Southwest Iowa Food & Farm Initiative Updates | |
Hello! Apologies for such a long email, but it has been a while. I'll plan to do more, regular (shorter) ones through the winter months. If you have any events or news you'd like included in upcoming SWIFFI updates, please email me. You can also follow the SWIFFI Facebook page for updates. | |
|
Golden Hills is working with several partners to host two trainings next week in Harlan:
Farm to School Training
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
3:00-5:00pm
Farmtable Procurement & Delivery
1901 Hawkeye Ave.
Harlan, IA 51537
This training is designed for producers interested in selling to local schools.
Topics will include: Working with Food Hubs in Iowa, Wholesale Readiness, Marketing, & more.
The training is free and open to the public but registration is required.
Register here.
Food Safety & Inspections Training
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
5:00-6:30pm
Farmtable Procurement & Delivery
1901 Hawkeye Ave.
Harlan, IA 51537
This training is intended for local food producers and businesses. Iowa Department of Inspections & Appeals staff will share information about legal requirements for food processing & sales.
Topics will include: Determining when a license is required, what types of license are needed, and other questions about regulations and regulatory requirements for the different types of licenses.
Free and open to the public, but registration required.
If you have questions about inspections that you’d like them to address, fill out this form.
Register here.
| |
We are currently planning farmer meetups and field days for fall & winter 2021. If you are interested in hosting or have suggestions for topics or presenters, please complete this form. | |
Other Upcoming Trainings & Events | |
|
-
ISU Extension & Outreach has a new online program called Food Safety Sanitation & Preparation. Dr. Shannon Coleman’s team has developed a program that provides education on food safety concepts and best practices and introduces concepts of ingredient functionality, quality attributes, and shelf-life vs. shelf stability. The pilot program offered this fall is free! Register here. Contact Dr. Shannon Colement with questions at scoleman@iastate.edu / 515-294-9011.
-
Center for Rural Affairs has an online Home-based Food Business series with two more sessions this month: 11/3 - Determining Your Cost and Pricing: Join this training to learn how to correctly price your products. 11/10 - Are You Making Any Money?: When it comes to starting your own business, the main objective is to make a profit. Discover how to prepare a profit and loss statement to help you understand the financial status of your business, including costs, expenses, and net profits.
-
Farmtable is hosting a holiday market on Saturday, November 13 at their warehouse in Harlan.
-
Produce in the Park is hosting a Harvest Market on November 22 in Atlantic.
| |
-
Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship announced the Choose Iowa Marketing and Promotion Grant Program, which matches up to $25,000 per project to help farmers, businesses & nonprofits increase their agricultural product offerings. This fuinding will not only provide support for farmers to make business investments, ranging from trying new processing, packaging & sales techniques to improving employee training and continuing education programs, but also these grants allow recipients to tap into new markets and sales channels. Applications are due December 15. Learn more and apply here.
-
Governor Kim Reynolds, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) announced the application window for the new Butchery Innovation and Revitalization program. The intent of the program is to strengthen Iowa’s food supply chain and rural development. Grants of up to $50,000 will be awarded to eligible businesses, with a total of $750,000 available through the program in the current fiscal year. Apply by November 15.
-
Applications are open for USDA’s new Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant program and encourages eligible entities to apply now for funds. Applications due November 22. The PRS Grant program will assist small businesses in certain commodity areas, including specialty crop producers, shellfish farming, finfish farming, aquaculture, and apiculture; specialty crop, meat, and other processors; distributors; and farmers markets. Small businesses and nonprofits in these industries can apply for a grant to cover COVID-related expenses such as workplace safety measures (e.g., personal protective equipment (PPE), retrofitting facilities for worker and consumer safety, shifting to online sales platforms, transportation, worker housing, and medical costs. The minimum funding request is $1,500 and the maximum funding request is $20,000.
-
SARE’s Farmer Rancher Grant Program supports projects by farmers and ranchers who want to explore innovative sustainable solutions to problems through on-farm research, demonstration, and education projects. Farmer Rancher grants have funded projects addressing a variety of issues including pest/disease management, crop and livestock production, quality of life issues, marketing, soil quality, energy, and more. NC-SARE expects to award $720,000 for the 2022 Farmer Rancher Grant Program. Projects must be completed in 23 months, and award limits vary based on grant team size: individual grants can receive up to $15,000, teams of two or more grants can receive up to $30,000. Applications due December 2.
| |
Other Updates, News & Resources | |
-
We Are Iowa featured a local produce-sharing program: Cass County produce sharing program 'Grow Another Row' taking root.
-
Milk & Honey was featured in the Des Moines Register’s story: Harlan's Milk & Honey is a farm-to-table breakfast and lunch restaurant with a small-town vibe.
-
USDA is rolling out a new insurance option specifically for agricultural producers with small farms who sell locally. The new Micro Farm policy simplifies record keeping and covers post-production costs like washing and value-added products.
-
The State Farm to School Policy Handbook: 2002-2020 is a tool for those working to advance the farm to school movement created by the National Farm to School Network and Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS). The Handbook summarizes and analyzes bills and resolutions introduced between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2020, from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. It enables users to search bills by both jurisdiction and topic. The Handbook provides Analysis of and infographics detailing state farm to school legislative trends; Summaries of proposed bills since 2002, whether enacted, defeated, or pending; Case studies on successful farm to school advocacy and implementation efforts including local procurement incentive programs, state farm to school support for Native communities, and COVID-19 impacts on farm to school; and Additional resources for advocates and policymakers to support state farm to school policies.
-
Practical Farmers of Iowa has a new series of videos called Bringing Back the Edges – Creating Wildlife Habitat on Farms.
-
Iowa State University Extension & Outreach has resources for mental health, well being, & stress management, some of which is specifically targeted to farmers.
-
The Food Systems Practitioner and Education Resource Database is a fairly new resource that aims to aggregate and identify educational resources to improve the competencies of food systems practitioners through various levels of learning that in turn stabilizes and strengthens our food systems workforce.
| |
Contact: Lance Brisbois | Golden Hills RC&D | lance@goldenhillsrcd.org | | | | |
