As much as I love the lazy days of summer in Iowa, I can’t wait for the return of fall, when our favorite high school and college football teams kickoff the new season.

One of the best ways to watch football, either in the stadium or on the couch, is with a brat in one hand and a beer in the other. In this issue of the Iowa Dish, we’re serving up both tailgating favorites.

Watch our latest “Iowa Minute” video on how Iowa farmers are growing hops for the booming local craft beer business. We also featured Buck Creek Hops of Solon in a previous issue of the Iowa Dish, if you want to read more about the state’s largest hops farm.

I also had the best – seriously, the best – conversation recently with a food safety specialist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Meat and Poultry Hotline. He shared with me some hilarious stories about his 14 years of answering consumer calls to the food safety hotline. (No, you can’t thaw out meat in the dishwasher.)

I’m also starting to see apples for sale at the local farmers market. Check out our feature on a young Iowa farmer who is starting his own apple orchard, in addition to raising cattle and growing row crops, to tap into the growing demand for Iowa-grown foods.

And be sure to enter the latest “America Needs Farmers” (ANF) giveaway  for a chance to win a prize package including four tickets to the 2017 ANF game against Penn State on Sept. 23, a sideline visit to the game and more.

To get your ANF gear before the big game, visit www.americaneedsfarmers.org. A portion of proceeds from ANF gear sales go to the Iowa Food Bank Association. Good luck to the Hawkeyes and Cyclones this season!

 

Teresa Bjork
Editor, the Iowa Dish

Return to The Iowa Dish