Project Freeze Becomes Self-Sustaining Project

Problem:
With a short growing season, local produce farmers often face saturated markets at the end of their season and are unable to sell all of the crops they have grown. Additionally, families and meal programs are faced with stretched budgets and could benefit from locally grown and processed produce items.

Response:
For the last five years, Project Freeze has operated as a small scale local food processing project with grant dollars received from the Leopold Center to purchase product and pay expenses. A local church has been certified as a food processing plant with the Department of Inspection and Appeals. A multi-agency effort has frozen strawberries and sweet corn each year. Project Freeze is a joint project of ISU Extension, the Northeast Iowa Food Bank and Saint Patrick's Catholic Church. For the second year, the project sold frozen produce to Bartels Nursing Home. In 2004 the project was able to sell $1,026.00 of produce. This income will cover the cost of the 2005 project, providing income to purchase the product at market price from the farmers and cover the processing expenses. Labor is donated by project volunteers. Volunteers share in the frozen produce which is used by their organization for food programs such as Kid's Cafe Meals, community meals, local food pantry boxes, food tasting at nutrition classes, as well funeral and retreat dinners. 

Impact:
Project Freeze has demonstrated that there is interest in small scale food processing.  Additional volunteers sign up for the project each year, as well as dedicated volunteers that have a commitment to the project and have volunteered every year. The team has become efficient and the time it takes to process has gone down. The nursing home increased the amount they were able to pay and in fact paid over market price to get the high quality product received last year. Seniors looked forward to the familiar taste of fresh frozen strawberries and sweet corn. By creating a project that is self-sustaining, communities have expressed interest in Project Freeze and small scale food processing. With the Leopold grant ending, Project Freeze has demonstrated its success and is able to continue.

Contact:
Jill Weber
Iowa State University Extension, Families Nutrition and Health Specialist
3420 University Avenue, Suite B
Waterloo, Iowa 50701-2008
Phone 319-234-6811; Fax 319-234-5581
E-mail jrweber@iastate.edu

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