salad and fewer chips, and pull out that yoga mat that was collecting dust in the corner of our living room. One way to stay on track with your healthy eating goals is to buy more fresh, local produce. You’ll find the food is more flavorful and lasts longer, which makes eating healthier more joyful. It tastes fresher because it is fresher. The salad mix you ordered was picked the day before you picked it up and traveled fifty miles instead of 1,500 miles.

2. Try something new! Maybe you said you’d try something new every week or every day in 2016. Maybe you have a Pinterest board full of bucket list items. If you’re adventurous you’ll love eating local and you’ll really love shopping at IFC. Our producers are always adding unique items like aronia berry brats, cardoon, and lard. Challenge yourself by ordering something you’ve never tried during every cycle. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite food!

3. A greater connection with your environment. By eating local food you’ll automatically learn about when foods are in season. You’ll find meals that represent winter to you, like hearty soups with lots of root vegetables, and meals that represent summer to you, like sweet corn and BLT’s. You will know that goats produce milk after they give birth, that you can eat the beet greens as well as the roots, and if you pay attention to what your local farmers are sharing on Facebook you might learn about farming too. Maybe you’ll start growing a few things yourself… or maybe you’ll decide to leave that to the professionals.

4. Become part of something bigger than yourself. When you eat local you do so much more than “just” eat local. At IFC we’ve seen our members and producers become friends who exchange holiday cards and congratulate each other on weddings and babies. At our annual meeting each year our members and producers sit together to share food and talk about the challenges and triumphs of farming, the environment, health, and the meaning of life. Okay, maybe not the meaning of life, but we wouldn’t put it past our members. By eating local you’re supporting a different kind of community that cares for each other.

5. Support Iowa’s economy. You love shopping in the East Village, bought your bike from the Des Moines Bike Collective, and prefer local restaurants to chains. You’re proud to be from Iowa and have the Iowa Native or Transplant sticker on your bumper to prove it. According to the 3/50 Project, for every $100 you spend locally $68 of that comes back to your community in the way of taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. When you shop at a national chain, only $43 comes back. And shifting just 5% of your out-of-area spending to support local produces and businesses would have a $1 billion impact on Greater Des Moines.

6. Local food preserves Iowa farmland and makes Iowa a more beautiful place to live. If you’ve ever visited one of our producer’s farms, or any diversified farm, you know they are beautiful places. Imagine if the drive across Iowa had more diversified farms raising vegetables, meat, dairy, and flowers, for miles and miles. It would be magical, but those farms and barns won’t be there for future generations if we don’t support them today.

What Is Iowa Food Coop?

If this is your first time visiting our website you might be wondering, what is Iowa Food Coop?

To put it simply: Iowa Food Coop is an online ordering system for Iowa produced food. Our members have access to over 1,500 Iowa produced products, which they order on a bi-weekly schedule.

There are a lot of special things about Iowa Food Coop besides our selection of Iowa produced products. Here are just a few more things that set us apart.

Order Exactly What You Want From Home
Logon to iowafood.coop/shop and browse our selection. You can sort by producers or by item. You’ll find that we sell all of the staple items you need like bread, eggs, milk, cream, and meat. We also sell specialty items like Iowa produced maple syrup, soap, hummus, kombucha, dog treats, baby food, and the list goes on and on. Our producers are expected to share their growing practices and ingredients with you so you know exactly what is in the food you’re eating.

 

Visit our producer profiles and pick one out. You can read about their business and practices, and if they currently have items for sale you can read more about their individual products.

We Don’t Have Food Waste
We’re not a store and we don’t have inventory. When our consumer members place an order online they are ordering directly from the producer. When the cart closes the producer gets a list of everything that was ordered that cycle and brings it to our Des Moines location the day before or morning of distribution. Since we only receive what was ordered we don’t have excess food to throw away.

85% of the Money You Spend Goes to Our Farmer-Owners
When you shop at Iowa Food Coop you are not supporting corporate interests. The money you spend goes directly into the pockets of our producers and into making IFC a great alternative to the conventional food system. You can feel great about the money you spend at IFC.

Shop Less Often and Eat Healthier
Several IFC members buy at least half of the food they eat through us. By ordering on IFC’s bi-weekly schedule they cut their trips to the grocery store down significantly and know more about where their food comes from. No longer tempted by grocery aisles full of cookies and chips, they often find that their diets improve dramatically. And this is not a fad diet. An #iowavore diet (mostly local, Iowa food diet) is a way of eating that not only makes the consumer healthier, but helps local farmers and our local economy.

 

We Sell Iowa Grown Food Year Round
Iowa Food Coop is a year-round option for eating local. Just because the farmer’s market season has ended or your CSA is done doesn’t mean you have to stop eating local. Purchase meat, greens, milk, vegetables and more through IFC all winter long.

Step One: Check to see if the cart is open.

You’ll notice in the left sidebar of this site we list our Upcoming Order Cycles. Check here to see when the cart opens or closes. You can also check our Facebook Events page and subscribe to be notified of upcoming order cycles. When you become a member at this page you’ll be signed up for our cart-is-open reminder emails. Your first six months as a member are free, which gives you a chance to fall in love with IFC!

Step Two: If the cart is open, fill up that basket!

Go to iowafood.coop/shop and login (you’ll get your login information when you become a member in Step 1). On the member panel page you’ll see your “Basket Status.” Click open a shopping basket. Select your delivery type and pick-up location. Once you’re in, click shopping and browse our list of products by category, producer, or search for the item you want!

Step Three: Pick-up the following Thursday!

Whatever is in your cart on Sunday night is ordered. You can set up payment online or you can pay when you come to pick-up on Thursday. Here’s a list of our convenient pick-up locations. Find the location closest to you and become a regular at Thursday pick-ups!

Step Four: Enjoy food and share with us on social media

We love to see what are members are eating and enjoying. Share your photos with us on Facebook and Instagram using the #iowafoodcoop hashtags.

So what are you waiting for? Click to join!

President’s Blog – The Joy of Shopping!

By Pete Woltz, IFC Board President

A big THANKS to all who shopped and provided product at the Coop in January.  It appears we are on track, once again, to meet our projections!  Sometimes I ask myself, how is this modest success possible in this world of ever increasing competition for our member’s food dollar?

Here is why we shop.  Each weekday morning my wife, Cindy, and I wake up to news reports describing chaos in the world.  We hear warnings, criticisms, and insults from local news shows, CNN, MSNBC , and the like.  On Saturday mornings, however, we wake up to a different view of the world.  We watch Bob Ross reruns of “The Joy of Painting” on PBS.

Bob passed away in 1995 but his unique style of painting and “therapy for the weary” lives on through reruns.   He describes the world he creates on canvas while he paints:

  • “You can do anything you want to do. This is your world”
  • “We don’t make mistakes, we just have happy accidents”
  • “You can put as many or as few as you want in your world”
  • “There’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend”
  • “Talk to the tree, make friends with it”
  • “Maybe in our world there lives a happy little tree over there”

 

Why is this relevant?  It is because “The Joy of Painting” reruns give Cindy and I the same sensation that we get from shopping at the Coop.  In this world of breaking news, convenience stores, and 140 word tweets, shopping the Coop is our food gathering therapy.  Shopping the Coop allows us to calmly plan our meals, on our own time, from the hundreds of listed Coop products.  We enjoy reading about the “happy worlds” of those who produced our meals.  In our world, this sure beats grabbing a quick meal from the deli! 

The Coop is “Slow Shopping” at its best.    What are your reasons for shopping the Coop?   

Now we all have the opportunity to share our “Coop” experience with more kindred souls in our community.   Kelly Tagtow, Lisa Bean,  Loulou Dickey, and Gary Huber have developed a program which offers free 90 day trial memberships to people belonging to selected clubs, businesses, or organizations.  We could use your assistance by helping us to identify qualifying groups then distributing our literature.   Help us spread “The Joy of Shopping”.  Comment on this blog or email Gary at gary@iowafood.coop with your ideas for Trial Membership groups.

IFC President’s Blog – Holy Rutabagas!

By Pete Woltz, IFC Board President

On behalf of the Board and all of the IFC producers, I would like to THANK everyone who purchased products during our December cycles.  Give yourselves a hearty round of applause.  Your coop exceeded its budgeted revenue by nearly 20% and realized one of the IFC’s best months ever!  

Contributing to the surge was a large listing of nearly 1100 products.   Producers, please take a bow for providing a remarkably wide range of products for a winter month.   In addition to our staple of delicious baked goods, home grown meats, eggs, and cheese, we continued to see fall favorites like Swiss chard, kale, spinach, potatoes, carrots, apples, and rutabagas.   New products included pasta and artisan bacon.  Really, IFC producers are the greatest! 

Board News

The Board met December 17th and was introduced to our new IFC home page.  Slideshow graphics and bulleted features are designed to more clearly demonstrate the IFC experience to first time visitors.  This is important because Kelly Tagtow and the Marketing committee are launching a ‘Trial Membership’ campaign in select locations such as health clubs, restaurants, and churches.  We anticipate many new visitors to our site in the near future.

Keep an eye on the new products in the upcoming months.  The Producers committee chairwoman, Shanen Ebersole, is aggressively reaching out to area producers offering unique products.  Is there a product you would like to see listed?  Let us know at info@iowafood.coop.

The one thing we all have in common as members of the IFC is a passion for food.   We love to eat the area’s best locally grown foods and we love to COOK the area’s best locally grown foods.   It only stands to reason, then, that among our ranks are some really good chefs.  Lisa Bean is on a crusade, as chairwoman of the Consumers committee, to expose our membership’s culinary expertise in the form of a Chef’s Blog.  Do you have a favorite recipe?   Let us know at info@iowafood.coop.

What would a first board meeting be without a group picture?

From left to right are Lisa Bean, Carrie Cook, Dan Beougher, Shanen Ebersole, Pete Woltz and,  Joe Monahan.  Not shown are Kelly Tagtow and Carrie Williams

The new board officers include myself as President, Shanen Ebersole as VP of Producers, Lisa Bean as VP of Consumers, Carrie Cook as Treasurer, Carrie Williams as Secretary, and Kelly Tagtow as VP of Marketing.

Shop the IFC!

Let’s go for another record month in January.  Treat yourself to the best local food on the planet.  The cart is open.

Pete Woltz

President

From Iowa With Love

From Iowa with Love

By Rita Pray

 

Being of the age when I need to start getting rid of clutter instead of collecting more, I am inclined to give gifts that are consumable rather than “stuff” that sits around.  Hence, for the last couple of years, I have shopped the Co-op for holiday gifts.   I especially like to send all-Iowa gifts to my family that is flung all across the country—a sort of “look what you could have if you lived here” reminder.

 

A recent blog posting on this website listed the wide variety of products that would make great holiday gifts.  Obviously, you have to consider things like mailing and timing of the gift-giving when purchasing food-related items.  I recently boxed several collections of items to send to out-of-state family—things that won’t be spoiled if they aren’t opened for a month.   I love that all of the items show the from-Iowa label.

 

My finds for a non-perishable, family-friendly, general-happiness gift box were as follows:

Salamander Farms Popcorn on the Cob ($2.00/2 ears)

Elements of Rejuvenation Soy Candle  ($7.50)

Fieldstone Farms Beeswax Candles ($6.50/2 3” pillars)

Two Rivers Honey Bear Sample Size ($2.00)

Wildwood Farms Spiced Cocoa Mix ($2.00)

Twin Girls Autumn Jam ($5.50)

Country Harvest Blueberry Jam ($5.00)

Timber Ridge Summer Sausage  ($6.00)

Heart of Iowa Soapworks Pot Scrubbie ($2.50)

Fieldstone Farms Honey Straws  ($1.25/5)

 

Approximate Dollar Value=$40.00;

Recipients’ Iowa-Product Induced Happiness=Priceless.

 

11/27/2012

IFC President’s Blog

Pete & Cindy Woltz

Pete and Cindy Woltz at the Farmer’s Market

Hi. Pete Woltz here with Timber Ridge Cattle Company. I want take this opportunity to thank the IFC board members for having the confidence in me to elect me as IFC President.  It is a great honor.

Part of what I want to do as your President is periodically write about important IFC topics.  I’ll start with a short story that is related to what our coop means to me.My sister-in-law’s family fled Cuba in the 60’s to take up residence here in the “land of the free”.  My sister in-law’s father, whose name was Pastor, soon began to miss the intimacy of his Cuban neighborhood.  To mitigate this emptiness, Pastor became a frequent visitor at his local Safeway where each day he was met with a smile and a “Hey Pastor!” greeting by the staff.  In his later years, Pastor’s daily visit to the Safeway was therapeutic to his loneliness as it served to replace the sense of “community” he so missed from his homeland.

I mention this topic because if we are to grow as a business, we must balance the importance of our community with sound financial decisions.  This balancing was clearly evident last week at the first IFC board meeting since electing five new board members at our annual meeting.

We started the meeting by having each of us describe what it meant to be an IFC member.  Overwhelmingly, they all agreed that we are more than a place to buy food; the coop represents a unique and rewarding community experience.  Just as for Pastor, the simple act of gathering food at the IFC opens an explosion of conversations, ideas, and relationships often missing from modern culture.

We went on from affirming the importance of our community to discuss how to grow sales, which have been flat for over a year.  The discussion focused on ways to better market our coop.  The enthusiasm and fresh ideas were invigorating, and the board is eager to undertake some new initiatives.  These include expanding our trial membership program, creating a chef’s blog with recipes and stories about our foods, and recruiting new producers with unique new products to expand and diversify our product selections.

The topic of adding new products led to a discussion of adjusting our standards on who can sell what products.  While pledging to maintain the integrity of our commitment to local products and producers, which we all agreed was a basic value of our community, the board agreed to consider granting variances in special situations to be able to offer popular products that have disappeared from our shopping cart.

We specifically addressed the lack of apples because of this year’s growing season.  The board agreed that in cases like this we would consider granting variances if 1) the variance was time limited and 2) the source of the product was identified. We’ve subsequently granted a variance to Iowa Orchard so they could sell apples between now and when next year’s crop arrives from an orchard they rent across the border near LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

I wanted to let you know about this change in our policies so you weren’t surprised.  We will continue to try to balance our commitment to the values that make us unique with the realities of running a sound business.  Indeed, we feel it can be done, and we believe this year has the potential to be a great one for the IFC.

What can you do?  Engage yourself in the most amazing, friendly, healthy community of local food gatherers in the “land of the free”.  Shop your IFC, tell your family and friends about us, and help with your time and talent!

Thanks for your time. Feel free to contact me at peter.woltz@timberridgecattle.com.

IFC Christmas Gift Ideas

The holiday shopping season is officially upon us! If you’re like me, you probably struggle over what to get for everyone on your Christmas list. Why not give them something from the IFC this year? You can not only find something for everyone on your list, but your shopping dollars stay in Iowa as well! Here are a few ideas.

For the Beauty Product Lovers:

-Rosebud Botanicals has several really great all natural and environmentally friendly health and beauty products that would make great gifts. They offer 3 facial gift baskets with everything needed to moisturize, exfoliate, and cleanse. Their lip balms would make cute stocking stuffers too!

-Heart of Iowa Soapworks offers homemade soaps with real essential oils and natural ingredients. I can tell you from my own personal experience that all of their products smell great! Their shampoo bars would be a nice gift for ladies who are looking for a more natural way to care for their hair.

-Grandma’s Soap, a sixth generation old-fashioned soapmaker, has aromatherapy packs. These are perfect for the holiday season, which can be a bit stressful.

-Griffieon Family Farms, our beef producer, now has a daughter making soaps and lotions from natural ingredients. The lotions and soaps would make a nice gift, or a perfect addition to your own guest washroom.

For the Ladies on Your List:

-Our four candle producers: Two Rivers Honey, Fieldstone Farms, Elements of Rejuvenation, and Ebert Honey Co have all your candle needs covered. You can find the perfect scent for your friend who loves aromatherapy, or an unscented beewax candle for someone sensitive to smells. I can personally say the scented candles smell amazing!

-Live Now, Rest Later has handmade sterling silver jewelry. She can even personalize what will be stamped onto your jewelry, perfect to add a meaningful touch to your gift.

For Everyone Else:

-Get the birdwatcher on your list a suet-cake or suet-lollipop from Ebersole Cattle. They are sure to draw birds into your recipient’s yard!

-For the knitter on your list, add some yarn from Hedgeapple Fiber Studio. The yarn comes from sheep hand-reared on Hedgeapple Farms, and are available in many beautiful colors.

-If you have a wine-lover on your list, Rosey Acres Winery offers wines ranging from dry to sweet. These Iowa wines are made and hand bottled in Runnels, Iowa.

-Iowa Orchard’s Fudge makes the perfect gift for ANYONE on your list. You really can’t go wrong with their rich chocolatey fudge.

Also be sure to check out our awesome assortment of baked goods from our hardworking producer members. Every product is made by hand locally, and will make a great addition to your holiday get together or work party. Gift memberships are also a great option for friends and family who aren’t already an IFC member! Be sure to look through our product listings when you’re looking for that hard to find gift, you may be surprised what you can find at the IFC. Happy holiday shopping to you all!

“Bonne Femme” Cooking with IFC ingredients

 

Lately I have been enjoying recipes from the Bonne Femme Cookbook, recently released by the former Des Moines Register dining critic Wini Moranville.  “Bonne Femme” cooking refers to everyday cooking that the average French “housewife” would prepare using fresh, locally available ingredients.   I have found the recipes to be a great opportunity to use some of my finds from the Iowa Food Coop.

 

For example,  “Melty Goat Cheese Salad with Honey and Pine Nuts” (p. 38) provided the perfect stage to feature Reichert’s Dairy Air’s Robiola di mia Nonna goat cheese.  This is a simple tossing of greens (I used a mix of Berry Patch lettuce and spinach with green leaf lettuce from Krieger Greenhouse) with a light vinaigrette, topped with toasted pine nuts.  But what makes this salad special is melting “soft-ripened goat cheese” on toasty baguette slices, then drizzling with honey, and serving the crispy melty toasts on the bed of greens.  Now, whether Lois Reichert would call her Robiola a “soft-ripened cheese” is not certain to me—but it is perfect for this application.  I used Novae Vitae’s Pure Honey to finish the toasty morsels.  Though it is virtuous to serve them with a fresh green salad, it occurs to me that the toasts alone would be a lovely appetizer or a great accompaniment to any other kind of salad or light supper.

 

To make the toasts, slice a baguette into half inch slices and toast on both sides, either in a toaster or oven.  Brush one side of toasts with olive oil, top with 1/8th inch thick slices of Robiola di mia Nonna, and place under oven broiler for 3 minutes or until melty but not scorched.  Cool slightly and drizzle with a little honey;  serve on a bed of greens, or however you want to eat them.

 

The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food that French Women Cook Every Day, by Wini Moranville, is available online or at local bookstores.  You can connect with the author on Facebook at Chez Bonne Femme.

 

 

Review by Rita Pray, 11/10/12

WFAN Home-Canning Field Day

Women, Food & Agriculture Network

1 to 4 p.m.
Saturday, September 17th,
near Harlan, Iowa

RSVP or Ask Questions by
Wednesday, Sept. 14

Lynn Heuss,
515.201.9450

OR

Ellen Walsh-Rosmann,
712.579.1933

 

It’s harvest season, and the number of people raising their own gardens and planning to preserve some of their fruits and vegetables is on the rise. Women who are new to canning and freezing, or want to brush up on their skills, are invited to join farmers Ellen Walsh Rosmann and Maria Rosmann at Rosmann Family Farms 1222 Ironwood Rd., Harlan, IA, on Saturday, Sept. 17 from 1 – 4 p.m. for Women, Food and Agriculture Network’s home-canning field day.

Bring your own fruits and vegetables to process for canning or freezing, or learn by helping others with theirs. Learn in a fun, informal environment with experienced canners on hand. To RSVP or to learn more about the event, call Ellen by Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 712-579-1933.

“Canning are freezing are skills that can provide families with healthful, nutritious choices year round,” says Leigh Adcock, executive director of WFAN.  “We are excited to sponsor this event and hope many in the central Iowa region will take advantage of the knowledge of Ellen, Maria and other food preservation experts who will be on hand.”

Women, Food and Agriculture Network is a non-profit, educational organization formed in 1997 to provide networking, information and leadership development opportunities to women involved in all aspects of sustainable agriculture. Learn more at www.wfan.org, or by calling 515-460-2477.