Choose Iowa grant program provides $200,000 for Iowa schools to increase purchases of locally grown farm products.

Thousands of Iowa students will be eating more Iowa grown and raised food during this school year as the result of the newly expanded Choose Iowa Local Foods for Schools program. 

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig last week announced that 125 Iowa public and private schools will receive funding through the program to purchase meat, poultry, dairy, flour, small grains, eggs, honey and produce from Iowa farmers. Each participating school will receive approximately $1,600, which will be matched at least one-to-one by the school. 

After a pilot program in 33 schools last year, the Iowa Legislature provided $200,000 in permanent funding this year to help participating schools purchase eligible Iowa food products through seven Iowa food hubs. The required one-to-one school match will leverage at least an additional $200,000 in local purchases.

“We continue to see strong demand for the Choose Iowa Local Food for Schools program, demonstrating the desire to serve more fresh, healthy and nutritious Iowa foods to students,” said Naig. “I’m going to continue asking the Iowa Legislature for additional funding to grow the program so even more students can benefit from it.”

The Local Food for Schools program is just one example of increasing interest in locally grown and raised food, creating new market opportunities for farmers while strengthening connections between Iowa agriculture and consumers.

In an interview for the Spokesman Speaks podcast, Naig said the local food movement is being driven by both consumer demand and farmers looking for new ways to diversify their operations and improve profitability. 

“We know that more than 80% of Iowans say they are interested in buying local more often,” Naig said. “That sends a signal that there’s demand and creates opportunities for farmers, retailers, distributors and small businesses.” 


Connecting with Consumers

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship launched the Choose Iowa program in 2023 to help connect consumers with Iowa-grown products while creating market development opportunities for farmers. The effort gained momentum coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, when supply chain disruptions sparked increased interest in purchasing food closer to home. 

Naig said the local food movement is creating opportunities for farmers who want to capture more value from what they raise.

“If you’re a cow-calf producer and you can sell direct, process locally and increase your margin, why wouldn’t you pursue that?” he said. 

Supported by funding from the Iowa Legislature, Choose Iowa now includes several grant programs that have distributed millions of dollars to assist value-added agriculture businesses, meat processing facilities and dairy farms. 

The diversity of projects receiving assistance demonstrates the broad reach of the program, Naig said. Grant recipients include dairy farms adding on-farm processing capacity for yogurt and frozen yogurt, orchards producing hard cider, cut flower businesses improving packaging and distribution systems, and meat lockers expanding processing capabilities. 

Naig emphasized that Choose Iowa is intended to serve a wide range of farms and agricultural enterprises, ranging from food products, beverages, horticulture, honey, textiles and many other Iowa-based products.

“We want things to be Iowa made, Iowa raised and Iowa grown,” he said. 

The department also continues to recognize the important role farmers markets play in Iowa’s food system. For many entrepreneurs, farmers markets provide an entry point into direct marketing, allowing producers to learn pricing, packaging, customer service and product marketing before expanding into other sales channels, said Naig. 

“I think it’s a great gateway,” he said, noting that many successful businesses began by testing products and building customer relationships at local farmers markets. 

Ultimately, Naig believes Iowa’s growing local food sector complements the state’s traditional agricultural strengths.

“We can still be number one in corn and among the leaders in soybean and livestock production while continuing to diversify,” he said. “There is room for all of this in agriculture.”