Love local food? Shop Iowa’s farmers markets at their summer peak

My daughter loves to talk about her favorite things – her favorite holiday (Christmas), her favorite color (pink) and her favorite season (fall, because it’s cozy, she says).

But for me, summer is my favorite season in Iowa. I love the sunlight, the heat and, yes, even the humidity. And I can’t get enough of the fresh, Iowa-grown sweet corn, tomatoes and melons.

In this season of life, I’m too busy parenting to grow my own garden. So I leave the growing to the experts: Iowa farmers.

I like to visit my small town’s farmers market, just a few blocks from home, where I can buy giant, ripe tomatoes for my favorite BLTs - or BELTs when I add a fried egg.

Luckily, I don’t have to go far to find local food. Iowa farmers markets are thriving, and they’re making it easier than ever for families like mine to eat local.

With more than 200 farmers markets across the state, Iowa ranks in the top five for the number of markets per capita in the U.S.

Iowa Farm Bureau is proud to support these markets and the farmers who work hard to provide nutritious meat, dairy, eggs and produce for our families.

This year, the Iowa Farm Bureau donated more than 1 million recyclable plastic bags to over 1,700 farmers market vendors across the state.

The market bags help Iowa farmers save on supply costs and make shopping easier for customers. This is the 17th year Farm Bureau has made the donation.

I plan to fill up my bags with fresh Iowa sweet corn, one of my daughter’s favorite foods. I also recommend visiting your local market to buy Iowa-raised beef, so you can make the beef and egg breakfast tacos featured in this newsletter. They’re perfect for back-to-school mornings.

Another summertime favorite, the Iowa State Fair, is just a few weeks away. If you go, be sure to stop by Farm Bureau Park, across from the Grandstand, to register for a chance to win up to $5,000 in free groceries and fuel.

And while you’re there, feel free to chat with the farmers. They love to talk about how they grow our food. For them, agriculture isn’t just a job. It’s their passion.

Take care,

Teresa Bjork
Editor, The Iowa Dish

Return to The Iowa Dish

Learn more about author Teresa Bjork here.