Des Moines metro farm couple are asking the community to join them in a modern-day barn raising Donnelle Eller Des Moines Register It's not unusual for Jordan Clasen to have four dozen boxes of winter squash, onions and other produce stored in his home's front entry during the year's coldest months. Otherwise, the veggies would freeze in an uninsulated garage that's among the buildings he and his wife, Whitney, use to wash, pack and store the fruit, vegetables and eggs they sell through their farm, Grade A Gardens in Johnston. The couple aren't complaining. "We've gotten by for this long, but it [...]

Paul Johnson died yesterday. He was a giant of conservation. His deep voice and the twinkle in his eye conveyed his intellect and his passion for conservation whenever he spoke. His generosity of spirit filled the log home he had built with his wife Pat. You were among the fortunate if you could sit in their modest living room, with Pat serving nuts and lemonade, as Paul waxed eloquent on the latest reading he had done or the opinion piece he was working on for the newspapers. As national Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service under Bill Clinton, [...]

Peri-urban farmland is under constant pressure from urbanisation. And it is disappearing at worrying rates. What would it take to protect it? And what can we learn from countries that have tried to do so? In a review article published in Land, researchers from the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment look more closely at success and failure factors for farmland protection policies in developed countries. Article from Urban Food Futures

SILT supporters are working hard to save local food. So, for fun, I asked a couple of committed Iowa foodies what kind of food trends can we expect to see in 2021? Chef Matt Steigerwald, Head Chef at the farm-to-table restaurant Rapid Creek Cidery at Wilson’s Orchard, just outside of Iowa City Greener food delivery.  Covid made everyone think about delivery a lot more and conversations about containers and methods that are more sustainable is constant. More of that. Too many small restaurant takeovers. I remember when Katrina hit New Orleans many of those small businesses were bought up [...]

As COVID-19 shut down most of our economy in 2020 and packinghouse workers were forced to choose between their livelihoods and their lives, the fragility of our current food system became evident to most Americans. This new report The Power of Community-Based Food Systems by the Wallace Center spells out case studies in resilient food systems from around the county, including the Midwest. It includes lessons learned as well - such as "Change moves at the speed of trust." It also focuses on issues such as "decentering whiteness." If you believe in a just, accessible, affordable food system, support [...]