Understanding Common Terms Used in Discussions about Climate Change and Agriculture

Glossary of climate change terms with definitions, sources and links for more information following each term

Using Networks To Build Collaborative And Equitable Food Systems

Local food systems are widely regarded as go-to examples for fostering rural-urban and farmer-consumer connections, but they require significant investments in stakeholder networks and the institutional infrastructure necessary to sustain and expand them. In our latest research brief, authors Rich Pirog and Marcus A. Coleman focus on local food systems as vehicles for collaboration and racial equity among multiple stakeholders and networks. They highlight examples of statewide, regional, and national initiatives to illustrate the power of networks to foster deeper levels of collaboration and reciprocity. They also explore the vital roles of Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) and Cooperative Extension

Is Local Food More Expensive? A Consumer Price Perspective on Local and Non-local Foods Purchased in Iowa

Is local food more expensive than its non-local counterpart? The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture’s Marketing and Food Systems Initiative conducted consumer market research in June, July, and August 2009 to examine what Iowa consumers pay for locally grown products and how these prices compare to non-local market channel prices

Comparing Apples to Apples: An Iowa Perspective on Apples and Local Food Systems

This paper looks at Iowa\u27s once thriving apple industry from a food system perspective

Frequently Asked Questions on Food Regulations for Small Market Food Producers

Interest and demand for local food in Iowa and across the nation have increased dramatically in the past few years. Iowa small market producers are finding markets for their food products at farmers markets, community supported agriculture enterprises, farm stands, and institutions such as restaurants, hospitals, schools, and conference centers. As farmers have entered these markets across the state, questions about food regulations have increased. This document answers the most common questions most often asked by producers. Responses were crafted by state agency and university specialists with expertise in food safety and food regulations

Findings of the 2019 National Food Hub Survey

This report was nearing completion in March 2020 and therefore does not address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in detail. Please see the epilogue, on page 44, for the authors' reflections on the role food hubs have played in supporting and enhancing the resiliency of local and regional food systems throughout the pandemic. We encourage readers to consider this context as they read the report, which offers a unique snapshot of pre-COVID food hub operations.

Food, Fuel, and Freeways: An Iowa perspective on how far food travels, fuel usage, and greenhouse gas emissions

Most consumers do not understand today’s highly complex global food system. Much of the food production and processing occurs far away from where they live and buy groceries. External environmental and community costs related to the production, processing, storage, and transportation of the food are seldom accounted for in the food’s price, nor are consumers made aware of these external costs. Examples of external environmental costs are the increased amount of fossil fuel used to transport food long distances, and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the burning of these fuels

Findings of the 2013 National Food Hub Survey

Food hubs are businesses or organizations that actively manage the aggregation, distribution and marketing of source-identified food products. Food hubs also operate within their own expressed value sets, and these values guide any additional activities that a food hub may undertake. In theory, food hubs may serve to provide much-needed, size-appropriate infrastructure and marketing functions for local food produced by small and midsized producers. However, the impact of food hubs has only recently been studied, and there is a lack of aggregated information on many of the characteristics of active food hubs. The 2013 National Food Hub Survey was conducted to collect this information from a broad sample of food hubs. Findings from the survey showed that food hubs across the country are growing to broaden the distribution infrastructure for local food. From the survey, 62% of food hubs began operations within the last five years, 31% of food hubs had $1,000,000 or more in annual revenue and the majority of food hubs were supporting their businesses with little or no grant assistance -- including food hubs that identified as nonprofits. Financially, the most successful food hubs tended to be for-profit and cooperative in structure, in operation for more than 10 years and working with a relatively large number of producers. The values-based nature of food hubs makes it hard to judge many of them solely on their level of financial success. The survey also revealed a number of persistent challenges and barriers to growth that even the most financially successful food hubs faced. For example, many food hubs indicated their needs for assistance in managing growth and identifying appropriate staffing levels for their hubs. They also often pointed to their need for capital and other resources to increase their trucking and warehousing capacity