Farm & food system infrastructure

Iowa’s farm and food system infrastructure – the tools and pathways of connection between farmers and consumers and between rural and urban communities – serves as a critical link that:

• Builds resilience in the middle of Iowa’s food supply chain. Developing and improving markets for small and mid-sized farms and food businesses and investing in the development of local food processing, distribution and aggregation infrastructure will make Iowa stronger and better prepared for the future. (Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, 2023).

• Increases sales and jobs in the state. Estimates show that growing more than 25 fruits and vegetables in Iowa would generate $61.4 million in farm-level sales, resulting in 657 total jobs, and earning a total of $26.3 million in labor income (Pirog and Swenson, 2010).

• Expands sales to institutions. Iowa was the world’s leading canner of sweet corn with nearly 60 sweet corn canning factories in 36 Iowa counties in 1924 (Pirog, Paskiet, 2004). Today there is no commercial scale fruit or vegetable processing in Iowa (Farm to Table Task Force, 2021).

Infrastructure elements like processing, distribution networks, transportation, food hubs and grocery stores are the backbone of the food supply system and offer numerous benefits to a region including sustained economic development and protection for regional farmland and rural landscapes. Infrastructure development connects many of the other Iowa Food System Coalition (IFSC) priority areas and expands the possibilities for food system growth.

The Farm and Food System Infrastructure priority team is dedicated to fostering expanded partnerships and creating space to support the outlined strategies. This team is led by the Iowa Valley Resource, Conservation & Development and Iowa State University Farm, Food and Enterprise Development and welcomes others who are also playing a critical role in and interested in contributing to this space. A more extensive list of partners working in this area follows the Recommendations section.

• Giselle Bruskewitz - Iowa Valley RC&D giselle@ivrcd.org

• Christa Hartsook - ISU Farm, Food and Enterprise Development hartc@iastate.edu

To achieve our goal of expanding the number of socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable farm and food businesses, we have determined that four strategies and associated actions are urgently needed.

Strategy 1: Assess and develop an integrated plan for food system infrastructure, including key areas of partnership and investment with special attention to benefits for historically and systemically marginalized farmers and business operators.

Strategy 2: Increase capacity for on-farm, regional, and state processing of farmer-owned Iowa-grown products.

Strategy 3: Increase distribution and storage infrastructure for the local food value chain.

Strategy 4: Develop policy priorities for investment in food system infrastructure.

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Capital City Fruit

Center for Rural Affairs

Iowa Farmers Union

Iowa Valley Resource Conservation & Development

Local Food Purchasing Assistance

Iowa State University Farm, Food and Enterprise Development

• Local Food for Schools

• Fruit and Vegetable Mobile Cart and Processing Research

Heartland USDA Regional Food Business Center

Lutheran Services of Iowa, Global Greens Program

NE Iowa Resource Conservation & Development

Practical Farmers of Iowa

Iowa UrbanFEWS

• While direct-to-consumer sales are often the most familiar face of local food markets, the 2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey reported that 46% of all local food sales were to intermediaries and institutions, while 33% were direct-to-consumer. Infrastructure is the backbone of our food supply chain to serve both of these markets.

• After a decade of development, Iowa’s food hubs play a key role in local food distribution, now serving nearly 70% of Iowa’s counties.

• Very little of food sold in Iowa is produced locally, indicating a strong dependence on national and global supply chains. This dependency was starkly highlighted by the vulnerabilities exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Read the Existing Conditions section in this chapter to learn about these and other important details about this priority.

Participants in the Iowa Food System Coalition work together, rely upon each other, and hold one another accountable in the work to advance the priorities of the Iowa Food System Plan. Interested in working together to advance a thriving, equitable food system in Iowa? Fill out our Interest Form here.