LFC Newsletter

Publicity for Local Foods Connection

We want to take a moment to brag about the attention Local Foods Connection has received lately. And we have to thank all the wonderful people who make our work successful, exciting and newsworthy. These people include our clients, volunteers, farmers and donors – most of you reading this newsletter! Furthermore, we want to acknowledge the writers and publications who are talking about us. Thank you!

A.  A Cook’s Journey: Slow Food in the Heartland

http://www.icecubepress.com/html/cook_s_journey.html

Great journeys are often inspired by simple questions and observations. Join Chef Kurt Michael Friese (Devotay, Iowa City) as he travels through our nation’s Heartland. One chapter is dedicated to Local Foods Connection!

When he recognized that the epicenters of the world’s different culinary heritages have always been in the heart of a nation’s grain belt, whether it be France, India, China, Italy, or Germany, he realized that great food must be waiting to be discovered all across the American Heartland. So he went looking, from Ohio to Oklahoma to North Dakota, thirteen states in all. His intuition was right – the center of our country truly is a fascinating, varied and healthy culinary region, with far more stories than would fit in one book.

B.  Farmers’ Markets Today

http://www.farmersmarketstoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=1

Follow the link and read the article in the July/August 2008 issue written by Caroline Gottschalk-Druschke: “Local Foods Connection Combats Hunger and Supports Small Farmers: Non-profit organization creates new market for farmers and introduces low-income Iowans to fresh local produce.

Farmers’ Markets Today is a must-have magazine for successful planning, implementing and selling of farm produce direct to consumers.  Find out what farmers markets across the U.S. are doing to succeed. Learn innovative strategies for direct selling and promotion. Sound off on issues affecting direct market farmers and sustainable agriculture.

C. Today’s Dietitian

http://www.todaysdietitian.com/

The June 2008 issue of Today’s Dietitian featured a great article on Local Foods Connection written by David Yeager.

Yeager interviewed LFC Executive Director, Laura Dowd, and the resulting feature story, “Local Foods Connection: Matching Needy Families with Healthy Resources,” focuses on the specific challenges faced by low-income families in accessing fresh, local produce. Yeager was quick to pick up on the fact that LFC does more than simply provide CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares to low-income families; just as essential are the educational opportunities provided by LFC for its clients. As Laura explains in the feature, “I found that [clients] don’t recognize so many of the vegetables, they don’t have the equipment to prepare the vegetables, they haven’t really cooked much fresh food in their life, and their neighbors and their families don’t have experience doing this. And so they were calling me and saying, ‘Laura, what the heck do I do with this stuff?’ So we had to slowly integrate more and more educational opportunities.”

What really comes across in the Today’s Dietitian feature is the spirit of fun and enthusiasm that runs through Local Foods Connection; it’s important to everyone at LFC that our clients enjoy their relationship with LFC, as they learn a lot of useful information, try new foods, and have new experiences. Yeager also keyed in on the fact that LFC cares as much about local farmers as we do about our clients. As our name implies, that magic of LFC comes from connecting eaters, farmers, and advocates to promote healthy eating and to support local food systems.

D.  Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association Everyday Heroes Award

http://www.hooverassociation.org/

Each year on the first Saturday in August, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association celebrates Herbert’s Hoover’s birthday at Hooverfest. Visitors enjoy entertainment, food, arts and craft throughout the day. The event ends with a wreath-laying ceremony, a special tribute to Iowa’s Everyday Heroes, and fabulous fireworks display choreographed to music. Local Foods Connection was one of the service organizations recognized as an “Everyday Hero.”

Other organizations which received an award included: The Iowa National Guard, The Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Illinois, The American Red Cross, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American Cancer Society, among others. Local Foods Connection was honored to be named among these great organizations and thrilled to take part in the wonderful ceremony.