ISU Extension News

Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915

4/12/01

Contacts:
Robert Karp, Practical Farmer's of Iowa, (515) 233-3622, rkarp@isunet.net
Julie Todd, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515) 294-2405, jtodd@iastate.edu

Attend Workshops on Developing Local Food Systems

AMES, Iowa - If you are interested in pursuing direct marketing strategies to circulate more of Iowa's food dollars locally, attend a series of five one-day workshops, called "Iowa CAFE" (community, agriculture and food enterprises) to be held statewide this May and June.

Farmers' markets, roadside stands and direct sales from the farm to Iowa hotels, restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, grocery stores, schools and community gardens are gaining popularity. Robert Karp, Practical Farmers of Iowa Executive Director, said "Many farmers want to be a part of these direct-marketing efforts but there is a lack of resources to help them make the transition and capitalize on these new opportunities."

Participants in the Iowa CAFE workshops will receive a training manual with additional resources identified to help them understand the challenges that farmers and communities face in implementing these strategies. Agricultural professionals such as Iowa State University and county extension staff, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service staff and various farm and community stakeholders interested in developing local food enterprises with growers should attend.

"The long-term goal is to strengthen local farms and communities by capturing a larger portion of consumer food dollars and to encourage more diversified and sustainable farming practices," Karp said.

The workshops will be held at the following locations:
May 24, Wallace Foundation for Rural Research and Development, Lewis
June 13, Montgomery Hall, Johnson County Fairgrounds, Iowa City
June 14, Sevens Forum Building, Buena Vista University, Storm Lake
June 20, Upper Iowa University, Fayette
June 21, Des Moines Area Community College, Ankeny

For more information on the workshops, contact Robert Karp at (515) 233-3622 or rkarp@isunet.net or Shelly Gradwell, ISU Sustainable Agriculture Extension Program, at (515) 294-0887 or shellyg@iastate.edu.

Practical Farmers of Iowa is organizing these workshops with the support of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, ISU Extension, the Iowa Network for Community Agriculture and USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.

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Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.

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