Meeting Location: Northeast Iowa Food Bank
Wednesday, May 8th, 2019
1605 Lafayette Street
Waterloo, IA 50704
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

1. CVRFFN survey

Please complete this google survey to help the Steering Committee (Jodie Huegerich, Kamyar Enshayan, Holly Merritt, Barb Prather, Brian Schoon, and Terry Helinski) plan for future meetings.

Please click on the link to take this 5 minute survey.
CVRFFN Meeting Survey

2.      Introduction of Attendees
There were 24 people in attendance.

3.       Speaker and Tour:
Barb Prather of the Northeast Iowa Food Bank gave an overview of the organization. CVRFFN attendees took a tour of the NEIFB. Q&A followed.

4.       How Can Your Organizations Get Involved with these Efforts to Increase Access to Fresh Local Foods?

-The NEIFB staff encourages farmers/producers to utilize the tax credits. Contact Clare at cmagalaner@northeastiowafoodbank.org if you have any questions.

-NEIFB would like to continue to form partnerships with local producers to support the local economy and save on transportation expenses from other vendors.

-Hansen’s Farm Fresh Dairy currently donates/sells approximately 700 gallons/week to NEIFB.

-Below is the link where you can find the Expiration Guidelines in the NEIFB  sorting room. It is a good tool to use at home too.  Scroll down to find Expiration Guidelines.

Agency Resources

5.       Committee Reports:

a.       Economic
Nothing to report at this time.

b.       Education/Learning
Waterloo Schools in partnership with Sarah Steinmeyer, Black Hawk County Public Health, and FoodCorps members, Grace & Tessa, are doing garden lessons and garden planting this month.

c.       Food Access
Nothing to report at this time.

d.       Awareness
The Awareness Committee again shared updates regarding the new CVRFFN website and resource map.

The website has a mapping tool with Buy Fresh Buy Local Directory members. You can move your cursor over the map and learn more about those invested in local foods.

Also, like the facebook page– www.facebook.com/cvrffn !

This website has a blog. If you would like the committee to post something about your organization, an event, or another opportunity, send it to cvrffn@gmail.com!

e.       Next Meetings: November 13^th, 2019 and January 15^th, 2020 Producer CVRFFN and BFBL meeting

-Ideas for producers. Consider growing specialty items that Mexican restaurants and other specialty ethnic restaurants may need to purchase.

6. Community Producers’ Garden and water situation

The CPW garden is a partnership between UNI Local Food Program, EMBARC, and First Baptist Church. The garden is on its third year and lacking a water source. Jodie is looking for organizations interested in funding the project that ideally needs to be completed in May. Contact Jodie at jodie.huegerich@uni.edu if you have suggestions or questions.

Other news from members attending the meeting:

-Waverly Garden is looking for volunteers tomorrow, Saturday, May 10th.

-Check out Julie Grunklee’s blog for recipes using local food items. @juliegrunklee.com. She is also featured on the monthly Hansen’s newsletter. Go to their website to sign up for the newsletter. www.hansendairy.com.   

-Grundy Center’s farmers market has moved to Brothers Market parking lot.

-Farmers Markets have started! Check out the Buy Fresh Buy Local Directory to find markets, or explore the Resource Map on the website.

https://ceee.uni.edu/find-local-food

-Where does Meals on Wheels purchase their food for their meals? Would this be an option for sourcing local?

-Butler County 4H is starting community gardens this year.

-Cedar Falls Food Co-op is hosting a speaker on October 30th! Save the date!

-Iowa Farm to School Conference:

2019 Iowa Farm to School Conference – June 21-22, Pella, IA

Register by June 7th

Farm to school activities in Iowa are helping put local food on school meal trays, supporting Iowa farmers, and connecting students to local food systems through school gardens and nutrition education activities. Want to learn more about how farm to school works, or ready to take your farm to school activities to the next level? Join us at the 2019 Iowa Farm to School Conference, June 21-22, at Central College in Pella, IA. Workshop tracks, keynotes, field trips and intensive courses will be offered over two days to help you build new skills in local procurement strategy, farm to school curriculum, and community partnerships and collaborations. New this year – two additional tracks will be focused on topics for high school student leaders and early childhood practitioners. Registration is now open! Learn more and register today.

8.       Adjourn

Thank you everyone for another productive and educational meeting! We’ll see you again in November!