A 1995 survey conducted with funds from a USDA-SARE (Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education) grant revealed that travelers and local people
would purchase locally grown and produced items at a year-round farmers’
market. Sales the first three months are affirming those results.
A bounty of harvest at Exit 86 store
Talk to Karen Varley, of Stuart, and Jeannette Parker,
of Adair, about their Iowa products store and through their words you
can smell the candles and soaps, taste the fresh baked goods and imagine
the rattan baskets. The dream, growing over six years, to expand and take
a farmers’ market to the next stage, has become a reality in the
old Kopper Kettle building at Exit 86 on I-80.
“The thing that has amazed me from the beginning is the amount of
support that has been out there for us,” Parker said. “We want
to offer income to rural Iowans, promote Iowa and educate people about
agricultural issues. It’s a concept that people in this area believe
in and support.”
“Carol Smith, the Iowa State University Extension education director
in Guthrie County when we started, has always been there to encourage
us and help us see the next step,” said Varley. “Last summer
she provided a workshop through National Catholic Rural Life that really
sparked local enthusiasm.”
It has been the variety of expertise and commitment of the core group
of a dozen or so people that has sustained the project since the first
meetings in 1995, according to Varley. During that period they have received
technical assistance from Practical Farmers of Iowa, and used ISU resources
to explore the best use of space and to develop a business logo.
Seventy-five Iowa vendors and other investors make up the 102 members
of Iowa Harvest LLC, the store’s corporation name.
“It’s our intent that all involved will see benefits and that
we’ll add to the sustainability of Iowa agriculture,” Varley
said. “We have a lot to be proud of in Iowa and we need to share
it, let others know about it.”
Future plans for a restaurant, a community kitchen for processing, an outdoor market during the summer months and landscaping that includes a children’s garden are moving forward with help from ISU Extension.
Contact Laura Sternweis, editor, lsternwe@iastate.edu.
Visit the ISU Extension homepage.
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Last update: April 2002