The Scaling Up Specialty Crop Processing Toolkit provides an overview of criteria for food businesses interested in processing specialty crops through value-added processing opportunities such as product development, commercial kitchens, increasing scales, and more. The project focuses on locally owned businesses and intentionally collaborated with local businesses within the supply chain to determine critical needs. Project participation included: survey and site visits of 15 businesses and organizations; technical assistance with four businesses and organizations across the state of Iowa; and development of this toolkit to share best practices and considerations for businesses and extension agents in their efforts to develop value-added specialty crop products. This toolkit includes four areas of interest based on research. The first three focus on specific business needs: food safety, business development, and logistics, with the last focusing on community development process of visioning and strategic planning.

This is the first of four bulletins that discuss the findings of a local food system research project, Engaging Community Planners and Local Elected Officials with Local Food Systems Producers to Integrate Local Food Systems into Community Plans and Policies, funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.

This bulletin provides an overview of the project and three subsequent bulletins provide details on the substantive findings of the project.

This is the second of four bulletins that discuss the findings of a local food system research project, Engaging Community Planners and Local Elected Officials with Local Food Systems Producers to Integrate Local Food Systems into Community Plans and Policies, funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.

This bulletin presents the context and options for addressing, defining, and administering the agricultural exemption to county zoning found in Iowa Code 335.2.

This is the third of four bulletins that discuss the findings of a local food system research project, Engaging Community Planners and Local Elected Officials with Local Food Systems Producers to Integrate Local Food Systems into Community Plans and Policies, funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.

This bulletin presents the context and options for addressing smart growth practices, and their impacts on agriculture in and near city limits through local plans, policies and land use regulations.

This is the second of four bulletins that discuss the findings of a local food system research project, Engaging Community Planners and Local Elected Officials with Local Food Systems Producers to Integrate Local Food Systems into Community Plans and Policies, funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.

This bulletin presents the context and options for addressing the lack of recognition of local food systems as an economic development opportunity.