(Radio Iowa) - The Iowa Food System Coalition wants to make locally-produced food the norm, not the exception, and is releasing a 250-page plan to get there in a decade.
One priority is to make it easier to get food from the farm to the table, by supporting more local and regional infrastructure, like small-scale processing for specialty crops, grains, dairy and livestock. Coalition executive director Chris Schwartz says more than 40 partners across Iowa helped shape the plan. Schwartz says the plan aims to make Iowa's food system more nutritious and more environmentally sustainable.
Strategies include improving farmers’ access to land and expanding incentives to adopt practices that protect Iowa’s soil, water and air. The coalition also wants to invest in more refrigerated trucks and food hubs, which aggregate and distribute local products.