Local tomatoes. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship launched a $70,000 pilot program Monday to help schools purchase local meat, poultry, produce, dairy, eggs or honey through the Choose Iowa program.
Schools are eligible for a dollar for dollar match up to $1,000 per building, which means up to $2,000, per participant will go to local food producers.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig called the program a “win for everyone involved.”
“Students are served fresh, locally produced foods. Schools can support and build relationships with Choose Iowa members in their communities,” Naig said in a press release. “School food service programs create new markets for small and beginning farmers to sell their products, and that helps generate economic activity in rural communities.”
Choose Iowa is a state-run program that identifies, brands and promotes Iowa grown and raised foods, beverages and products. The pilot purchasing program was authorized by the Legislature in 2024, and its first tranche, which helped food banks in Iowa purchase from local producers, launched over the summer.
This pilot program allocated $225,000 in total to food banks that purchased from local growers.
Specialty crop growers and local food advocates hope to see the purchasing programs, which are currently in the pilot stage, funded permanently. Naig also stressed the importance of Choose Iowa when talking to lawmakers about the department’s funding for the upcoming fiscal year in an appropriations subcommittee.
According to a 2021 study by researchers at Iowa State University, about 95% of table food consumed in Iowa is grown outside of the state.
The Iowa Food System Coalition said local food purchases made by institutions like schools, hospitals and food banks are “essential” to strengthening a local food system and supporting more farmers to grow fruits, vegetables and other crops that end up on Iowa tables. The coalition has listed a number of 2025 legislative priorities, including a push to make the Choose Iowa purchasing program permanent.
Choose Iowa has more than 170 members across the state who sell Iowa-made products from meat and vegetables to prepared foods and goods. Schools must purchase from Choose Iowa members to be eligible for the funding
“I strongly encourage schools around the state to apply for participation in this purchasing program,” Naig said.
Iowa producers can become Choose Iowa members online. Interested schools can apply for the pilot purchasing program online through April 7. IDALS said participating schools will be announced in April, and reimbursement for schools will begin in the fall school semester.
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