All posts by Gary Huber

IFC Shopping Cart is Open – Great Holiday Gift Ideas!

December 10, 2013
by Gary Huber

Shop From Home for Unique Local Gifts (and food for your holiday meals)!

The online shopping cart opened last night at midnight. There are many, many excellent food and non-food products available for your gifting and eating needs – all available from the comfort of your home computer. See below for info on a new producer and new items, and use this link for some wonderful gift ideas.

NOTE: The cart closes at midnight on Sunday, Dec. 15. Distribution is Thurs., Dec. 19 at our Des Moines area locations and Friday, Dec. 20 at our Ames location. Note: if you have a conflict with this schedule, our alternative pick up time from 10:30 am to noon on Sat., Dec. 21.

To shop go to https://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username or password, send an email to info@iowafood.coop.
The Iowa Food Cooperative now has attractive, 100% cotton t-shirts available. The front has our name while the back includes the “I Love it When You Talk Dirt to Me” graphic developed IFC member Rick Von Holdt. 

Grimm Family Farm (from North English) has joined as a new producer member (welcome aboard!). They’ve listed black turtle beans (soak overnight and cook for 30-45 minutes until tender; great in soups, salads, spreads or by themselves as a side dish).

Fieldstone Farms added Beeswax Christmas Ornaments and two sizes of several kinds of natural lotions (Oakmoss & Warm Amber, Ocean Mist, French Vanilla). They also have their honey, beeswax, bee pollen, and lip balms products, plus two sizes of gift baskets (which include lip balm, honey, hand & body lotion, creamed honey, and bee pollen).

Lisa from Gardner’s Harvest changed her Chocolate Crinkles so they are grain-free. Her reusable glass straws (made of pyrex with flamed ends for a durable smooth drinking straw) are back in stock. And for a substantive treat (that’ll keep folks alive for long periods of time) try her Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookie.

It was a good apple year, so Iowa Orchard lowered prices on their ciders and apples. They also added several varieties: Fuji, Ida Red, Chietain, and #2 Honeycrisps. With the apples listed by The Berry Patch, we’ve got 24 different products listed (apple pie, anyone?).

The IFC is blessed to have several great greenhouse producers (how cold is it?). This cycle Lee’s Greens listed lettuce, red kale, spinach, and radishes and Krieger Greenhouses listed four kinds of herb gardens (wonderful gifts for wintertime culinary needs) as well as lettuce, kale, swiss chard, and white turnips.

Zaza’s Pasta continues to amaze with new seasonal foods, such as 1) Panettone bread (sweet, airy Italian Christmas bread full of fresh orange zest,raisins, golden raisins, and currants that have been soaked in orange liqueur) and 2) Christmas Lasagne (with seasonal coloring made by layering handmade noodles with cream white sauce, fontina cheese, balsamic-roasted organic grape tomatoes, and organic spinach). Pumpkin Fettuccine is also on sale and Pizzelle cookies are back in two flavors (Traditional Anise and Chocolate Hazelnut).

And don’t forget about your center-of-the-plate needs. We’ve got a huge variety of specialty meats from our livestock growers that have products that you can build a proper feast around.

The Official IFC Gift Guide!

December 10, 2013
by Gary Huber

Check out the variety of gifts available this season from our producers.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/GreenportFarmersMarket

Source: https://www.facebook.com/GreenportFarmersMarket

Show your care differently this holiday by giving a gift that is made/produced in Iowa, helps support local farmers and families, and is one of a kind and totally unique. You won’t regret it.

Click the image below to see some suggestions and check out our Facebook album for even more ideas. Happy holidays!

Holiday Gift Guide

IFC Distribution Today (Tomorrow in Ames)

December 5, 2013
by Gary Huber

This is being sent via email to everyone who ordered this cycle and has products to be picked up. Today is distribution at our DM area sites. Tomorrow is distribution if you are picking up in Ames. If you need an alternative pick up time and haven’t already let us know, we’ll be back in our Merle Hay Mall space on Saturday from 10:30 am to noon, but please let us know with a call to 515-450-6812.

Pick-up Thursday at DM area sites or Friday in Ames

December 3, 2013
by Gary Huber

We had 129 members order 1,192 items this cycle – not bad numbers considering the Thanksgiving holiday probably kept folks from ordering. Pick-up is on Thursday at our Des Moines-area sites or Friday in Ames. Specifics on times and locations are to the left if you are receiving this as an email.

We have an alternative pick-up time of 10:30 am to noon on Saturday at our Merle Hay Mall location. Please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop if you are coming on Saturday.

Also, you can access your invoice access by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice” on the left hand side of the page.

IFC Shopping Cart is Open – Shop from Home for the Holidays!

November 27, 2013
by Gary Huber

Time to Go Shopping! 1070 Different Products Listed!

The online shopping cart is open for the first of two cycles we’ll have before the Christmas holidays. There are many, many excellent food and non-food products available for your gifting needs – all available from the comfort of your home computer. See below for info on a new producer and new items.

NOTE: The cart will close at midnight on Sunday, Dec. 1. Distribution is Thurs., Dec. 5 at our Des Moines area locations and Friday, Dec. 6 at our Ames location. Note: if you have a conflict with this schedule, our alternative pick up time from 10:30 am to noon on Sat., Dec. 7.

To shop go to https://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username or password, send an email to info@iowafood.coop.
Some of you may know Mo’Rub from the downtown farmers market. We are happy they are now an IFC member. They’ve listed their “seriously great” universal seasoning for the first time (a nice stocking stuffer gift).

Fieldstone Farms added gift baskets (two sizes): “perfect gifts for someone wishing to sample the natural products made from our beehives”. Depending on which you buy, the baskets will include lip balm, honey, hand & body lotion, creamed honey, and bee pollen.

Al Dente Toffee added several new toffee products (great gifts as well): Bourbon Pecan, Coconut Dark Chocolate, Orange Dark Chocolate, Chipotle, Triple Expresso, and Apple Pie a al Mode.

Heart of Iowa Soapworks added Chamomile Citrus Shampoo Bars (“A long-time favorite of my shampoo bar loving crowd”).

Agri-Cultured Foods added Garlic Dill Sauerkraut (their top seller has returned).

Lee’s Greens, LLC has lettuce mix, red and green kale, spinach, and radishes listed.

Yoke S Ranch added stew meat from their Corriente beef herd, Ebersole Cattle Company added two sizes of grass-fed chuck roasts, Horsefeather Farm added beef filets and two types of steaks (Ribeye & New York Strip), and Special K Ranch added three types of Texas Longhorn beef roasts – Sirloin, Sirloin Tip, and New York Strip.

Get started with the IFC for the holidays

November 21, 2013
by Gary Huber

Everything you need to know:

Sign up for a free trial membership to be able to log in and shop. Fill out the registration form; under ‘Membership Type’ choose ‘Trial Membership’. Memberships are normally $50 to start, and a $10 annual renewal fee after that. Shop with us for six months sans membership fee; if you like it, you may pay the fee and continue, if not, no further action is necessary.

There is never any obligation to buy; order only if you need, and if there are products you want. The winter season is typically thought of as ‘slow’ but we still have a lot of incredible items–meat, eggs, dairy, breads, baked goods, root vegetables, salad greens, coffee, kombucha, prepared foods, and more. Browse some of our products here.

Take our holiday challenge by signing this pledge form. It is not any sort of obligation, but a way to join the movement and agree to spending $25, $50, or $100 this holiday season. If we can get 1,000 people to agree to $50, we will be able to put $50,000 in local farmers’ pockets and keep our holiday spending dollars in Iowa this year. Please join us!

Do your shopping from Nov. 26-Dec. 1, then pick up your order Dec. 5.
Shop again from Dec. 10-15, and pick up your order Dec. 19.

Questions? Please let us know at info@iowafood.coop and we will help you out.

PS Don’t forget to Like us on Facebook!

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Click to enlarge this visual guide of the Iowa Food Coop.

IFC Distribution Today (Tomorrow in Ames); Issues with Some Invoices!

November 21, 2013
by Gary Huber

Today is the IFC distribution at our DM area sites or tomorrow if you are picking up in Ames. If you need an alternative pick up time and haven’t already let us know, we’ll be back in our Merle Hay Mall space on Saturday from 10:30 am to noon, but please let us know with a call to 515-450-6812.

Also, we’ve not yet fixed the issue we mentioned in a Tuesday morning email where invoices for members with last names that start with Ro through Z show people owing for last cycle’s orders. Sorry. Apparently the server we use isn’t receiving the information we entered on these payments, and the issue lies with server side configuration. We tried one option to fix it, but it didn’t work. What we’ll do is have members pay only the amount on the invoices for what was ordered this cycle.

Pick-up Thursday at DM area sites or Friday in Ames

November 18, 2013
by Gary Huber

We had 217 members order 2,661 items this cycle. Total purchases were just over $19,000. Those are all record numbers. Thanks so much for using your cooperative.

Pick-up is on Thursday at our Des Moines-area sites or Friday in Ames. Specifics on times and locations are to the left if you are receiving this as an email.

We have an alternative pick-up time of 10:30 am to noon on Saturday at our Merle Hay Mall location. Please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop if you are coming on Saturday.

Also, you can access your invoice access by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice” on the left hand side of the page.)