A good thing that’s come from the pandemic is our tendency to look closer to home for our meats, our produce and other essentials. In this issue of Family Living, we visit with a farmer and merchant, who is helping Iowans do just that.

Esther & Co. in Newton’s town square is a throwback to an old mercantile store. Owner Regina Frahm, a livestock farmer and yarn maker, wants it just that way. She makes sure her downtown store offers shoppers a wide range of goods, from meats, honey, dairy...