Northeast Iowa Buy Fresh, Buy Local
Your source for fresh, local food
Welcome to the Northeast Iowa Buy Fresh, Buy Local page. We are excited to connect you to those farmers who grow food for you!
This website is the on-line companion to the annual Upper Iowa Local Food Directory. Memberships are renewed each March. This directory is part of the Iowa Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign (www.bfbliowa.org).
The directory has been connecting consumers with direct marketing farmers for five years. Buying local products from farmers keeps money circulating our communities.
Iowa has some of the best soils in the world and a good climate for growing crops; yet as a state, we import more than 80 percent of our food. A study by the Leopold Center found that 16 common crops that grow in Iowa travel an average of 1500 miles to reach grocery stores here. Bought from local growers, the food traveled only 56 miles.
Research has shown that of each dollar spent at a traditional food market, only 9 cents goes to the producer as compared to a farmer’s market where 80-90 cents is retained by the producer.
The Local Food Directory and the Iowa Fresh Food website currently highlight producers in Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek counties. Producers outside of the region are welcome to participate. We invite you to browse our pages packed with resources for consumers and producers.
Are you a vendor or thinking about selling at a farmers market?
Here is information to get started
The NIFF Coalition hosted a meeting on March 23 to help vendors prepare for the upcoming farmers market season. The handouts from that meeting as well as other resources have been loaded to this page.
If you are thinking about joining a farmers market this season, the first step is to contact the market manager of each market they wish to vend to find out about availability of vending space, vending fees, insurance requirements, what products are acceptable to sell at that market, the market rules and any other information pertinent to that market. The Farmers Market Directory lists all the markets with contact names and phone numbers. Read more.
Farm to School Team Teachers Trained
High school students from four school northeast Iowa school districts recently participated in a training coordinated by Iowa State University Extension. The training prepared students for their role as cross-age teachers in the Farm to School program which will begin in January.
The high school age team teachers will facilitate Farm to School lessons with second grade students once a month using folios developed specifically for northeast Iowa. The folios feature a different local food each month and provide information for parents and students.
Students from Howard-Winneshiek, Starmont, Postville and Turkey Valley and Oelwein high schools participated. Each school has an adult coach for the program. In addition to participating in the recent training, the coaches will also be in the classroom to support and supervise the team teachers.
