11/12/2025
Trump's cuts hit us hard in January, right out of the gate. We were already trying to make some major adjustments, but finally found a path to selling to schools and food banks. It had been a dream of mine for years, but after spending everything on expanding, paired with the uncertainty of years dealing with a broken food system, I knew any decision made was risky. However, without the kind of contracts the government was finally offering, the only answer was to pause and readjust yet again. The numbers here would suggest that happened to a lot of small producers. If you are worried about grocery bills or concerned about the lack of options for fresh, locally grown products, these cuts did more to wreck that supply chain than any negligence from years of being pushed aside. When we started, they told us there just weren't many programs, and then we finally got some help, and they pulled the rug out from all the people working hard and risking their funds to fill the holes and bring healthy food to your community. Its nice to see a good write up that can explain it better than me. Its too hard to be objective looking up from the bottom of a hole after yelling about the problem for years. We'll be back and trying something even bigger but this period of bad governance will have lasting effects for years.
Report: Growing number of local food businesses close to 1,500 in Iowa
11/12/25 News
(An Iowa Capital Dispatch story) - A new report from the Iowa Food System Coalition shows that Iowa has 1,461 local food businesses spread across the state. Coalition staff said the report shows the economic viability of local food businesses across the levels of the food system. Bob Ferguson, who serves on the Farm and Food Business priority team with the coalition, said the report showed an increase in the number of on-farm stores, farm stands and local food businesses from previous estimations. “There’s more there than one would suspect,” he said. “There needs to be a lot more, but there’s already robust local infrastructure that interacts with itself to provide local goods and services.”
The businesses, which include food farmers, processors, food hubs and more, are spread across the state, with greater concentration around Iowa’s largest cities. The majority, or 1,074, of the businesses are farmers and food producers. Meat and food processors make up the next highest category, with 189 meat processors and 47 food processors in the state. The report identified between 10 and 26, per category, of local wineries, restaurants, retail stores, groceries and dairy manufacturers in Iowa. The remaining categories had fewer than 10 businesses each identified in the state: grade A dairies, breweries, coffee, food hubs, raw milk, uncategorized, grain mills, caterers, distributors and private chef services.
The report defined local food businesses as producers that sell direct to consumer, strategic supply chain partners and some large volume distribution services that make “substantial and effective efforts to produce or market source-identified local foods.” Ferguson said the food system has become heavy at the top level and at at the small-scale level, but has been “hollowed” in the middle. The report that shows the number and spread of local food businesses, he said, shows that “infrastructure at the middle is still there.” Ferguson predicts the number of businesses will only continue to grow in the state.
In addition to providing local food infrastructure and economic impact, Ferguson said these local business also provide a “powerful sense of placemaking” or the “coolness factor” that helps people “feel great about being where they are,” which he said is important for rural development. The report analyzed online directories, like the state’s Choose Iowa network, various food hubs, farmers market databases and registries for licensed dairy and meat processing plants. Because the report only makes use of regularly updated online lists, the coalition notes it is “likely an under-count” of local food businesses.
The coalition hopes future iterations of the report will also include business that don’t have an online presence.
Pictured: Farmers Market (USDA photo)
