SIOUX CITY, Iowa — With farmer’s markets opening and local foods growing across Northwest Iowa, the Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach Flavors of Northwest Iowa program is once again beginning its summer programming! Join us throughout the summer for events that will have you trying, buying, growing and cooking fresh, locally-produced food.
Flavors of Northwest Iowa is a regional food project that works to build a network to connect and support growers and consumers of local foods throughout Northwest Iowa, and the Local Food Road Show is a yearly showcase of fun and informative producer and consumer education. Horticulture Educators Katelyn Brinkerhoff and Margaret Murphy, the ISU Extension and Outreach Rising Star Interns, and county extension staff will host events all the way through September with a wide range of local food topics. Experience recipe demonstrations, gardening workshops, Farm to Fork dinners, community garden and farmer’s market appearances, Siouxland Bike-N-Bite and the new Okoboji Bike-N-Bite, and much more!
“Flavors focuses on small-scale, community-based, diversified farms,” said Murphy. “Many of the farmers we work with sell directly to the consumer, which enhances the opportunity for the public to know the farmer, know the story behind how the food is raised or grown, and to develop a relationship between producer and consumer.”
This year’s ISU Rising Star Interns helping with Flavors of Northwest Iowa local foods programming are: Jessica Gale, a junior in Dietetics from Stillman Valley, IL; Allison Faivre, a senior studying Agricultural and Life Sciences Education, Teacher Certification from Washington, IL; Kassidy Kuhlmann, also a senior studying Agricultural and Life Sciences Education, Teacher Certification from Readlyn, IA; Joi Latson, a senior studying Global Resource Systems & Spanish with a minor in Nutritional Science from St. Louis, MO; Rebecca Wallace, a senior in Family and Consumer Sciences Education and Studies – Licensure Option with a minor in Culinary Food Science from Bussey, IA; and Ebere Agwuncha, a junior studying Industrial Design with a concentration in User Experience from Chicago, IL. Gale, Faivre and Kuhlmann are working within the northern Flavors of Northwest Iowa counties of Lyon, Osceola, Sioux and O’Brien, while Latson, Wallace and Agwuncha are working on Flavors projects in Plymouth, Woodbury and Monona counties. The Rising Star Internship Program is a three-month summer internship programs for exceptional ISU students, where they work with ISU Extension and Outreach county offices on projects involving not-for-profit organizations, local food systems, families, agencies, and/or communities and economic development organizations.
For more information on the Local Food Road Show or Flavors of Northwest Iowa, please visit www.flavorsofnorthwestiowa.org or contact Katelyn Brinkerhoff at (712) 276-2157 or Margaret Murphy at (712) 472-2576.
Flavors of Northwest Iowa 2018 Garden and Local Food Events (schedules subject to change):
June 19 Veg Out with Greens in the Garden, Lyon County Fairground, 6:30 pm – 8:00pm
June 23 Rising Star Farmers Market Food Demo, Sioux City, 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
June 23 Prairie Walk Prairie Heritage Center, Peterson, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
July 7 Rising Star Farmers Market Food Demo, Sioux City, 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
July 10 Squash Bugs and Other “Joys “in the Garden Lyon County Fairgrounds, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
July 11 Rising Star Farmers Market Food Demo Sgt. Bluff, 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
July 14 Siouxland Bike-N-Bite Sioux City, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
July 14 Rising Star Monona County Fair Food Demo, Onawa, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
July 17 ISU Home Demonstration Garden Walk Lyon County Fairgrounds, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
July 17 Farm to Fork Dinner, Tucker Hill Winery, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
July 18 Rising Star Farmers Market Food Demo, Akron, 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
July 19 Rising Star Farmers Market Food Demo, Merrill, 5:00 pm —7:00 p.m.
July 27 Rising Star Plymouth County Fair Food Demo Le Mars, 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
August 1 Rising Star Woodbury County Fair Food Demo Moville, 10:00 am – 3 00 pm
August 4 Rising Star Farmers Market Food Demo, Sioux City, 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
August 4 Rising Star Farmers Market Food Demo, Le Mars, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
August 7 ISU Demonstration and Donation Garden Field Day Monona County Fairgrounds, Onawa 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
August 18 Fresh Salsa Making Competition and Local Food Buffet, Lyon County Fairgrounds, 11:00 am -1:00 pm
August 14 Flower Arranging Workshop Lyon County Fairgrounds, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
August 25 Prairie Walk, Prairie Heritage Center, Peterson, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
September 6 Preparing the Garden for Winter Orange City Public Library, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
September 11 Landscape Design Lyon County Fairgrounds, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
— Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
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