Partner Spotlight: The Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA)
The Center for Rural Affairs has been advocating for rural communities for over 50 years, and has been working in Iowa for nearly ten years. The Center has recently had the opportunity to expand our local foods programming, historically focused in Nebraska, into Southwest Iowa. This has included Farm to School programming, increasing local foods access at the community level, and providing training and technical assistance to several farmers markets located in Southwest Iowa.
The Center was also able to host the Southwest Iowa Local Foods Summit in 2023 in Avoca, Iowa, and looks forward to continuing these efforts. The Center also has had a presence in policy advocacy in Iowa for several years, and with small capacity to advocate for local foods policy priorities. The Center has been glad of the opportunity to participate in the Iowa Food Systems Coalition to communicate and collaborate with local foods champions working statewide. The Center is active with both the Communications and Education and the Local Food Policy priority teams.
