edible

IOWA RIVER VALLEY®

Celebrating Local Food Across Iowa
Number 19 :: Spring, 2011

Iowa
Women
in
Food
and
Farming

www.EdibleIowa.com Member of Edible Communities

Spring, 2011 eiFriends
In This Issue All of us at Edible Iowa are proud to call these folks our
Friends. They understand the importance of support-
ing local farms, local food, and the local economy.
5 Grist for the Mill Be sure to visit the eiFriends listed here, and thank
them for supporting local, sustainable food and Edible
7 Rebooting an Icon Iowa River Valley. You can also follow many of them
About the cover... via Edible’s regular posts on Facebook and Twitter.

8 Saving Seeds, Sharing Stories To join our growing list of eiFriends, please contact us
How Diane Ott Whealy helped bring back at 319.337.7885 or Kim@EdibleIowa.com
heirlooms—by Renee Brincks
Backyard Abundance—pg. 27
10 Honey Creek Goats El Banditos—pg. 21
Iowa’s first and only certified organic goat Bur Oaks Farm—pg. 33
cheese—by Michael Brownlee Cafe del Sol Roasting—pg. 26
Chelsea Green Publishing—pg. 36
14 Women and Food Classic Smiles—pg. 33
It starts with the land—by Sue Futrell Colony Inn—pg. 33
Devotay—pg. 6
16 Season to Season Edible Bazaar—pg. 23
Radishes Edible Marketplace—pg. 35
Edible Radio—pg. 33
17 Subscription Information The Englert Theatre—pg. 24
Fireside Winery—pg. 20
Freighthouse Farmers Market—pg. 24
18 Farming as Art Form Great River Brewery—pg. 27
Judy Beuter’s Love of Livestock and the
Iowa City-Coralville CVB—pg. 27
Land—by Mary Blackwood
Iowa City Farmers Market—pg. 21
Jasper Winery—pg. 26
23 Edible Bazaar John’s Grocery—pg. 26
L. May—pg. 26
25 2011 Local Heroes Local Foods Connection—pg. 24
We asked, you answered! Locally Grown Clothing—pg. 20
MC Ginsberg—pg. 4
28 Proof Positive MidWestOne Bank—pg. 21
Back of the House with Carly Groben of Des Mote Wealth Management—pg. 21
Moines’ Proof Restaurant—by Brian Morelli New Pioneer Co-op—pg. 16
Oneota Community Co-op—pg. 24
30 Pantry Raid Peace Tree Brewing—pg. 20
A Girl’s Best Friend—by Kim McWane Friese Pepper Sprout—pg. 13
Pet Central Station—pg. 20
32 Women “Fixing” Food Robinson Family Wellness—pg. 26
The Women, Food, and Agriculture Rubaiyat—pg. 13
Network—by Leigh Adcock SavvyRest—pg. 20
Seed Savers Exchange—pg. 13
34 The Last Word Shaklee—pg. 13
An Appreciation of Joan Dye Gussow’s Share—pg. 21
Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, Tabor Home Winery—pg. 24
and Vegetables—by Kim McWane Friese Tassel Ridge Winery—pg. 2
Templeton Rye—pg. 13
Twin Image Salon & Spa—pg. 13
Terri Wiebold—pg. 4
University of Iowa Sustainability—pg. 33
VisitDecorah.com—pg. 6
On the cover: Women, Food, & Agriculture Network—pg. 15
Burrowing Owl Farm’s Allie Gnade by Kurt Michael Friese

Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 3

 edible
IOWA RIVER VALLEY ®
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & PUBLISHER
Kurt Michael Friese
MANAGING EDITOR
Kim McWane Friese
WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
Leigh Adcock Sue Futrell
Mary Blackwood Brian Morelli
Renee Brincks Dan McRoberts
Michael Brownlee
DESIGNED BY
Kurt Michael Friese
PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE FROM
Thomas Agran
CONTACT US
Edible Iowa River Valley
22 Riverview Drive, NE
Iowa City, Iowa 52240-7973
Telephone: 319.337.7885
www.EdibleIowa.com — info@EdibleIowa.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Edible Iowa River Valley takes pride in providing its
subscribers with fast, friendly service.
Subscribe • Give a Gift • Buy an Ad
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Edible Iowa River Valley is published with the seasons by River
Valley Press, LLC. All rights reserved. Subscription rate is $28
annually. (See page 17) No part of this publication may be used
in any form without written permission from the publisher.
©2011.
Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings, and omissions.
If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our
sincere apologies and notify us. Thank you.

Proudly printed in Iowa.

4 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011

grist for
the mill

Dear Eater,

March 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of

International Women’s Day (March 8th, to be
specific), a global holiday celebrating the role of women
in society. Globally, women continue to take primary responsi-
bility for caring for their families and the land. In many countries
women grow 75 percent of the food people eat and are on the frontlines of the
fight to end hunger and preserve the environment. Yet women are often treated un-
fairly, with the result that 75 percent of the world’s hungry are female. Oxfam America is
working to change this by supporting women worldwide to challenge discrimination and
develop solutions to feed their families. Join us on March 3rd in Ames for a free interactive meal
where you’ll hear the personal story of a woman-farmer, learn how women are feeding the world, and lend your voice in
support of their efforts. For directions or to RSVP, email Stephen at Iowa.ActionCorps@gmail.com If you can't make the event but want to be in-
volved, visit www.OxfamActionCorps.org.
In this spring issue of Edible Iowa, our 19th, we bring you stories of just a few of the women who are making a difference on Iowa’s local, sustain-
able food scene. e story behind our cover image kicks off the issue on page 7, then from one icon to another, Renee Brincks brings you the
story of Seed Savers Exchange co-founder Dianne Ott Whealy and examines some of the important work she has done and is doing to protect
our heirloom seed heritage.
Just a stones throw from the Missouri river, just north of Council Bluffs, sits the tiny town of Honey Creek, and that’s where Michael Brownlee
met Stanley, the friendliest goat in the herd that is part of the first certified organic goat dairy in Iowa. Michael spent a day strolling the hills
there with Honey Creek Creamery owners Sharon Oamek snf Janna Feldman.
Sue Futrell takes the broad view with a look at the many roles women have taken in the modeern Iowa food and farming scene, and then new Edible contributor
Mary Blackwood brings it back down to earth as she spends a day with Solon livestock farmer Judy Beuter.
Brian Morelli’s Back of the House column is back with a portrait of Carly Groben, owner of two restaurants in downtown Des Moines, Proof, and Flour. Not
only was she recently a James Beard Award semifinalist for best chef-Midwest last year, but Edible Iowa’s loyal readers voted her Best Chef in our annual Local Heroes
reader survey (more on that below). We’ve also brought you a Pantry Raid with the University of Iowa’s Michele Conlon, as well as an overview of one of our fa-
vorite non-profits, the Women, Food and Agriculture Network.
In the last word, Edible Managaing Editor Kim McWane Friese has an appreciation of Joan Dye Gussow and her latest book, Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death,
Life, and Vegetables.
Last but certainly not least, as mentioned, you’ll find this year’s Local Heroes revealed on page 25, and we thank the hundreds of readers who
took the time to go online last fall and vote. is was our fourth year doing the awards and they’ll be back again this fall for another round.

With Relish,

PS: We are all over the Internet, with active streams on Twitter and Facebook, as well as our fantastic new podcast, e Blue Plate Special, on
www.EdibleRadio.com, hosted by Kurt and his sister Christine. Tune In, Turn On, Eat Up!

Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 5

6 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011
 Rebooting an Icon
About the cover...
As soon as the decision
was made to commemo-
rate the 100th anniver-
sary of International
Women’s Day with an
issue dedicated to
women in food and
farming in Iowa, the
idea or recreating the
iconic “Rosie the
Riveter” image came
to mind. How bet-
ter, after all, to em-
phasize the growing
importance of Iowa’s
women in the local, sus-
tainable food movement
than to demonstrate how
vital and integral women
have always been to our
growth and security.
The original Rosie the Riveter
design was commisioned by the
Westinghouse Company’s War
Production Coordinating Com-
mittee from Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller. He in turn based
the now iconic “We Can Do It!” poster on a United Press photo-
graph taken of Lansing, Michigan, factory worker Geraldine
Doyle, who passed away just last December at the age of 86.
Edible Iowa’s tribute to Geraldine, Rosie, and the women of
Iowa’s sustainable foods began with a simple photo shoot with
Iowa City’s Allie Gnade. Editor of New Pioneer Co-op’s maga-
zine The Catalyst, Allie is also a “microfarmer” and a baker.
Readers will remember her from our “Notables” section some
time ago, where we talked about the amazing meringues and tarts
she and partner Thomas Agran produce under the name “Bur-
rowing Owl Bakery.”
An artist himself, Thomas is also a whiz with Photoshop, so Edi-
ble enlisted his help in taking the image from the plain photo to
the finished work, as detailed in the film strip on the right.
Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com
First came the mimicking of the wardrobe: the blue work shirt,
the button on the collar, and the distinctive polkadot headscarf.
Of course we needed a food angle so we threw in a crispy fresh
leek, then set about posing, framing, and shooting the image,
which was done at Allie’s parents’ store (Iowa City’s Design
Ranch, on Dodge Street).
Edible Iowa publisher Kurt Michael Friese shot a
little over 150 frames to get one that was just
right, some with and some without having Allie
smile (Rosie’s demeanor being decidedly more
determined). In the end though there was sim-
ply no rejecting that dazzling smile.
From there Thomas set to work, placing the
selected image on the yellow-and-blue back-
ground with the word balloon at the top,
just like Miller’s original poster. He then
altered the shading. Note on the film
strip how the original photo get’s
changed first with the background, then
with the darker torso to align more
closely with the original. He then
used just a little more photoshop
magic to draw Allie’s right shoul-
derblade back, and the image was
ready for the cover.
Our sincere gratitude to everyone
who helped produce the image
succesfully, from Allie and Tom
to Design Ranch and New Pio-
neer Coop. But we reserve our
heartiest thanks for the inspi-
ration for the concept, the
women of Iowa’s farms and
restaurants, just a few of
whom are profiled in this
issue. It’s good to know
Iowa’s food system has a
bright future in the
hands of these smart,
strong, savvy women.
7
 SAVING SEEDS,
SHARING STORIES
HOW DIANE OTT WHEALY HELPED BRING BACK HEIRLOOMS
BY RENEE BRINCKS
Diane Ott Whealy can easily explain what led her to co-found Seed
Savers Exchange 35 years ago, before terms like heirloom, slow food
and locavore were common in conversations of eating and gardening.
In fact, this spring she’ll release a book chronicling the nonprofit orga-
nization’s development. Rather than just tell the story, however, Ott
Whealy prefers to demonstrate what inspired her.
“Sometimes, genetic diversity is hard to describe. It’s sort of an abstract
concept. But if people can actually see peppers and squash and lettuce
and beautiful tomatoes of every size, shape and color, they can under-
stand what we’re trying to save,” she says. “It’s not just a red tomato.
It’s 20 different colors of tomatoes.”
Ott Whealy and her then husband, Kent Whealy, started Seed Savers
in 1975. The goal was to maintain genetic diversity by collecting, pre-
serving and sharing rare seed varieties traditionally passed down
through generations. Today, approximately 13,000 gardeners, farmers,
chefs and supporters hold Seed Savers memberships, and members and
non-members alike can order from the organization’s extensive collec-
tion of heirloom vegetable, fruit, flower and herb seeds.
After beginning with two seed varieties, Seed Savers’ collection has
grown to approximately 25,000 seed records. Many are grown on a ro-
tating basis at Heritage Farm, the nonprofit’s 890-acre headquarters
seven miles north of Decorah. Twenty miles south of Heritage Farm,
Ott Whealy grew up gardening with her grandparents and working on
her parents’ farm. There, she learned about stewardship and living off
the land.
“Growing up on a dairy farm, I was definitely connected to food and
gardening,” she says. “My mother had a garden, and we canned, and it
was an important part of our lives...I had a great fascination with this
land and how people provided for themselves before the introduction
of all our modern conveniences.”
As an example she cites her grandmother, who raised nine children
during the Great Depression by growing and preserving much of the
family’s food. Ott Whealy also remembers her mother planning meals
around what was in season, such as corn on the cob or strawberry
shortcake made with fresh fruit.
“We ate seasonally – it was unintentional, but that’s how we ate at that
time,” she says. “That was our natural lifestyle. I was really very fortu-
nate.”
8 www.EdibleIowa.com
When she was newly married and ready to plant her own garden, Ott
Whealy turned to her grandfather. As a child, she’d spent many after-
noons sitting among his morning glory vines, listening to him tell sto-
ries. When he shared morning glory and German pink tomato seeds to
get her started, they, too, came with a tale.
“He said his parents had actually brought that seed with them when
they immigrated to St. Lucas from Bavaria. I never knew that – I just
thought Grandpa had them, and I never thought about how they got
there,” says Ott Whealy. “It was such a living link to my ancestors...I
had family living in Germany, and now I had a part of their garden in
my hand.
The experience got the young couple thinking about how easily seeds,
and the stories behind them, could be lost or forgotten – particularly
in a place like Iowa, where families often carried seeds from other
countries when they settled the countryside. To advance the preserva-
tion and circulation of those heirloom varieties, Kent and Diane Ott
Whealy launched Seed Savers.
Initially, awareness of the organization spread through back-to-the-land
publications and word of mouth. Slowly, more and more people ex-
pressed interest. Some shared individual seeds. Others donated whole
collections of beans, tomatoes or peppers. Ott Whealy says Seed Savers
acquired some non-hybrid seeds from catalogs, and collected others on
trips to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. She credits sup-
porters nationwide for helping make the nonprofit’s collection what it
is today.
“We were so surprised and pleased that there were other people out
there encouraging us, saying, ‘Yes, we do need to save the older vari-
eties of seed, and thank you for doing this,’” she says.
Ott Whealy attributes Seed Savers’ growth to several other factors, as
well. For one, she and Whealy were eventually able to leave their full-
and part-time jobs to concentrate on building the organization and
raising their five children. In addition, a feature article in Organic Gar-
dening magazine provided national exposure that turned attention to
their efforts. As new members and grant-making foundations sup-
ported Seed Savers, the co-founders also began searching for a perma-
nent home and demonstration farm.
In 1987, Seed Savers moved to what is now Heritage Farm. About 60
employees now tend to thousands of organic heirloom fruits and
Spring, 2011
vegetables there, and the fertile, forested acres include an orchard with
pre-1900 apple varieties and a collection of grapes. To remind visitors
that the genetic diversity of livestock, like that of plants, is also threat-
ened, a herd of rare ancient white park cattle grazes the property. The
Lillian Goldman Visitors Center (open March through December)
houses a gift and garden shop, educational exhibits and event space;
this spring, nature walks, an apple grafting workshop and a plant sale
are all on the schedule. Seed Savers’ annual conference, headlined in
2011 by author and scientist Vandana Shiva, will also be held on the
grounds from July 15-17 (Edible Iowa publisher Kurt Michael Friese
will be speaking there too!).

The scope of it all surpasses Ott Whealy’s own early expectations for
the organization.

“Even in my biggest dreams, to have this beautiful farm of almost 900

acres and people coming here to help us out in our work is really more
than I could have ever imagined,” she says.

Rosalind Creasy, who wrote 17 gardening books including the recent

release, Edible Landscaping, believes Ott Whealy has played an integral
role in the development of Seed Savers as well as the larger culinary in-
dustry. Creasy, who joined the Seed Savers board of directors three
years ago, first became acquainted with the organization as she was re-
searching her first book in the late 1970s. She remembers the Seed
Savers co-founders having the vision and conviction to see their work
through at a time when the United States was moving toward mass-
produced foods transported great distances. As vegetables seemed to be
falling out of favor, Ott Whealy worked to keep natural, healthy fare in
the spotlight.

“Diane is the dynamic focus…she is one of the people who knows the
evolution of seed saving the best,” says Creasy. “She is a very firm and
loving foundation to the organization.”

Since those early years, Creasy has watched Ott Whealy share not only
gardening knowledge, but also knowledge related to canning and cook-
ing with heirloom varieties. For that reason, Creasy lists her among
women who made “a profound and unrecognized contribution to what
we now serve on the table” – including pioneers such as chef Alice Wa- Diane Ott Whealy (center), co-founder of Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah,
ters, Renee Shepherd of Renee’s Garden and the former Shepherd’s shows vistors around the glorious gardens of Heritage Farm
Seeds, and author and nursery owner Rose Marie Nichols McGee.
Creasy calls Ott Whealy’s upcoming book a good story that provides
background for “people who don’t know much about why they can go but I like to encourage people to just garden. It’s the experience that is
to the farmers’ market and get heirloom seeds, tomatoes or melons.” most helpful.”

“I just felt like the history needs to be told because it hasn’t always been Customers at all stages of gardening order different varieties from the
like this,” says Ott Whealy. “It was the result of a lot of people’s efforts Seed Savers catalog, though carrots, beans, tomatoes and moon & stars
and sacrifices and hard work over the years. That’s why Seed Savers is watermelon are among the most popular. And, not surprisingly, so is
here today.” the seed that started it all.

She sees her own role in the organization as one of nurturing, protect-
ing and promoting growth, and she finds herself inspired, in part, by
the way her mother and grandmothers approached their own work.
“The women in my life have given it their all, their heart and soul,” she
says. “They never expected to be singled out…their ego didn’t have to
be fed. Their joy was just knowing that they were doing the best they
could in providing for their family…It isn’t about the glory; it’s about
what you’re doing.”
“In general, seeds that have a story and are productive and beautiful
and practical and easy to grow are popular. Our number one seller is
probably Grandpa Ott’s Morning Glory seed, because I tell the story a
lot and it is a beautiful plant,” Ott Whealy says. “It’s interesting how
people like stories.”

As she cultivates Seed Savers’ programs and offerings, Ott Whealy also
encourages beginning gardeners not to be intimidated by growing or
saving seeds. Get Your Seeds
Seed Savers Exchange, Decorah
“When I grew up, gardening was just a natural thing. You planted the
seeds, you weeded, you hoed, you harvested. Now people think it’s To request a catalog, order seeds, register for membership or learn
more difficult than it needs to be,” she says. “They think they need more about Seed Savers Exchange, visit www.SeedSavers.org or
special tools and books, and I’m not saying you can’t have those things, call 563.382.5990.

Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 9

 Honey Creek Creamery’s mixed herd
feels right at home in Iowa’s Loess Hills
north of Council Bluffs.

While it’s not true that a goat “will eat

anything,” they will tussle over a treat
now and then

10 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011

 Honey Creek Goats
Iowa’s first and only certified organic goat cheese
Story & photos by Michael Brownlee
Stanley loves me.
On a hike through Sharon Oamek's patch of the Loess Hills, Stanley stays by my
side, walking when I do, stopping with me when I take a photo or jot down a
note.
Stanley is a 10-year-old fixed alpine goat, a male who keeps company with the fe-
male herd that makes up half of the Honey Creek Creamery operation in south-
west Iowa.
Located about 10 miles north of the Council Bluffs-Omaha, Neb., metro area,
Honey Creek Creamery is a goat dairy split between the farms of Oamek and
Janna Feldman, neighbors six miles apart who found each other by chance.
The story begins in 1999. Feldman's daughter Mia - only four at the time - had
digestive problems and the family found goat milk as a solution. So Janna and
husband Tom bought a goat. “That’s what truly helped. Their milk is naturally
homogenized, that's why it's so much better for the elderly and children." Feld-
man said. "And if it's fresh and cold it's a wonderful milk. So that's what we
drink.”
Feldman found that to keep the milk fresh and flowing she had to breed her
does. “I had three, then four… it was a natural progression,” she said. “So I had
my goats and I was milking.”
That same year Sharon moved to Honey Creek from Colorado with her hus-
band, George (an area native) and their infant daughter Paige. Sharon's goats
came with. One day a friend from Omaha told Oamek, “Sharon, I swear there’s
a woman out in that area who raises goats and wants to open a dairy.”
Sharon eventually picked up the phone and called Janna. The pair set up a meet-
ing. "It was a hoot. If you could've seen us. Our eyes lit up, 'are you serious?!'"
Janna said. "That's how we started: by accident. The two of us finding out about
each other, the same dream, six miles apart."
A word about the goat breeds: Saanen are a Swiss alpine breed, pure white.
They're the largest. Alpines are smaller, “but sturdier,” Feldman says. They pro-
duce a nice blend of milk, good mix of butter fat and milk. Nubians are distinc-
tive for their floppy ears. They're also the loudest of the three breeds, their “baahs”
providing the background music while feeding the goats at Feldman's farm.
"Definitely the most vocal," Feldman said. "My Nubians will tell me when
they're hungry. They want this, they're interested in that. They're the cry babies.
Neither woman wants to deal with a buck year-round, so they rent one for the
breeding season. “They're so stinky,” Feldman said. "And a handful to deal with."
Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com
That cartoon image of goats eating tin cans, garbage, whatever-is-put-in-front-of-
them is a misnomer. “Contrary to everyone's belief, they are very picky eaters,”
Feldman said.
Added Oamek: “On the tin can, what they're after is the paper.”
Proving that point is a hungry saanen on the hike. Sharon is telling me about the
natural terracing on her property when I feel the white goat snipping at me.
The goat chomps off a piece of paper from the notebook in my back pocket. I'm
barely able to retrieve it. Those notes better be important.
We reach the top of Oamek's hill and the view is breathtaking. A row of wooded
Loess Hills is off in the distance, while in the foreground harvested cornfields are
visible. Beauty all around; it's inspiring. Religions start on hills like this.
I stop to take it in. Stanley stops with me.
Once together, Sharon and Janna began the journey from dream to goat cheese.
"Research, research and more research," Janna says of the early days. The pair
started in 2007 and the research process took about two years.
In Iowa they visited Dairy Air (Knoxville), Picket Fence (Woodward) and North-
ern Prairie Chevre (Woodward) dairies, in addition to dairies in Nebraska and
Illinois. In all, they traveled to about seven dairies, including some of the bovine
variety.
They even went west to take a cheese-making course through Cal-Poly Univer-
sity. “We learned a lot out there," Janna said.
Over time the pair learned what exactly goes into a creamery. “We were flying in
the dark on equipment,” Feldman said. “Not knowing what we could and could-
n't use, because there's no manual saying ‘get this, this is and this. Use this, this
and this. And there is no new small-scale dairy equipment available in the
United States."
In searching for equipment, the pair ran into a number of problems with the
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Depart-
ment of Natural Resources, which had strict guidelines on what could be used in
a dairy. They finally found equipment, which was shipped from Italy and The
Netherlands.
The creamery also had problems with waste discharge regulations from the
DNR, which placed the milk that the creamery drained under a regulation re-
garding toxic waste. “Basically, we were caught under regulations that are more
geared toward large-scale operations,” Janna said. “Have you ever dumped a gal-
lon of sour milk down the drain? What we poured out was less than that.”
11

Goat Cheese Soufflé
Compliments of e Cornerstone Mansion B&B, Omaha, NE
8 ounces goat cheese with herbs (preferably basil)
7 ounces cream cheese
4 egg yolks
1 cup cream or half-and-half
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375. Butter 8 ramekins (or muffin tins)
Let cream cheese and goat cheese soften, then mix together.
Mix in egg yolks (one at a time), then cream or half-and-half.
Blend well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle bread
crumbs on bottom of ramekins. Fill with batter. Bake 35 min-
utes or until puffed and browned on top. Serve immediately.
Serves 8
Another “toxic waste” problem came from cleaning the vats with a solution con-
taining a tablespoon of bleach and 10 gallons of water.
The pair went to legislators at the state house in Des Moines.
State Sen. Hubert Houser, (R-Carson), a member of the agriculture committee,
came out to the women’s operation and found the problems they were experienc-
ing “appalling.”
“I think this situation points out some real problems we have in the state, when it
comes to helping to encourage and promote small-scale entrepreneurs get
started.” Houser is working to draft legislation in the state senate that will take a
more nuanced approach to agriculture waste regulations. Rep. Jack Drake, (R-
Lewis) is drafting similar legislation in the House.
“Right now the creamery is treated like a huge Dupont plant, which is ridicu-
lous,” Houser said.
Bahia Barry, local food coordinator for Golden Hills Resource Conservation and
Development, Inc., a non-profit working on behalf of local food ways and con-
servation in southwest Iowa, helped facilitate meetings between Honey Creek
Creamery and the legislature.
“This ordeal has opened eyes in the legislature on how small, simple standard po-
lices can impact small local startups,” Barry said. “We need amendments or rein-
terpretations to support multiple levels of industrial production in Iowa. The
large industries are not building factories or bringing production to our state at a
high rate right now in this economic climate. The best chance we have for Iowa’s
economy to grow is to support local small businesses.”
Between dealing with the DNR and IDALS, the creamery's opening was delayed
nine months. Oamek and Feldman were only able to sell cheese for a few week
before the milking season was over. They lost an estimated $30,000. "But we did
get open," Feldman points out.
The pair is thankful for that. And reticent to discuss, let alone criticize, the gov-
erning bodies that at times were difficult to deal with (because they still have to
deal with them).
So the creamery's open, the goats are ready, people are hungry. The journey from
goat to cheese begins with, of course, milking. The operation's dairy is a con-
verted bunkhouse on Oamek's property.
Oamek has owned goats for more than 13 years, since buying wethers (castrated
males) as hiking buddies. Before the creamery she’d never milked a goat. “"So I
12 www.EdibleIowa.com
showed her how," Feldman said.
Oamek and Feldman pour their respective goats' milk into the bulk storage tank,
where it stays cool and is stirred. When it's time, the milk is moved to the adja-
cent pasteurizing tank and cultures and enzymes are added.
The pasteurizer agitates and heats the milk; cold water is added. Oamek and
Feldman scoop out curds into mesh-style cheese bags for drying. Whey trickles
into a drain on the floor, where it flows through an underground tube to just out-
side the dairy, where it is given to cows on the Oamek farm.
Goat milk to curds takes four hours, followed by a day of drying. To ensure fresh-
ness, the women never let milk sit more than two days.
"Otherwise it's not fresh enough for us," Oamek said.
Then the cleaning. Rinsing out the bins, the spickets, the floor, the walls, etc.
"Cheese is mostly cleaning," Oamek told me during our tour of the dairy, laugh-
ing.
The milking season begins in the spring and runs through about September.
Right now the creamery produces only fresh cheese – seasoned with herbs from
their gardens or from creamery neighbor Blooms Organic farm.
And not just the end product is fresh and local. In addition to hay and the cedar
trees on both women’s farmland, the goats are fed organic alfalfa grown on the
Oamek farm. “If you have very high quality feed, you're going to have high
quality milk, which will make high quality cheese,” Feldman said.
The pair takes those words to heart. Honey Creek Creamery has the only
USDA-certified organic goatherd in the state.
Honey Creek is a rural community of about 1,000 that's at the heart of a region
ripe with small-scale, local producers.
Further north in the town of Missouri Valley are Sawmill Hollow, an aronia berry
farm and the Loess Hills Lavender Farm. To the south of the creamery on Old
Lincoln Highway is Loess Hills Woodworks, the Loess Hills Winery and Vine-
yard and Garden Grove Deli.
The old guard is Hitchcock Nature Center, 1,200 acres of native prairies and
woodlands in the Loess Hills.
"All these unique artisan adventures,” Feldman said. "We want people to know
what's in this area."
For their part, this season the creamery will double production from last year. Fu-
ture plans include using a cave on Sharon's property for aging cheese and tinker-
ing with different flavors. Janna said they are considering opening a retail shop as
well.
The pair continue to add goats, too. "They crack me up," Feldman said. "So
much fun to own." And to be around.
That ripped piece of paper sits on my desk as I write this. And that hike is still in
my head. So peaceful, so serene. So awesome.
I miss Stanley.
When You Go...
e first full season is just getting underway for Honey Creek Creamery,
so it’s best to contact them ahead of time if you’d like to visit, or if you’d
like to find out where to get their cheese. Also take a look at their
website, and be sure to “like” them on Facebook!
Honey Creek Creamery
Sharon Oamek & Janna Feldman
25593 Old Lincoln Highway
Honey Creek
402.594.5111
www.HoneyCreekCreamery.com
Spring, 2011
Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 13
 Women and Food:
It Starts with the Land
By Sue Futrell
Driving through Iowa on one of the Interstate highways that bisect the state is
a pretty good way to see the kind of agriculture that dominates Iowa’s econ-
omy, and reputation. Corn alternates with soybeans and not much else, on
both sides of I-80, all the way across the state from east to west; heading up
Hwy 35, north of Ames, clusters of long, square hog and poultry confinement
buildings stretch off to the horizon. But the view from the two-lane highways
and county roads that criss-cross the state is more multi-textured, and more di-
verse. Driving south on Hwy 1 near Kalona, signs like “pastured fryers,”
“open air pigs,” “fresh brown eggs” and “we have apples” decorate the roadside.
Along county roads to the north and west, fruit trees are nestled in between
the cornfields, and cattle and sheep dot the fields even in winter.
There’s more variety in the farmers who tend the fields than might be obvious
at first too, at least when it comes to the role of women. Here in Iowa,
women’s place in farming, especially sustainable farming, is especially rich and
deep. Perhaps we’ve welcomed leadership in this realm because agriculture is
so central to Iowa’s economy and identity. Or perhaps there are just some ex-
ceptional women here!
For starters, there are the remarkable women who head up many of Iowa’s
major sustainable agriculture and food organizations: Theresa Opheim, Execu-
tive Director of Practical Farmers of Iowa; Leigh Rigby-Adcock, Executive Di-
rector of Women Food and Agriculture Network (editor’s note: see the feature
on WFAN on page 18); Angie Tagtow, of the newly-formed Iowa Food Sys-
tems Council; Lois Wright Morton, recently named interim director of the
Leopold Center for Sustainable Ag at ISU; Laura Dowd, founder and Direc-
tor of Local Food Connection; and young women like Andrea Geary of
Northeast Iowa Food and Farm Project.. I’m leaving out many others, and I
haven’t even started counting the farmers and chefs.
Over half of Iowa’s farmland is currently owned by women —depending on
how land owned by couples and families is allocated, it’s probably now around
55%, according to Iowa State University Extension farm economist Dr. Mike
Duffy. That’s a surprise to many, even though the percentage hasn’t changed
14 www.EdibleIowa.com
dramatically over the past several decades. Earlier studies put the number at
around 47% in 1982 and it has stayed about that level most years since.
Duffy, who conducts an annual survey of land ownership in Iowa, points out
that 20% of Iowa’s farmland is owned by single women, the majority of
whom are over 65. Half of those women are 75 years of age or older. There’s
been a 16% increase since 1982 in Iowa farmland owned by folks 75 or older,
but because women tend to live longer, and many of them became sole own-
ers after the death of husbands and family members, that number is growing
fastest among women.
About ¾ of the land owned by these women is rented out to someone else to
farm. These women often have particular concerns about how the land is
used, especially when the land they have tended and called home for many
years is leased to someone else to farm.
In a 2007 study comparing 20 years of Iowa farm characteristics, Duffy found
that women owned over 60% of the leased farmland in the state, and those
women were somewhat more likely than men to rent their land in exchange
for crop shares rather than cash rent. 81 percent of the land owned by women
is owned without any debt, also a higher proportion than the overall. Many
women are actively involved in farming both owned and leased farmland, ei-
ther alone or as part of a family or couple. Nationally, Iowa ranks among the
top states in the number of women-operated farms doing over $10k/yr in
sales. And it’s interesting to note that the percentage of woman-owned farm-
land is slightly higher in central and eastern Iowa than in other parts of the
state.
In 2002, Women Food and Agriculture Network, (WFAN, a national organi-
zation founded by Iowa farmer Denise O’Brien) held a series of ‘listening ses-
sions’ for women farmers in Cass County, in southwest Iowa. They found that
the women who attended were very concerned with conservation, caring for
the land, and keeping it healthy for future generations, but were often frus-
trated and had difficulty finding the information and resources they needed
Spring, 2011
when they approached bankers and agencies. One outgrowth of that survey is
a program called Women, Land and Legacy (WLL), a joint program of several
agencies and organizations statewide, which has expanded the listening ses-
sions to 22 counties and over 1500 women, and continues to build bridges be-
tween women farm-owners and support agencies, community by community.
WLL has also found that women farmland owners are committed to conser-
vation practices that protect air and water quality and wildlife habitat. They’re
interested in young farmers, and smaller-scale, diversified crops and see them-
selves as taking care of the land for the future. For many of these women,
farmland represents independence and connection to community.
WFAN has also continued their outreach through a program called Women
Caring for the Land. In a series of meetings in eastern Iowa, led by Linn
County farmer Laura Krouse, women discussed the challenges of working
with tenants, who don’t always take them seriously. They were introduced to
county and state resources available to help foster the kinds of conservation
and crop practices they want for their land.
Every 5 years, the US Department of Agriculture conducts a special Ag Cen-
sus to give policy-makers and the public an accurate picture of farming in the
US. According to the most recent 2007 Ag Census, the number of women-
owned and –operated farms and ranches in the US is growing, even though
the total number of farms in the country has been declining for many years.
By 2007, there were over a million women operating farms in the US, about
30% of all farm operators, and a 19% increase over the number in 2002.
The most striking characteristics that distinguish farms owned and operated by
women are farm size and type. Nearly 70 percent of them have less than 140
acres, less than a third the average size of farms owned by men. Nearly 80 per-
cent report annual sales under $25,000, less than one-fifth the level of overall
average farm sales. Women are more likely to raise small livestock and high-
value specialty crops. As the USDA report notes, “Nearly half of these women
regard farming as their primary occupation, though the financial rewards are
not great. Most women-owned farms are small, diversified, and financially at-
risk. “
Anyone who shops at one of the many bountiful farmers markets in our re-
gion (by the way, Iowa now leads the nation in the number of farmers markets
per capita!) or belongs to a CSA has met some of these dedicated, hard-work-
ing women in person. They include:
Susan Jutz of ZJ Farm, raises vegetables and sheep grown on her rolling, 80-
acre farm near Solon. In 1997, she started Local Harvest CSA , now a collab-
oration that also includes Simone Delaty of Simone’s Plain and Simple, and
Jean Donohue of Hue Hill Farm. Together they and other local farms supply
their members in Linn and Johnson Co. with nearly year-round vegetables,
eggs and bread.
Laura Krouse, who headed up the Women Caring for the Land program,
owns and operates Abbe Hill in Linn County and is also a part of Local Har-
vest CSA. She boughf her farm in 1988, and in 2008 was able to leave a
teaching career at Cornell College to farm fulltime. She raises over 100 vari-
eties of vegetables, sold primarily for 200 CSA families, as well as open-polli-
nated heirloom seedcorn, soybeans, oats, hay, and chickens. Also a Soil and
Water Conservation Commissioner, she has restored prairie and wetland on
her farm.
This year will be Angela Tedesco’s 16th season at Turtle Farm, near Granger in
central Iowa, where she raises certified organic fruits and vegetables for a CSA
of 170 families, one of the first in Iowa. She’s currently working on plans for a
sustainable co-housing community to become part of the farm. Her visionary
leadership earned her a mention as a Person to Watch in 2011 by the Des
Moines Register.
Ann Franzenburg is a familiar face at the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids Farmer’s
Markets, standing behind buckets and baskets full of her beautiful cut flowers.
She and her husband Eric own Pheasant Acres Farm, near Van Horne. In ad-
dition to corn and soybeans, they built three greenhouses on their farm in
Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com
2008, where they now raise grape tomatoes, herbs, and an unusual (for Iowa),
but popular crop, fresh ginger root. They supply several Iowa stores including
New Pioneer Coop.
What about the future of Iowa’s farmland? Duffy of ISU notes that as the aver-
age age of Iowa’s farmers rises, operation and ownership of farmland are likely
to change hands in the coming years. Most farmers surveyed say they plan to
sell or pass along the land to family members, or sell to neighboring farmers.
But the cost of land is a tough financial burden for young farmers who are just
starting out. Practical Farmers of Iowa, Iowa’s largest sustainable farming or-
ganization, has a Next Generation program to help provide resources and
mentoring for beginning farmers. Program coordinator Sally Worley reports
that about half of the Next Generation participants are women. The top en-
terprise for all NG participants is vegetable production, as well as some small
livestock, both of which are labor-intensive but allow farmers to start small.
Worley thinks the outlook for young women in the program is good. “They
are hard-working, intelligent, and not shy of a day’s work. They aren’t dream-
ers, they know what’s required to succeed in farming,” she says. The PFI pro-
gram offers mentoring by more experienced farmers and has good
participation from women mentors as well as men.
In Iowa, it’s not unusual for women to own farmland, but in much of the rest
of the world that’s not the case: women work the land and are primary food
providers for their families, but do not have the right to own the land they
farm. A new Worldwatch State of the World 2011 report notes that up to
75% of agricultural producers in Africa are women. In most countries of
Africa, Asia and Latin America, women tend to produce food crops, farm
small plots, and do seasonal work. Larger scale, commercial and export crops
are mostly produced by men. This same dichotomy does hold true here in the
US--women are the majority of farmers running CSAs and small-scale, direct
market farms, while export and commodity crops are mostly grown on larger
farms operated by men, or by family partnerships.
Denise O’Brien, Cass Co. farmer and 2008 candidate for Iowa Secretary of
Agriculture, sees this dichotomy becoming more visible as smaller scale alterna-
tives have gained support and credibility. “In the 80s and 90s, there were no
alternative markets, and there was more peer pressure on farmers not to be ‘dif-
ferent.’ But the work that happened over those decades is what helped to cre-
ate the positive growth and acceptance for sustainable agriculture that exists
today,” she notes. She’s encouraged that now there is solid economic research
showing that small-scale agriculture is not only viable, it can have many posi-
tive benefits for local communities.
O’Brien remembers meeting a woman from Kenya in 1996, at the World
Food Summit in Rome. The woman had farmed her land all her life; her hus-
band was in a wheelchair and unable to help. The woman told Denise of her
fear that when her husband died, the land would go to his brothers and she
would lose the farm. In fact, a few years later that is exactly what happened.
Her situation is still repeated over and over in many parts of the world today.
Things are changing, though. The Worldwatch Institute report offers some ex-
citing examples of agricultural projects involving women, including:
15
“School Gardens in Uganda: The school garden movement is gaining ground
in Africa! The Slow Food Mukono Convivium has helped establish 31
school and community gardens “to improve young people’s relationship with
agriculture and to develop innovative methods for long-lasting food sover-
eignty.” Ugandan children are learning to preserve their culinary traditions
while the program brings nutrient-dense, local fruit to school meals.”

“Theater that gives women farmers a voice: Three quarters of agricultural

workers in Sub-Saharan Africa are women. Women do all the food process-
ing and most of the storage, transportation, marketing. Yet because cultural
barriers keep women’s interests from being represented in decision-making
bodies women experience relatively low productivity and little access to mar-
kets. In recognition of the important role women play in ensuring household

Photo by Carole Topalian

food security, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Net-
work has launched Women Accessing Realized Markets in Mozambique and
Malawi. There, popular theater performers use scripts based on FANRPAN
research followed by community discussions that allow women to tell devel-
opment organizations what they need–but in a culturally-sanctioned way.”

Which brings us back to another remarkable woman here in eastern Iowa:

Mary Swander, author and Iowa Poet Laureate. Swander, who lives on a
small farm near Kalona, teaches English at Iowa State and is a co-founder of
Ag Arts, a unique organization that blends farm issues and the arts. Along
with her students, she has written Farmscape: A Readers Theatre. Based on
interviews conducted with farmers, bankers, and other Iowans, the play ex-
plores the plight of the contemporary Iowa farmer. The play has been per-
formed all over the US and in Canada. The powerful, emotional
performances are especially compelling because the parts are always played by
members of the local farm and food community.
True to the landscape of farming in Iowa, half of the voices belong to women.
Season to Season:
Radishes
Fort Madison's Martha Wolf, along with partner Sue Saunders, began
selling baked goods off coffee tables in Sue's basement back in 1992.
From there, they opened the Ivy Bake Shoppe a bakery and cafe in
downtown Fort Madison at Sixth Street and Avenue G. e cafe be-
came a national fixture when reporters on the Iowa Caucus beat eight
years ago came in for a snack. Martha and Sue have since branched
out to West Burlington, where they have a second Ivy in the Shot-
tenkirk Superstore.
Wolf is a devoted farmers market shopper, Buy Fresh Buy Local ac-
tivist and a proponent of community supported agriculture, eagerly
anticipates her weekly market share delivery from Kathy Hohl's farm
in Donnellson. She's adapted the following recipe from e Green
Earth Institute, a 60-acre farm and CSA provider in suburban
Chicago, and it's a regular when e Ivy caters local events.
SPRING RADISH SPREAD

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish (or to taste)
2 teaspoons green onion tops or chopped chives
2 teaspoons fresh chopped dill
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped red radishes
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit in refrigerator for 1 to 2
hours.
Serve with crackers, crusty bread or pita crisps.
Recipe courtesy of Martha Wolf
Ivy Bake Shoppe
6th Street at Ave G
Fort Madison
319.372.9939
Or Shottenkirk Superstore
309 S. Gear Ave
West Burlington
319.752.4981
www.IvyBakeShoppe.com

16 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011

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Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 17

 Farming As Art Form
Judy Beuter’s Love of Livestock and the Land
By Mary Blackwood
The thermometer says it’s a frosty zero degrees Fahrenheit and it cer-
tainly feels like it. The sky is that sunless winter grey that softens col-
ors, and the fields are covered in a cushiony layer of white. Judy Beuter
pours a bucket of hot water she just brought from the back porch of
the house into a large barrel, while several young calves hover near the
corner of a barn, watching me – a stranger – with deep suspicion.
Judy gets a shovel to break the ice in the barrel, since the hot water is
insufficient for the task.
“The calves just got here yesterday,” she says, “so they’re shy.”
In cold weather, Judy carries six buckets of warm water every morning
and evening to the water bucket, thinking she’s giving them a treat in
the cold weather. Sometimes they come over and have a look at the
bucket, then go and eat snow instead. That’s gratitude for you.
On this cold winter’s morning I’ve come to Judy’s farm outside Solon
to learn about her business raising calves, chickens, and pigs without
antibiotics, hormones or chemicals. Her animals live on her farm in
healthy conditions, eating diets of high-quality, certified organic al-
falfa, corn and soy, with access to indoors and outdoors. When they
are ready for market, Judy directly markets to individual consumers
who learn of her business through word-of-mouth.
Erin Brothers has volunteered on the farm and also buys chickens from
Judy every year. She appreciates knowing that her dinner is not laced
with hormones. Judy’s animals eat only certified organic feed, even
though the animals themselves are not certified. According to the Or-
18 www.EdibleIowa.com
Photo by Mary Blackwood
ganic Trade Association, something that is “Certified Organic” has
been grown according to strict standards verified by state or private or-
ganizations, a process which is lengthy and expensive. Even without
certification, a farmer may produce organically grown food. Because
restaurants and stores must abide by governmental guidelines, small
producers often market directly to consumers without the requirement
of inspection, although the butchers and processors do have to be in-
spected. From Erin’s perspective, it’s enough to visit Judy’s farm and see
how the animals are raised.
Farming is in her blood: Judy grew up on a farm two miles from where
she now lives. Her parents continue to work the family farm to this
day, so Judy acquired her own farm eighteen years ago. Her brothers
also farm in the area, as does her grown son, who along with Judy is
the main advocate of organic production in the family. In addition to
raising the animals, Judy rents her tillable fields to other farmers. The
land itself has been free of chemicals since 1992 and was certified or-
ganic in 1994 by the Organic Crop Improvement Association, and the
crops grown here are certified organic. Indeed, Judy buys much of her
feed from the renters of her land, thus helping to sustain other local
businesses.
The farm itself is lovely, the weathered red farm buildings are delight-
fully picturesque against the backdrop of a snowy winter. Add to that a
herd of Hereford cattle and it looks like a picture from a century ago,
which is about when the peg barn was built. Since the barn and other
buildings were built of wood taken from surrounding woodlands, Judy
has planted numerous trees on her property as a way of restoring the
Spring, 2011
balance by giving back to nature what was taken in the service of agri-
culture. The old buildings remain in daily use. They aren’t the fanciest
and most technologically advanced farm buildings, they work just fine,
and Judy loves the feeling of history that the buildings bestow. Some-
times she touches a hand-hewn beam and thinks of people who farmed
here before her – the work they did, the grain they stored, the animals
they raised, the lives they led. The farm is redolent of the pioneers who
settled Iowa’s fertile land, from the young children scattering feed for
the chickens to the octogenarian grandmothers milking the cows.
Judy’s customers are welcome to get involved and in effect become
partners in the means of bringing food to the table. Volunteers help
her at special times in the production cycle when extra hands are
needed. She feels it is important for people to understand where their
food comes from. She welcomes questions and visits to the farm.
Every year after the newly hatched chicks arrive, Judy hosts a Baby
Chicken Day, and families bring their children to the farm and get to
know these fascinating birds. Judy shows them how to pick the chicks
up gently and hold them with care. If the children prefer, they can
feed grass through the fence to the curious pigs, or visit the cattle, per-
haps getting a rough-tongued lick of the fingers.
Judy enjoys raising three kinds of animals – cattle, chickens, hogs.
Each is a different creature with different needs and different personal-
ity traits. New calves arrive in January and live on the farm for twelve
or thirteen months. Hogs arrive in August and stay for four to five
months. Chickens come in August and grow very fast – they are ready
for market within ten weeks. All the baby animals come from farms or
hatcheries that handle them in a natural way, without chemicals.
Once at Judy’s farm, the calves freely roam the pasture or take refuge in
the barn if the weather is inclement. Generally they enjoy being out-
doors day and night. The hogs also prefer the outdoors, although they
have a shed if they want shelter. The chickens are outside during the
day but must be taken inside every night, because, after all, everyone
likes chicken – from raccoons to foxes to owls to weasels.
The calves are bought from a family who sells them after they are
weaned. They weigh around 400 lbs when they first arrive, and by the
time they leave they are around 1000 to 1300 lbs. Hogs come from a
farmer who pasture-raises them without chemicals or antibiotics. They
arrive weighing about 40 to 50 lbs and Judy raises them until they are
around 240 to 270 lbs.
Unfortunately mom-and-pop operations are getting snowed under in-
creasingly onerous regulations, making it more expensive to run their
businesses. Judy likes to use processors as close to home as possible so
that the animals don’t have to travel far, but she has had to change
when a processor or butcher has closed down. These small operations
are barely profitable; entrepreneurs like Judy do it because they believe
in the value of what they are doing.
My toes are getting cold because I forgot to wear wool socks, but at
last one of the calves gets up the nerve to approach my proffered mit-
ten. He licks it gently and I’m smitten by his deep brown eyes and
long lashes. Other calves bump up against him, curious, getting closer
to me but not bold enough to touch.
“Aren’t they beautiful?” asks Judy. She’s right; they’re beautiful, healthy,
gentle and sweet. When I worry about whether they feel the cold, she
laughs and assures me that they are very warm under all that cowhide
and long hair, with plenty of food to keep their body temperatures up.
If the wind chill increases, they have the option of going into an open
barn to nestle in the straw.
Judy, as a friend once told her, has turned the raising of food into an
art form. She regards those who are her customers more as partners;
she loves raising good food for people, and in turn those people appre-
ciate how things are done at her farm. If we take care of these creatures
so that they live well, later they can become a blessing for us. We thrive
in the embrace of nature, part of it and partaking of it. How we par-
take definitely matters.
For more information contact Judy Beuter, 319.624.2686, 2019
Vincent Ave, Solon, IA 52333 or email judy-
jedl@aol.com
8-yea
r-
Chic old Molly
ken D Wha
ay” a l
t Jud ey is a de
y Bea v
uter’s oted fan o
Farm f “Ba
by

When it’s chicken season, Judy’s 12-year-old niece comes to her house
and stays overnight. Around 6:00 a.m. the next morning they get a call
from the post office – the chicks have arrived! That’s right, they are
mailed from the hatchery and arrive in Solon – 650 peeping poopers,
as the niece calls them. They bring the chicks home to the farm and set
about getting them used to their new surroundings, dipping each little
beak in water first so that the chicks know where to find it later, then
taking them to the feeding area.

After the animals grow to the right size, the processing phase begins.
For example, when it is time to send the chickens to the processor,
Judy puts out a call to volunteers who help to round up the chick-
ens and bed them in deep straw in the livestock trailer, where they
are comfortable and uncrowded. Again she teaches children as
well as adults how to handle the full-grown birds gently, being
careful not to chase them around the yard. If the chickens get
startled, the whole job gets a lot harder.
ts er

In the direct-marketing process, customers buy a live animal.

cRob

Judy takes charge of having the animals taken to the proces-

an M

sor and stored in meat lockers until the customers can pick
up their food.
by D
o

Processing time and storage space must be arranged a year in advance.

Phot

Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 19

20 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011
Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 21
22 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011
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MARKETS
Campbell's Nutrition
e Source for Local, Organic Food
In Des Moines
CampbellsNutrition.com
Edgewood Locker
609 West Union, Edgewood
EdgewoodLocker.com
Everybody's Whole Foods
501 North 2nd Street, Fairfield
EverybodysWholeFoods.com
Greatest Grains
1600 Harrison Street, Davenport
563.323.7521
www.GreatestGrains.com
McGregor's Top Shelf
Meat, Cheese, Wine, Spirits & More Elkader, 563.245.1517
221 Main Street, McGregor
McGregorsTopShelf.com
New City Market
e Highest-Quality Organic and
Natural Foods
48th and University, Des Moines PlantPeddler.com
515.255.7380
NewCityMarket.com
RESTAURANTS
Blue Mountain Culinary Emporium
814 Lincoln Place SE, Orange City
BlueMountainEmporium.net
Centro
e Urban Eatery
1007 Locust, Des Moines
CentroDesMoines.com
Ge-Jo’s by the Lake
12 North 3rd Street, Clear Lake
641.357.8288
Her Soup Kitchen
625 South Dubuque Street, Iowa City
HerSoupKitchen.com
La Reyna
1937 Keokuk Street, Iowa City
Proof
Inspired Mediterranean Cuisine
1301 Locust Street, Des Moines
ProofRestaurant.com
Ralph's Garden Café
5 S. Federal Avenue, Mason City
641.422.9902
Schera's
Algerian American
Elkader 563.245.1992
Scheras.com
Trostel's Dish
12851 University Avenue, Clive
dishtrostels.com
SERVICES
Green Angels Herbs & Healing Arts
Cedar Rapids
319.247.1243
GreenAngelsHerbs.com
Larry A. Stone
Writer. Photographer. Lecturer
LarryStonesIowa.com
Plant Peddler
Retail, Wholesale, Young Plants
Stone Creek Farms, Cresco
800.827.1654
Enter the Bazaar
Interested in seeing your
business in the Edible
Bazaar? Reach thousands
of Iowans just like you
who care about Iowa and
its great local foods.
For more information
and to get listed in the
Bazaar, contact Kim at
319.337.7885 or via
email at
Kim@EdibleIowa.com
23
24 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011
 We asked, you answered!
For the fourth straight year we asked the loyal readers of Edible Iowa River Valley to tell us about their Local Heroes. We received hundreds of re-
sponses from all over the state. Included this year you’ll find our first-ever tie (in the “Food Artisan” category), Laura Dowd scores our first “three-
peat” with yet another win for her important non-profit, and we included a category for food shop this time too.
We were extra-pleased to see that our readers were as enamored of eiFriends Peace Tree Brewing and New Pioneer as we are, and promise that it
truly is mere coincidence that an occasional writer for us won “Best Farmer” while a feature subject in this issue won “Best Chef/Restaurant.”
Please be sure to visit and support all these wonderful Local Heroes, tell your friends about them, and “like” them on Facebook. It’s your support
that keeps heroes like these bringing great local food to everyone.
Congratulations to all our winners past and present for your excellent work, all of Iowa thanks you for fighting the good fight. And many thanks
to our readers as well, who voted online in their hundreds. Voting for the next edition of the Local Hero Awards will begin around harvest time.

NEW CATEGORY! Food Shop: Non-Profit:

New Pioneer Coop Laura Dowd, Local Foods Connection
22 S. Van Buren Street Iowa City 319.338.2010
319.338.9441 www.LocalFoodsConnection.org
www.NewPi.coop
2010 Hero: Laura Dowd, Local Foods Connection
Farmer: 2009 Hero: Chris Grebner, Luke Prottsman, & Stan Laverman, Reclaiming Roots
Andrew Dunham, Grinnell Heritage Farm 2008 Hero: Laura Dowd, Local Foods Connection
933 Penrose Street, Grinnell
641.236.4374 Beverage Artisan:
www.GrinnellHeritageFarm.com Joe Kesteloot, Peace Tree Brewing
107 W Main Street, Knoxville
2010 Hero: Susan Jutz, ZJ Farms, Solon 641.842.BREW (2739)
2009 Hero: Shelley Squier & Mile Donnelly, Squier Squash and Donnelly Farms, Hinkleton www.PeaceTreeBrewing.com
2008 Hero: Bob Braverman, Friendly Farms, Iowa City
2010 Hero: Scott Ervin, Sutliff Cider, Lisbon
Food Artisans (TIE!): 2009 Hero: Jean, Paul & Mason Groben, Jasper Winery, Des Moines
Barbara Grant & Mark Armstrong, Acoustic Farms Cheese 2008 Hero: Bill & Rona Wyant, Fireside winery
AcousticFarms@Hotmail.com
Lois Reichert, Reichert’s Dairy Air Goat Cheese Chef/Restaurant:
1022 Quebec Street, Knoxville Carly Groben, Proof
641.218.4296 1301 Locust Street, Des Moines
www.ReichertsDairyAir.com 515.244.0655
www.ProofRestaurant.com
2010 Heroes: Mike and Jason Bandstra, Frisian Farms Gouda, Oskaloosa
2009 Heroes: Herb & Kathy Eckhouse, La Quercia Prosciutto, Norwalk 2010 Hero: Masae Judge & Harriet Woodford, Leaf Kitchen, Iowa City
2008 Hero: Simone Delaty, Simone’s Plain & Simple, Wellman 2009 Hero: Steve Logsdon, Basil Prosperi’s Lucca, Des Moines
2008 Hero: Enosh Kelly, Bistro Montage, Des Moines

Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 25

26 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011
Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 27
 Back of the House
By Brian Morelli
Proof
Positive
On a wintry Christmas Eve day, I walked into one of Des Moines
newer eateries, called simply Proof. I noticed the clean, simple decor
and tall ceilings focus the senses on the wonderful aromas wafting from
the kitchen.
Proof chef and owner Carly Groben had sent some staff home expect-
ing a slow lunch given the weather and that many of the surrounding
businesses were closed for the holiday. Instead, a mix of new customers
and regulars used the opportunity to chow down on Groben’s Mediter-
ranean and North African influenced dishes, making for a surprisingly
busy lunch. But, no worries for Groben and her staff.
In the kitchen the challenge is to remain organized, even in the heat of
battle, and on this day, the Proof staff is up to the task. The experi-
enced crew, some of whom have been on board since Proof opened in
2008, hunkers down, keeps control and finds their groove. Short order
plates flow from the kitchen, and customers are devouring paellas, feta
and tabbouli salad and veggie falafel sandwiches.
Groben offers up a lamb burger, one of the highlights of the menu.
The patty is stuffed with goat cheese and tucked into flat bread with
tabbouli and tomato aioli is drizzled on top. It might sound a little
rich, but the marriage works.
28 www.EdibleIowa.com
Photos by Kurt Michael Friese
Chef/Owner Carly Groben of Des Moines
restaurants Proof and Flour
“I like very simple foods, foods where natural flavors and ingredients
stand up for themselves. I like when you taste something and you can
tell what is inside it,” Groben said.
Proof is encased in a panorama of tall windows on the ground level of
an urban building on Locust and 13th Street in Des Moines. It is just
west of the main part of the downtown area near the Pappajohn Sculp-
ture Park and the public library, and a quick five minute detour off In-
terstate 235.
The restaurant is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to
Friday, dinners on Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. and private parties. A sis-
ter restaurant called Flour, which Groben opened in December, is lo-
cated around the corner. Flour focuses on pizza and pizza by the slice,
and also prepares breads for Proof, including focaccia and flat bread.
On this snowy day in December, Groben floats back and forth from
kitchen to dining room, keeping the afternoon moving along
smoothly.
“In two and a half years, we’ve grown and improved. We are more well-
versed in North African spices and that’s allowed us to dig our nose
into the cookbook,” she said.
Spring, 2011
The fresh feel of Proof can in part be attributed to the young business- on when you visit. Proof also offers a range of home made sweets,
woman. Groben, at age 29, stands slender and tall with shortly such as pastries, and a selection of craft beers and wines. Of course,
cropped blond hair and seems at home with a bright smile on her you’ll also find a variety of Jasper wine and Madhouse Beer.
face. Groben joined the culinary
community after receiving de- So far, Groben has found a way
grees in gender studies and inter- to make it all work, and even
national development and called upon her experiences glo-
pursuing a career towards those betrotting to spruce up the culi-
ends. She studied at the Asian nary offerings in Des Moines.
Institute of Technology in
Bangkok, Thailand, and worked “I wanted to figure out a way to
at African refugee camps in introduce this cuisine in an up-
Rwanda, Nairobi and Eretria. scale way so that it isn’t scary for
But, the Iowa girl missed home. people to try,” Groben said. “If
you can elevate it so it’s accessible
With parents who own a winery to the everyday diner, they are
and a brother with a brewery - more willing to try it.”
Jean and Paul Groben of Jasper
Winery in Des Moines and Her plan must be working, be-
Mason Groben of Madhouse cause the loyal readers of Edible
Brewing in Newton - an artisan Iowa River Valley voted her, and
craft is not entirely a new direc- Proof, this year’s Local Hero in
tion for Carly Groben. She re- the Chef/Restaurant category.
turned to the U.S. and spent See more about that on page 25.
time learning with Steve Larson
at Lucca in Des Moines as the Harissa:
general manager. (moroccan chili spice
blend)
Groben has carried with her 1 bag dried chili peppers (avail-
some of the lessons she learned able at Asian grocery)
at Lucca, she said. 1 tbl paprika
2 tbl cumin
Groben works with local farmers 1/2 tsp cinammon
in season to provide as much 1/2 tsp nutmeg
produce and meat as is practical, 1 tbl salt
which is fun, she said, because it 12 cloves garlic
allows Proof to customize the olive oil
menu to what is available. This
spring, Groben plans to join a Hydrate the chilis overnight, then
community supported agricul- strain. Place the garlic and chilis
ture group. in the food processor and process
until finely ground. Add the
At Proof, everything is made spices and then pour oil through
fresh, from scratch, and the feed tube until consistency of a
menu is reasonably priced. A freshly baked pear and blue cheese pizza awaits hungry lunch clients wet paste. At this point, the
Lunches feature three types of at Groben’s second establishment, Flour. harissa can be added to mayon-
salads for $8, five kinds of flatbread sandwiches to choose from for $9, naise, braising liquid, or used as a meat rub to add moroccan spice
such as the Moroccan chicken and beef brisket, and entrée-style grain and flavor.
dishes for $10 such as the salmon and risotto cake and scallops and
tabbouli. The dinner menu changes weekly, so the price will depend

When you Go... And Don’t Forget

Proof Flour You can taste the Groben family’s wines at Proof, or you can enjoy
1301 Locust Street 1220 Locust St. them right from the source. And Carly’s brother Mason’s beer,
Des Moines Des Moines
515.288.2935 Madhouse, is available all over Iowa.
515.244.0655
Lunch Monday-Friday, from Lunch Monday-Friday Jasper Winery
11-2pm, and dinner on from 11-2 2400 George Flagg Parkway Madhouse Brewery
Fridays from 5-10pm Des Moines

www.ProofRestaurant.com www.FlourPizza.com www.JasperWinery.com www.MadhouseBeer.com

Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 29

 Pantry Raid

A
Girl’s
Best
Friend
e University of Iowa’s
Michele Conlon, and Lola
Story & Photos by Kim McWane Friese

Michele Conlon is an Iowa tennis icon. She has a list of awards and
accomplishments as long as her racquet, including University of
Iowa’s number one-ranked player for four straight years, Big Ten
Tennis Sportswoman of the Year, State of Iowa Tennis Hall of
Fame, 16 years as women’s tennis coach at Iowa State where her
athletes had an amazing 100% graduation rate. Oh, and she’s
smart too: Dean’s list 7 semesters at University of Iowa and Aca-
demic All-Big Ten.

Currently, she is the Assistant Director of the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex, where she spends her time
coordinating a comprehensive tennis program and giving tennis lessons and mentorship to all levels and ages. Iowa City is her hometown where
she graduated from City High and the University of Iowa, and after sixteen years away, she is enjoying being back home and spending time with
her family. Coaching a college team as well as she did took constant focus and dedication.

Her enthusiasm is not on hold, though. Michele works six days a week, with very little time for rest, relaxation, or dining.

But there is Lola.

Lola, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, makes sure that Michele takes time out for the finer things, like keeping her pantry organized so there is no
mistaking where the Milkbones are kept. It is very tidy, and although Lola would prefer the Milkbones on the bottom shelf, they are kept up on a
higher level, next to Michele’s favorite breakfast food, Raisin Bran.

Michele and Lola have very similar eating habits. ey both eat all their meals at home, and both need high nutrition to maintain the energy lev-
els required by their work. Morning fare consists of the aforementioned Raisin Bran with skim milk and hot tea, Lipton black tea, none of that
fancy stuff for Michele. Lola has the proverbial kibble, but she’s on a diet right now so it’s lo-cal kibble. When Michele needs reminding that Lola
is supposed to have her bowl filled first, she’ll paw at her Michele’s leg. is was established early on in their four-year friendship.

When early afternoon rolls around, Michele comes home for a sandwich, usually deli ham on whole wheat with leaf lettuce and fat free Miracle
Whip, pretzels and milk on the side. Lola waits patiently until it’s walk time, which often means there’s a Milkbone in Michele’s pocket. Michele
keeps her snacks at work, to help maintain energy through the active day. She has a small pantry in her office with granola bars, pretzels, juices etc.

30 www.EdibleIowa.com Spring, 2011

 For four years now, Michaell Conlon’s Cavalier King
Charles Spaniel, Lola, has been trying to figure out why
there are only vegetables and salad dressing on the bot-
tom shelves of their Iowa City refrigerator.

en it’s time to get back to work. Michele teaches lessons well into the evening and her mom, Pat Conlon, has a meal waiting for her when she
gets home. Lola prefers to eat dinner earlier in the evening, so she doesn’t wait for Michele. Pat, like her late husband “Pinky,” is a wonderful
cook, both members of a local gourmet club. So Michele grew up with consistently good food, prepared at home, and continues to enjoy that tra-
dition for her evening meal. She loves to cook too, but since her days are so full, and Pat loves to cook for her, she doesn’t spend much time in
the kitchen. Lola is very helpful in the kitchen and clean up is her favorite
activity.

In season, Michele and Lola can be found in their backyard garden. ey
enjoy the solace and quiet enjoyment that gardening brings to a busy
lifestyle. Lola’s favorite garden activity is to tamp down the seeds after
Michele has put them in the ground. ey grow radishes, peppers, cu-
cumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. Lola, though, is a strict carnivore and
while she enjoys being in the garden, doesn’t have much interest in the
bounty grown there. Michele enjoys the vegetables she grows prepared
very simply. Fresh garden produce doesn’t need to be dressed up, it’s
good on it’s own.

Dedication and simplicity are consistent themes in this busy and fo-
cused lifestyle. It has worked very well for Michele and Lola as they
continue to be such positive influences on the people whose lives they
touch. As long as there’s a Milkbone or a home-cooked meal in the
deal there somewhere.
You might guess it’s no coincidence that Michele
Conlon is the captain of Team Edible in the health
and weight-loss initiative known as “Live Healthy
Iowa.” At press time the team of ten members has put in 196
hours of activity (and is just getting warmed up). To learn more,
visit the website at
www.LiveHealthyIowa.com

Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 31

In January, nearly 70
women and men gath-
ered in Des Moines for
the 2011 annual confer-
Women “Fixing” Food
ence of Women, Food
and Agriculture Network,
a 14-year-old non-profit
organization serving
women in sustainable
agriculture. The confer-
ence theme, “Women
By Leigh Adcock
‘Fixing’ Food,” high-
lighted the pivotal role women play in the effort to create a healthier food system
in their own communities and across the country.
Women are entering farming at a faster rate than any other segment; the USDA
Census of Agriculture reported in 2007 that of the 3.3 million U.S. farm opera-
tors counted, 30.2 percent — or more than 1 million — were women. The total
number of women operators increased 19 percent from 2002, significantly out-
pacing the 7 percent increase in the number of farmers overall. The number of
women who were the principal operators of a farm or ranch increased by almost
30 percent, to 306,209. Women are now the principal operators of 14 percent of
the nation’s 2.2 million farms.
Census figures also show that women are more likely than men to operate small-
scale, diversified farms that provide food marketed in their local area. They start
farmers’ markets and CSAs, work with their children’s schools to bring local foods
into the cafeteria, and provide fresh, healthy foods to area restaurants and institu-
tions.
Women Are the Drivers
“The sustainable food movement is largely a women's movement,” says Tom
Philpott, food editor of Grist. “Women run many of the farms, staff the non-
profits, provide the vital intellectual and physical energy that propels the move-
ment forward “
Temra Costa, California-based author of Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way
We Eat, was keynote speaker at the January conference. Costa’s book profiles 30
women across the US who are working to make fresh, healthy food available to
more people. She sees women having an even deeper impact on our society
through their involvement in healthy food.
“Women lean towards relationships and long-term strategies that prioritize future
generations,” she says, “and the good news is that this viewpoint is starting to be-
come valued in the emerging green economy.”
Who We Are
WFAN is the offspring of a handful of visionary women who attended the 1994
International Conference on Women in Beijing, China. Iowa’s Denise O’Brien,
an organic farmer from Atlantic and tireless advocate for women in agriculture,
returned from that conference determined to remedy the absence of women's
voices in food and agricultural issues.
32 www.EdibleIowa.com
Although centered in Iowa,
WFAN members come
from nearly all 50 states and
several other countries. We
are diverse in ages (ranging
from teens to eighties) and
backgrounds. We are farm-
ers, urban gardeners, envi-
ronmental educators,
community activists, aca-
demics, concerned con-
sumers, and others who care
about food and our environment. We are a national organization with the con-
centration of our work in Iowa and the Midwest.
Our History and Mission
Since 1997, WFAN has been working to promote gender equity in sustainable
agriculture, by supporting, educating and empowering women to become leaders
in the movement in their communities. Our mission is to link and empower
women to build food systems and communities that are healthy, just, sustainable,
and that promote environmental integrity. We provide an online community to
more than 1,200 women around the US through our email list and listserv. We
publish a quarterly newsletter, sponsor an annual conference and a fall tri-state
gathering with women in sustainable agriculture in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Min-
nesota, and hold learning circles around the state of Iowa with women farmland
owners to give them the information and support they need to improve soil and
water quality on their land. We also provide young women who want to farm
with apprenticeship opportunities on women-owned farms, and beginning in
2011 will hold regional meetings throughout Iowa highlighting various heirloom
skills such as gardening and canning.
Past accomplishments include organizing a “Women in Farming” briefing in
Washington, DC, during the Rally for Rural America (March 2000); conducting
a groundbreaking participatory study with more than 200 women farmland
owners in Cass County, which revealed critical data about women’s landowner-
ship patterns, attitudes, knowledge and needs (2000-2004); sponsoring a consul-
tation with women of color on diversity issues within the sustainable agriculture
movement (November 2003); co-sponsoring the first National Women in Sus-
tainable Agriculture Conference in Burlington, VT (2005); conducting a series of
listening sessions with women farmers and landowners around Iowa to gather
their input for the 2007 federal farm bill; and meeting with women farmland
owners around Iowa to provide support and information on improving soil and
water quality on their land (2009 – present).
Looking ahead, WFAN’s all-volunteer board and two staff members will be
working with The White House Project (www.whitehouseproject.org) to encour-
age more women from rural areas to run for public office. WFAN is also spon-
soring a summit for women leaders in sustainable agriculture in Wisconsin in
May, to create a strategy for women to impact the next farm bill. Our collective
voice is growing in power, and we will be heard.
To learn more, visit us at www.wfan.org, or call 515 460 2477.
Spring, 2011
Spring 2011 www.EdibleIowa.com 33
 The Last Word
By Kim McWane Friese
Growing, Older
A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables
When is Organic Life: Confessions of an
Urban Homesteader came out in 2001, I
devoured it. I was a beginning grower, and
was always on the lookout for knowledge
and inspiration. Little did I know the ef-
fect this book would have on me. Joan’s
work is at once grounding and uplifting,
poetic and political, intensely visual and so
much more than a gardening book. It
made me realize that my seemingly casual
afternoons in the sun, snacking on
arugula, berries and cherry tomatoes
while pulling weeds and listening to the
birds, were of dire importance. I could
quantify the significance of this work
through the micro-economies of my fam-
ily and small restaurant, but had never rec-
ognized the value of that work on a global
level. I was inspired. All those labors, both
of love and frustration, were affirmed. I
felt a deep reverential kinship with those who tend the Earth and feed
their neighbors, and that was just the beginning.
When I learned that Growing, Older was being released last year, a little
bit of trepidation set in. I wasn’t sure I was ready to be altered at such a
deep level again, and the very cover title of the book conveys that you
are entering a digest of human emotions.
She did not pull any punches, as the very first chapter is titled, “e
Death of My Husband.”
rough welling tears, and swallowed sobs, I finished the first page. I
soon realized, though, that I wasn’t choked up exclusively by the sad
news, but at how much I had missed her deeply engaging writing.
Dr. Joan Dye Gussow is a Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and Educa-
tion at Columbia Universlity Teachers College where she earned her
doctorate in 1969. She has written 6 books and a plethora of academic
articles. Her life’s work is intrinsically woven together, her lecture
style, writing style and life style are inseparable, and this comes
through so clearly in Growing, Older.
34 www.EdibleIowa.com
All of her knowledge and experiences
come to light through her ability to
simplify complex issues, human and ac-
ademic, and get to the root causes of
the problems our world is facing. From
there, the solutions are simple, though
not necessarily easy.
As Iowans (as most of our readers are),
you will be delighted to know that
Joan’s work ethic and persistance were
passed along to her by her Iowan par-
ents. Her mother and father were born
in Orange City and Carson, respec-
tively. Her genetics are hard-wired with
the kind of determination it takes to
settle the harsh plains of Northwest
Iowa.
Her stories of “Urban Homesteading”
take us through two different home gardens, the second of which was
regularly flooded on the banks of the Hudson River. All the while,
going through the trials and tribulations of remodeling an old house.
Each lesson, or, as she calls them, “horticultural morality tales”, brings
with it a broader story that we all must carry with us whether we’re
paying attention or not. To mention but a few, the political threats of
relying on foreign oil and foreign food, how the use of that oil brings
about the demolition of our own ecosystems, and the foreign and
processed “food” which undermines our health and financial resources.
When we grow, share and eat local food, we raise our status on this
planet from that of a meer consumer, to that of liaison between the
Earth and our families and communities. We directly transfer life from
our planet, to the ones we love. Sustainably tending the Earth and
bringing forth it’s bounty is the most important thing a human can do.
Without it, we cease to exist. Joan teaches this on every level, through
humor, anguish, wit, and persistance.
Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables - by
Jopan Dye Gussow. Published by Chelsea Green, White River
Junction, VT ©2010 Joan Dye Gussow. ISBN 978-1603582926
Spring, 2011