Looking at different ways to think about food production

[Yeager]

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[Yeager] Hello, I'm Paul Yeager. This is the MtoM podcast, a production of Iowa PBS and the Market to Market TV show. We're going to talk about food today, but from a little different perspective. We're going to talk about those who grow crops and those who eat. So basically all of us, but in a different way with the Iowa Food Systems Coalition, we're going to talk with their new executive director, Chris Schwartz.  He is going to fill us in about the 40 groups that are involved in making sure that we can get different types of food, fresh food, then maybe what's grown on a regular basis, not replacing things, not making wholesale changes, but just different ways that we can feed ourselves. That's our discussion this week in the MToM podcast. If you have any feedback for me, send me an email at Paul Dot Yeager at Iowa pbs.org. New episodes of this podcast come out each and every Tuesday. Now let's get to Chris. Before we started rolling, we were talking about Dubuque and Waterloo, northeast Iowa. Once. You don't. Have you ever strayed from northeast Iowa or is it. It's kind of hard to leave, isn't it?

[Schwartz] No. I grew up in Dubuque and then came to at first, Cedar Falls to go to school at the University of Northern Iowa and ended up staying here in the in the Cedar Valley.

[Yeager] It's one of those spots that, you know, fondness for me. The picture behind me is Buchanan County. okay. So I'm very familiar with the thing to the broader audience outside of Iowa, Waterloo and Dubuque, two very strong, manufacturing industrial towns with raft packing for a number of years. John Deere, manufacturing is at the heart. And in a sense, agriculture really?

[Schwartz] Yep. no. Absolutely. yeah. The huge implications on the history of agriculture, on both, both communities, whether we're talking about the advent of the, the tractor and all that. manufacturing that happens here, or we're talking about the farm crisis and the implications that we still see today and the reverberations, that have lasted generations on these communities.

[Yeager] In Waterloo, particularly, I think about, one of the hard things was watching friends parents get laid off from Deere, but it did create, entrepreneurial opportunities. New businesses started, but lots of people left. But agriculture still has this strong, fingerprint on both communities and still on its future. how do you think the region still views agriculture?

[Schwartz] I think that I think all across Iowa, people still feel that connection to agriculture, either because they're there, employed in it or adjacent to it, or because, like my family, they have, you know, just a generation ago, you know, the family farm, there was still operating. my grandmother, who's 97, still lives out on the old family farm, outside of Rye in Iowa, in Delaware County. But it hasn't been a farm in our family, you know, since the 70s. when, you know, the early start to the farm crisis made the farm economics so hard for family farmers.

[Yeager] Chris, what inspired you to work in this industry that.

[Schwartz] Yeah. So I've been, a long time, community organizer and, social justice advocate. I'm serving in my third term as a county supervisor here in Black Hawk County. but I had been for a long time with the organization Americans for Democratic Action. which is an old organization founded by Eleanor Roosevelt way back in the 1940s and doing, progressive organizing on their behalf. But then I, I lost my husband, to suicide in December of 2021. And one of the traumas that impacted him through, from his childhood that stayed with him his whole life and he was even talking about in his final days, was that issue of food insecurity, and not always having enough food at home and having to walk over to your grandparents to find, you know, something to eat. And that kind of trauma of scarcity stayed with him, forever and, you know, contributed to his end. And so when I was looking for a way to, kind of come out of my grief and work in his honor, food systems, where it became such a, a clear, a clear path for that and was just the perfect opportunity for me. So I became the director of the Iowa Food System Coalition in, April of, of 2024. So I'm just under my first year with the coalition.

[Yeager] Let's talk about the coalition, because I think that sets up going back to what you just said. So tell me what the coalition is first.

[Schwartz] Yeah. So the Iowa Food System Coalition is, a coalition of 40 plus, foods, the state of Iowa, that is sustainable. That is just, and that revitalizes, economies both rural and urban, as well as it addresses the issues of food insecurity. And so, this past July, we released our food system plan Setting the Table for All Iowans, which is a 200 page document that maps out what we think needs to happen in the next ten years for the state of Iowa, to have a thriving and resilient and economically vibrant, food system and so we work on, everything from, infrastructure needs to, to, local policy and state policy and, you know, business development and, environmental stewardship. And so there's, nine different priority areas within the plan. And each of those has, corresponding priority team within the coalition that works together.

[Yeager]

Hey, you have a need here. We have a need there. Let's get together. how open are people to trying to connect? What's grown to what's eaten?

[Schwartz] I've very much. I mean, there's, a really strong, movement, underfoot in the state of Iowa. And it's really happening in all sorts of parts of the country that people want to feel that connection, to where their food is coming from. They understand, that it's much more resilient to have a food system that is getting so much more from local than relying on, you know, out of state. And sometimes even out of country, growers and producers that are subject to the whims of, of trade, wars of climate change and all these issues and transportation. and so that's it's really we're finding that there's a really strong appetite, for this type of, of, movement in this type of food system in the state of Iowa, people want local food. So given that it's given the option, they want to take it.

[Yeager] I think there's a strong connection to wanting local food, whether it's the pandemic brought out, the, if the packing plan is not available, let's go to the local butcher. and maybe that's where we can get processed. And they understood a little bit more. But there's also a connection, to those in political leadership who might not, are they playing politics with food right now? Some of the elected leaders in the state.

[Schwartz] you know, there's, you know, politics definitely gets played with food. we saw, you know, the turning down now, two years in a row of, summer empty benefits. correct my math at the top of my head. That was close to $20 million. that could have come into the state for an investment of just under $1 million to administer. And so, just turning down, even if that was just an economic stimulus package and wasn't about getting food on the hands of needy people, and struggling families, you wouldn't turn that down unless you were playing politics with it. And so I'll be curious to see what we have. There's always opportunity to change, always opportunity to, do something different and reverse course. So, we're hopeful the different decision is made for this next, for this next summer. but the summer following the summer has been made for this summer already. but, we also see at the same time, a lot of momentum and interest in local foods, you know, last year with the Chew's Iowa, purchasing, assistance program, this became, of course, choose Iowa. First of all, is the state's branding program for promoting local, locally grown and produced, food in the state. under that, there's a couple of programs that the coalition really advocates for, including the, the purchasing pilot that the legislature passed last year, which, allocated an initial $225,000 to food banks to assist them in the purchasing of, locally grown and produced, food. We'd like to see that the program was highly successful. And so one of our legislative assets here is to turn that program into a permanent, program. And and at least double the funding that's going into that, because that's really strong economic stimulus. So, we might see, you know, hurdles in some areas like summer ABC, but we see lots of great momentum, with the state for the first time in history last year, putting dollars behind the purchasing a local foods.

[Yeager] What we're seeing at the federal level, we've seen it in Iowa. There's a heavy scrutiny on every dollar of government dollars spent on programs. And in you talk about economic stimulus. you know, it's the spend one from the government and two in the private sector or whatever, the public private partnership, whatever that is, however you want to call it. Over the years that has been called, do you feel that there's more scrutiny now on when you make that ask, of those government dollars for those those programs back in communities?

[Schwartz] I think that, we kind of entered into this work with a high level of scrutiny. but we've been able to, you know, prove, the effectiveness of this, that the people do see that when you're, you know, putting money into, local farmers, and local producers that are providing food that's eaten at schools and at food banks and, and restaurants, that those dollars are circulating over and over again, in the community, we see that the, you know, the USDA usually estimates that, MBT programs, you have, between a 1.5 and, and so even sometimes 2.2 multiplier impact, that's a higher return rate than, you know, any other form of infrastructure gets. and I, as a county supervisor, I love bridges, I love roads and all that stuff. and it's all an important part of what we do to, keep our economies running. but they don't even match the economic stimulus that investments in food do. And so, you know, we were able to, rise to that scrutiny by just proving the effectiveness of, local foods as a, as a solution for, struggling economies, for communities that are losing people, which we have, plethora of across the state of Iowa. And so we really just see so many opportunities and a lot of, you know, bipartisan energy and interest behind what we're doing.

[Yeager] You are a supervisor of a county that has a community that's 80 or 90,000 people, but it also has communities that are 500 to 2000. What's the difference in those two communities in helping them? connect growers, fine growers. and is there a difference between that smaller community and the larger community?

[Schwartz] Yeah. So there's a lot of really great work that's done here in the Cedar Valley by, out of you and I, the C triple E, and the Cedar Valley Regional Food and Farm Network. And so they, they've really done a good job of even, connecting, both, urban, growers, and, and, rural growers together. And so there is, you know, efforts to, you know, include, multiple sources into, like, a mini, food hub here, which is, a really exciting development, but I think that's, what belie the some of the big differences that you'll see. so land access is an issue, whether we're talking rural or we're talking talking urban. And so, land is expensive in the state of Iowa, especially agricultural land. but in the city, you'll face the additional hurdles of, you know, sometimes you need, you know, the Board of Adjustments to sign off on your ability to put up a hoop house in a location, or you struggle to get cities to see, local food production, as, you know, economic stimulus. So they're not able to get that vacant lot, that sweet deal on a vacant lot that you might get for a convenience store instead. And so, and that's just not specific to the, to any one community that's, you know, true across across the state. And so that's one thing we'll be working on after this legislative session is, is local ordinances that we recommend, and local practices that we recommend for, for both counties and cities to, to just help create, a thriving, and welcoming environment for local foods.

[Yeager] When I think of the big fields around you to the east north that I'm most familiar with, I there's some farmers that do two, maybe three crops. is that a is that a conversation you can enter in with? you know, whether it's a big time operator that, you know, we like to call them, but, to say, have you thought about not necessarily a hoop house, but, a couple of, you know, an acre or two into something different? There might be a different type of food. Is is that a conversation you're ready to have?

[Schwartz] Yeah. That's, that's a conversation that that's being had, by a number of, farmers that are already diversifying their crops because they're seeing, you know, it's it comes down to that, resiliency question, to rely on, you know, the corn can have a really bad year. Soybean could have a really bad year. the markets are very unpredictable. With the threat of a possible trade war, it's prices could drop even more. and so we view this and many, you know, where people are is peaking their interest in what are some of these other specialty crops, whether it's produce or fruits or specialty grains, that they can be growing to really diversify both what they're doing with their land, but also, add more resiliency to their, to their income.

[Yeager] What are some of the, the success stories that you're having in those conversations?

[Schwartz] Our success stories that we're having? I think that you see, with the, under the, the, the Biden administration, there was the local foods, purchasing assistance that brought in millions and millions of dollars into the state to assist in the purchasing a local foods. And people were able to, really build, their farm off of those, those dollars and be able to rely on those, those contracts. And so really, you know, seeing the, the number of sales that just increased dramatically into, our food hubs across the state of Iowa, this last year is just over $2.5 million of sales going through those. and a large part of that was stimulated by that, by that program. And so we, really hope that and that it's been recommitted to already.

[Schwartz] And we really hope that that, commitments from the federal government stands, during this period of great question on, on federal funding sources.

[Yeager] If government funding isn't as is, it comes in different forms. If it comes at all, where does your conversation then have to flip to private industry nonprofits to maybe fill in gaps that where there becomes need or, again, building bridges between two different communities.

[Schwartz] Yeah. It's, so it's critical that we, continue to be able to support the work of food hubs and people that are value chain coordinators that are making those connections, between farmers and, and, and markets. and so if, if federal support, you know, halts for that and this would be a big this would be a big economic tragedy for the state of Iowa if we all of a sudden lost out on over $6 million that, we were expecting to go in to communities, rural and urban, for economic stimulus and local food production. But we would, you know, have to turn to, and we are we already are. We work with private, foundations. to, to build supports. and also, you know, there's, big efforts underway with our food and business development team that is, that is working on creating markets, with, you know, the big sellers like Hy-Vee, in the state. And so, there's a lot of opportunity there. to be just working directly in the retail space to improve the, the, the increase the foothold for, local foods.

[Yeager] Do local foods, the movement as a whole, do they face more challenges in states where there's a lot of farmers but not diversity in the crops they grow? Yeah, I think that, when you look at, where we're at with the local foods movement compared to, some states, you know, in, like the New England region or, and, and even Michigan and some of it is that they had, you know, a more diverse topography that was more conducive to just small farms rather than the large scale operations that we have. And, we do and it's largely it's the land access question. when the price of agricultural land is just out of reach for so many folks that are trying to begin and start, that's one of the really big effects of, making it more challenging. it's not so much, competing with you know, just the, the we always know that there's going to be a place for row crops. And so we're not saying it has to be one or the other, you know, like, it's not that at all. It's just carving out, a big enough slice of the pie. so we can have food. Farming, which can be done on takes far less land to grow, produce than it does.

[Yeager] Well, some of those areas in, I think, of larger cities. I'm thinking of a program in Detroit, that I'm familiar with that, utilizes a lot of the urban farming concept. The. We've got three vacant lots. We've somehow gotten some soil together, enough to be healthy enough to grow neighborhoods, and. And we're working as a group. Is that an idea that can work when housing prices and the demand for housing. There's, again, those two, different sides in on off. Not I won't say opposite ends, but two different interests for when they see an open track of land.

[Schwartz] Yeah. No, that's, that's why, we have to continue to continue making the argument that, local food is economic development. and, that this is what helps grow our one of the things that can help grow our community and make it a more exciting and interesting place that the people want to stay, people that want to come back to after school, people want to retire, too. So this is this is all, you know, part of that picture of, of, you know, the things that we need to do to, to make Iowa a place that's, that's going to grow and not shrink and that lose our younger generations.

[Yeager] If you had to. I know you're only you're fairly new on the position. but local food, has that changed in your lifetime? in understanding what that means? Or has that definition changed of what local food is?

[Schwartz] Yeah, I think it's, it's become a little more clear, I think, for folks. But I think that when I think about my lifetime of my experience with local foods, you know, we would grow up. We were the Dubuque Farmers Markets, a wonderful farmers market. It was the first one in the state, historically actually used to be held in the city hall, when City Hall was built. And that's why the windows are the way they are, because the wagons would back up and unload the things right into, City Hall, which is really fascinating history. But so I grew up with access to this wonderful, farmers market. But also being growing up, just one generation separated. you know, my mother grew up on, on the dairy farm, through my, grandparents, owned, and so I kind of always understood kind of that connection that, that, you know, my family, we were just farmers one generation ago. But also seeing, my true understanding of the local foods movements really started when I, you know, became a student at the University of Northern Iowa. after come here. And Cheyenne, was the director of the center for Energy and Environmental Education and was is, great local foods pioneer. And so I was, through his, leadership on campus was really exposed to a lot of, the local foods movements. And it's just been it's been exciting to see, you know, it's it's gone in both directions at the same time. Since then, that we've seen, you know, a stronger local foods movement. There's stronger interest. But at the same time, we're losing, you know, local family farms, you know, left and right, whether they're dairy farms, you're not seeing the animals aren't on the land anymore. All you have to do is drive around and see that, you know, the fences are gone, the animals are gone. the the agricultural and food system, landscape has changed dramatically, even just in my lifetime.

[Yeager] I also think about our our geography in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Nebraska. The farmers market doesn't happen in December, January, February. We we we struggle to have those months, fulfilled. But I think of Minnesota. There's a very large tomato grower. That's right along I-35, and there's other greenhouses that are growing produce for year round consumption so that my lettuce doesn't necessarily have to travel 12 states or get on a truck for a long period of time. is it the reason that plant could, I'm guessing can go in Minnesota is because the large grocer has said, I have customers that want that local food. Is it going to be or are we all going to benefit if a large company makes, a demand of its suppliers that they're able to provide year round, locally sourced food?

[Schwartz] Yeah, no, we do. And that's, I we've got two different priority teams within the coalition. one that works on the infrastructure that's needed. to have that, what's whether it's, helping folks write, grants, one of the programs we're advocating for in the, the legislature this year, also falls under the Choose Iowa program, but this is their value added, innovation grants that, go out to, to just improve the, production capacity of, of local foods. So if you so one example is, something there's a couple things that make the local foods, more accessible on a Year-Round basis. you, you referenced, you know, large scale greenhouses, and hoop houses and cold frames and those are that's one part of it. The other part of it is increasing the amount of local food processing. And so if you, that's why you've got, places like, Camp Creek, outside of Colonna. really great. produce farm, you know, they've added, with the help of cheese Iowa Innovation grants, they've been able to add, you know, things like, freezing and and chopping so that they can, you know, harvest sweet potatoes, but then serve, you know, market them to, to restaurants and schools, on a more year round basis. And so there's, there's, you know, so many that's why we have we also have the business development team that I referenced that's already working with Hy-Vee to, to help fill what they know that their customers already watch, which is local food in the aisles.

[Yeager] And usually the local food has, a better financial return for those that grow it. And there's not necessarily that middle person that takes a little bite out of the crime. I mean, you can think of the Senator Grassley, testimony of the, you know, how much of the corn field goes into the corn Flakes or the loaf of bread, but when it's a sweet potato grown in Jones County, Iowa, that money stays in Jones County, Iowa, more than it does anywhere else. And so, I mean, it all comes down to dollars and cents for so many of these people involved in our facility. I know absolutely it does. And, when that local farmer, that local potato farmer is able to add some level of processing right there on their farm, then much more of that dollar stays, in their pocket in their community. right now, you know, so much of the, the, the money in the groceries in the supermarket is tied up in, these large processors. It's not the farmer getting largest share of the dollar. it's these large processors that, have giant marketing campaigns and giant, you know, production facilities, you know, largely not here in the state of Iowa.

[Yeager] As we wrap up here. Chris, think about someone who's maybe more of a traditional farmer and eater. Let's think of the both sides, the gate and the plate, that are involved here. Why is local food important? Make me give me one final pitch here in this movie.

[Schwartz] So local food is important because it is a resilient option, for a future that is going to help us, rejuvenate and protect the land here in the state of Iowa. it's going to rejuvenate and revitalize, economies all across the state. And it's much better quality. I was lucky to purchase, half beef this year. So what we're talking about, and it was, from a cow ground right here in Waterloo from southern goods, and grazing cattle. And so it's we're not talking about we're not saying you got to go vegetarian when we're talking about local foods. we're not saying, you know, that's, all bro cropping or all commodity crops are bad. We're just saying that we'd have a much more resilient future if we carve out a much larger space for local foods here in the state.

[Yeager] All right, Chris, thank you so very much for your time. I appreciate it.

[Schwartz]  No thank you. Thanks, Paul.

[Yeager] Thank you for watching. We will see you next Tuesday with another new installment of the MTom podcast.