by Chad Elliott, food director and culinary specialist, Decorah Community School District Our first week of serving 5,300 grab-and-go meals to students at Decorah Community School District felt a bit unpredictable. Schools with a 50% or more free and reduced meals rate qualify for COVID-19 Emergency Closure Meal Service. Schools under 50% need to apply … Continue reading Food hub provides local products for Decorah student meals during closure
by Leigh Adcock, communications specialist Direct-market farmers face closures of farmers markets, restaurants, and other in-person sales outlets this spring due to COVID-19. What options can replace these important markets? I recently attended a webinar sponsored by the non-profit Oregon Tilth called “Online Sales Platforms for Farmers” (view the recording). Representatives of five platforms gave … Continue reading Online sales platforms an option for direct-market farmers during COVID-19 (and beyond)
by Kayla Koether, food systems specialist Iowa’s local food hubs are a tight-knit group. They learn from each other and work together to strengthen the local foods economy, meeting regularly as part of the Food Hub Managers Working Group (FHMWG). Yet, Iowa’s food hubs are a study in diversity. They cover distinct geographic regions, operate … Continue reading Global Greens shares origin story with fellow food hubs
Fourteen produce farms achieved their Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) food safety certification at a discount in 2018, thanks to their participation in GroupGAP training facilitated by ISU. GAP is a voluntary USDA farm food safety program. Certified farmers verify that they’re producing, packing, handling, and storing their fruits and vegetables as safely as possible to … Continue reading 14 Iowa farms certified via GroupGAP in 2018