Five Awesome Food Organizations In Iowa
Launched by Food Tank and the James Beard Foundation, the first annual Good Food Org Guide identifies and celebrates more than five hundred U.S.-based groups including five from Iowa who are cultivating a better food system.
Eat Greater Des Moines is an organization developing a sustainable, accessible food system in central Iowa. They have campaigns for a variety of related causes including food policy, health and nutrition, food access and hunger, community outreach, and business development.
Food Bank of Iowa is one of the state's largest hunger relief organizations, coordinating donors, government funding, and partner agencies. Their mobile pantry program fills the gaps left by existing hunger relief groups by offering food pantry services to areas without access to food distribution programs.
The Iowa Food Hub is a nonprofit that supports area farmers distribute and market their products through a farm-to-school lunch program and a number of direct connections to consumers. They focus on improving food access, creating jobs in the region, and conducting research for local farmers.
The Iowa Food Systems Council works on policy, research, and program recommendations to bring about a just and diverse food system in Iowa. The council was founded in 2000 as a short-term state-sponsored effort, but the group has continued to be run independently by producers, processors, academics, and many others.
Table to Table is an Iowa City food rescue organization that gives food that would otherwise go to waste to those in need. Table to Table saved over 1,113,800 pounds of food in 2013 by rescuing unused food from a range of partners including McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and local farmers markets.