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Plan ahead for a successful fair experience. Use these guidelines to help select an acceptable product for exhibit, find an approved recipe source, and identify the appropriate preparation method.

This replaces 4H 3023 - Inappropriate Food Exhibits For Iowa 4-H Fairs.

Many communities have Blessing Boxes, Parking Lot Pantries, or similar efforts to offer easy access to foods and other items for people in need, which helps improve food security. Such boxes also are convenient places for people to donate food and other items. However, because these pantries are normally outside and subject to extreme temperatures in various seasons of the year, not all foods are safe to donate. It is critical that foods available through “Blessing Boxes” are as safe and nutritious as possible to truly be a blessing to those using the boxes.

Fermented foods are low-acids foods (typically fruits and vegetables) subjected to the action of acid-producing microorganisms to reduce the pH of the food to 4.6 or below. Examples of fermented foods are sauerkraut, some pickles, kimchi, and kombucha.

Freezing and dehydrating produce commodities, including fruits, vegetables, and nuts, are ways to increase the shelf life of the produce. Freezing can preserve freshness and quality.

Freezing does not kill bacteria on the product but it does prevent microbes from growing. Once a food is thawed, bacteria begin to grow and can spoil the produce, or if pathogenic (harmful), can cause foodborne illness. Be sure to store the fruit or vegetable at 0°F or below for the duration of its frozen life.

This publication summarizes the role of 4-H in fairs. Learn the many ways that fairs provide 4-H members with unique learning experiences, the purpose of exhibit evaluation, the importance of showcasing, the role of fairs, the objectives of 4-H fairs for young people in Iowa 4-H, and the objectives of 4-H fairs for the community.

In this publication, we examine current levels of awareness and understanding about GEFs, broken down by demographics, social attitudes, and information sources. Our purpose is to gauge public perceptions of this emerging food technology to inform policy discussions and educational efforts around GEFs. Our data comes from a nationally representative sample of 2,000 US residents surveyed in 2020, taken from YouGov’s National Omnibus Panel.

The popularity of local foods has increased significantly in the last few decades, pushed along in recent years by a heightened interest of consumers in buying local and sustainably-grown foods. Municipalities are increasingly recognizing the multiple benefits of urban agriculture. As the urban agriculture movement has advanced, many have recognized the role that local government policies and regulations play in either stifling or facilitating the production, processing and distribution of local foods.

This guidebook focuses on the intersection of local foods and municipal zoning. It is written to provide Iowa city officials information and sample code language for reducing the barriers to, and/or encouraging some of the most common production and sales activities associated with urban agriculture.

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling low acid or fermented foods. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling red meat. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling poultry. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling dairy products. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling seafood. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling eggs. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling jams, jellies and preserves. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling fruit and vegetable juice. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling cut fruits and vegetables. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling whole fruits and vegetables. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

As new agriculture entrepreneurs consider producing and marketing food products and current producers seek new markets, they need to conduct preliminary research to determine if there are rules, regulations, certifications, or licenses required for their product or selected market. This publication will help determine the requirements for processing and selling honey and maple syrup. The included flowchart will guide Iowa producers and processors to the appropriate state agencies or departments.
MarketingLocalFoodsinIowa

Building strong coalitions and partnerships are essential to the success of an organization. A series of four publications by the Iowa State Extension and Outreach Local Foods team introduces the importance of coalitions and how evaluating those partnerships can be helpful. The series looks at how to develop coalitions, what to do when coalitions have been established and how to evaluate a mature coalition.

Each publication includes questions to ask to evaluate the health of the partnership at each stage of the relationship.

Growing in the Garden: Local Foods and Healthy Living is designed for youth gardening programs, community neighborhood gardens, farm to school programs, Ag in the Classroom and Master Gardening projects for grades 4-12. The curriculum is very adaptable to other ages as well.

The seven units address questions such as:

• Why do people garden?
• How do you plan, plant, maintain and harvest a garden?
• How do you store and prepare garden produce?

Youth-serving organizations in Iowa are encouraged to contact their local Iowa State University Extension and Outreach county office to explore partnership opportunities in administering this program. Additional information on this program is available on the Connecting Learning and Living webpage.

Find tips for handling food when your home freezer stops. Includes tips on which foods are safe to refreeze and which foods are not.