At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

The Iowa Food System Coalition had a great idea: to start a podcast featuring our amazing partners (there are more than 40 of them!) and to dive into the topics we care about. So here it is—the first episode, explaining a little bit about why Iowa is so important when we think about farming in America and how we can improve agriculture here and elsewhere.

Please share widely and let us know your thoughts! For more information on the Iowa Food System Coalition, please visit our website.

Subscribe to our newsletter for timely news, action alerts, and event updates, all focused on supporting local farms and communities.

School lunch is about so much more than tater tots and chocolate milk. In this episode, you’ll discover how local food in schools not only improves nutrition for kids, but also fuels Iowa’s economy, supports independent farmers, and strengthens rural communities.

You’ll hear what made the now-defunded Local Food for Schools (LFS) program so successful and why proposed legislation like SF 525 threatens to undo that progress. We dig into what’s at stake and what you can still do to protect real food and real farms in Iowa.

[You can read the transcript below.]

Featured Voices:

* Jessy Sadler – Food Service Director, Urbandale Schools

* Julie Udelhofen – Food Service Director, Clear Lake Schools

* Chelsea Krist – Farm to School and Early Care Specialist on Iowa State Extension's Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Team

* Teresa Wiemerslage – Local Food Systems Specialist, ISU Extension

* Chris Schwartz – Executive Director, Iowa Food Systems Coalition

Take Action Now

1. Support the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Program

Ask the Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee to invest $3 million in the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Program to replace lost federal funding and strengthen Iowa’s local food economy.

📞 Senate Switchboard: (515) 281-3371📞 House Switchboard: (515) 281-3221

Senate Subcommittee Members:

* Sen. Tom Shipley (R, District 9) – Chair

* Sen. Annette Sweeney (R, District 27) – Vice Chair

* Sen. Art Staed (D, District 40) – Ranking Member

* Sen. Mike Zimmer (D, District 35)

* Sen. Dan Zumbach (R, District 34)

House Subcommittee Members:

* Rep. Norlin G. Mommsen (R, District 70) – Chair

* Rep. Helena Hayes (R, District 88) – Vice Chair

* Rep. Sami Scheetz (D, District 78) – Ranking Member

* Rep. Sean Bagniewski (D, District 35)

* Rep. Chad Behn (R, District 48)

* Rep. J.D. Scholten (D, District 1)

* Rep. Craig Steven Williams (R, District 11)

* Rep. Devon Wood (R, District 17)

* Rep. Derek Wulf (R, District 76)—

Also Contact:

* Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink – Senate Appropriations Chair

* Rep. Gary Mohr – House Appropriations Chair

2. Oppose SF 525: Contact All State Senators NOW

SF 525 threatens to rewrite school nutrition standards to favor commodity crops like corn, pork, and dairy—prioritizing corporate profits over kids’ health and local food access. It could also jeopardize federal funding for school meals.

📞 Call your Senator today and urge them to vote NO on SF 525.

🔍 Find your Senator: Iowa Legislature Contact Page

📚 Resources & Links:

* Iowa Food Systems Coalition

* Procurement Team

* Policy Team

* Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Program (School applications open until April 7)

* Iowa Local Food for Schools (LFS)

* Find Your Iowa Legislator

* 2024 Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Pilot Report

Swarm of Birds (ID 1835) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Music also by Chris Schwartz

Transcript

School Lunch Script

This is At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast, brought to you by the Iowa Food Systems Coalition. I am your host, Beth Hoffman.

I’ve reported on food and agriculture a long time, but I’ve never done a story about school lunch. It seemed, well kind of boring to be honest, a lot of talking heads going on nutrition and cost. And politics, so many politics around school lunch. And there is gobs of that, as we will see in this episode. The Trump Administration and the Iowa legislature are dramatically impacting school lunch as I speak.

But I was surprised to learn why that mattered so much. School lunch, I learned and you will too in this episode, is a major economic driver, a massive lesson in logistics, and a place to celebrate some pretty amazing people.

hanks to the Iowa State Extension’s Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Team. Mallory DeVries edited this piece and Chris Schwartz and Lobo Loco wrote the music. I’m Beth Hoffman with the Iowa Food System Coalition. Thanks for listening.

This week, we explore the innovative world of Iowa’s food hubs—those central engines that aggregate, coordinate, and distribute locally grown food to schools, hospitals, retailers, and consumers. Iowa's Hub to Hub network, galvanized by federally funded programs like Local Food for Schools (LFS) and Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA), streamlined the journey from farm to table. Now federal funding has been cut— but customers continue to benefit from the network, buying local, vetted products they can’t get at the grocery store.

In this episode, the Iowa Food System Coalition discusses how these hubs work together—rather than competing—to create a reliable supply chain. And why support from the ground up—from consumers and institutions to state programs like Choose Iowa Purchasing—is essential now that federal funding has ended.

Featured Voices

* Tommy Hexter, Owner of Grinnell Farm to Table

* Karen Davis, General Manager of the Iowa Food Cooperative

* Victoria Harris

Key Episode Insights

* How federal funding like LFS and LFPA helped fuel the growth of our food hubs and the formation of the hub-to-hub network

* Why Iowa’s network is a unique collaborative of Iowa’s food hubs, coordinating routes and pooling resources to maximize efficiency

* What are the challenges ahead as federal funding has ceased, and the potential role of a state-backed Choose Iowa Purchasing Program to bridge the gap

* What you can do to help

Take Action Now

* Contact Legislators Tell them: Invest $3 million in Choose Iowa to replace lost federal funds and strengthen Iowa’s local food economy.

* Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee (J)

Senate Members

* Senate Approps Chair Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink

* Tom Shipley (R, District 9), Chair

* Annette Sweeney (R, District 27), Vice Chair

* Art Staed (D, District 40), Ranking Member

* Mike Zimmer (D, District 35)

* Dan Zumbach (R, District 34)

House Members

* House Approps Chair Rep. Gary Mohr

* Norlin G. Mommsen (R, District 70), Chair

* Helena Hayes (R, District 88), Vice Chair

* Sami Scheetz (D, District 78), Ranking Member

* Sean Bagniewski (D, District 35)

* Chad Behn (R, District 48)

* J.D. Scholten (D, District 1)

* Craig Steven Williams (R, District 11)

* Devon Wood (R, District 17)

* Derek Wulf (R, District 76)

* Call Governor Reynolds: (515) 281-5211 | Contact Form

* Tell her to support investment of $3 million in Choose Iowa to replace lost federal funds and strengthen Iowa’s local food economy.

* Engage with Your Local Institutions

* Ask schools, hospitals, and grocery stores about their food sourcing practices and advocate for local purchasing.

* Find a hub near you and plan to make local food purchasing part of your everyday.

Resources & Links

* Iowa Food Hub Directory

* Iowa Food Systems Coalition

We Want to Hear From You: How do you support local food in your community? Share your stories and tips on buying local, and we may feature your insights in upcoming episodes. Email us your experiences and ideas!

* communications@iowafoodsystemcoalition.org

Nitrate levels in Des Moines' drinking water are hitting historic highs. The city just issued its first-ever lawn watering ban, and rural communities are struggling too. What’s going on?

In this episode, we revisit that grade school water cycle diagram—then rip it up. Because the reality in Iowa is very different. Think monocrops, fertilizer runoff, and millions of acres of buried tile lines rerouting water away from where it needs to go.

We talk with Iowa’s State Geologist Keith Schilling and Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman about how industrial ag broke the natural flow of water—and we can help fix it. It’s not just about science. It’s about systems.

And yes, you can do something. Starting with what’s on your plate.

Voices

* Keith Schilling: State geologist and director of the Iowa Geological Survey

* Aaron Lehman: Farmer and President of the Iowa Farmers Union (Disclosure: Host Beth Hoffman is a member of the Iowa Farmers Union Board of Directors)

Nitrate Watch Map

Nitrate Watch is a crowd-sourced community science project of the Izaak Walton League of America. This program mobilizes volunteers across the country to monitor nitrate levels in surface water (rivers, lakes, streams) and drinking water. The goals of Nitrate Watch are to raise awareness about the impacts of nitrates on the environment and human health, identify hotspots of nitrate pollution, and advocate for solutions that reduce nutrient pollution. Interactive Map >

Dig Deeper

* Fertilizer sales rose in 2024, but researchers say farmers are getting more efficient

* Nitrate in Drinking Water: A Public Health Concern for All Iowans (Iowa Environmental Council)

* Iowans Across the State Asked To Conserve Water Due to Dry Wells-High Nitrate Levels (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

* Excess fertilizer use: Which countries cause environmental damage by overapplying fertilizers? (Our World in Data)

* Can we reduce fertilizer use without sacrificing food production? (Hannah Ritchie)

* Over-application of Fertilizer on Iowa’s Farm Fields – Although Fertilizer is Expensive, Farmers are Indeed Wasting It (Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter)

* How Agricultural Runoff Contaminated One of Iowas Main Water Sources (Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty)

* Drinking Water Nitrate and Human Health: An Updated Review

* Are central Iowa's growing data centers causing the water crisis? Here's what to know

* Clean Water Act History

* Watch recordings from workshops hosted by the Environmental Health Matters Initiative (EHMI) explored what actions can be taken on several levels to address the nitrogen contamination problem. Watch Now>

Take Action

* Make the Iowa Local Food Promise—Join the Iowa Food System Coalition by pledging a portion of your food budget to be spent on local food this summer.

* Press your legislators to fund conservation programs and support diversified farming practices—technical assistance is stretched too thin right now. Our partners at the Iowa Environmental Council supports policy change to:

* Expand state water monitoring, including groundwater monitoring.

* Improve state and local water use and hazard mitigation planning.

* Institute restrictions on industrial water use and siting.

* Share this episode with your friends, family, and neighbors. Talking about water is urgent and now, it's personal.

Stay in the Loop

Stay connected to the latest in Iowa's food system news. Subscribe to our newsletter for timely news, action alerts, and event updates, all focused on supporting local farms and communities. Sign up today and never miss a bite!

Special thanks to Keith Schilling and Aaron Lehman for sharing their expertise, and to Mallory DeVries and Chris Schwartz for editing. Music by Mixxmaster_TAB.

"Local food" is a popular idea. But why is it important to buy food grown locally?

In this episode, we dive deeply into what local food really means and why it matters more than you might think. Spoiler alert: it has a lot to do with your health. But, it goes beyond nutrition. From farmers markets in small towns to food science labs, we explore how the way food is grown affects its flavor, nutrition, and even your connection to the people who grew it. It isn’t just fresher… it’s personal. It’s political. And it’s packed with potential.

You can put your dollars where your values are.

Resources

* Iowa Local Food Promise—Join the Iowa Food System Coalition by pledging a portion of your food budget to be spent on local food this summer.

* The Bionutrient Institute’s Beef Study

* What Does “Local” Really Even Mean?—Healthy Harvest of North Iowa’s Grow. Eat. Play. explores the question.

* Food, Nutrition, & Health—Explore IFSC’s chapter on the connection between local foods and wellbeing.

Subscribe for free to receive At the Iowa Farm Table straight to your inbox.

Featured Voices

* Ashley Kaldenberg—KaldenBlooms—Albia, Iowa

* Dr Stephan van Vliet—a nutrition scientist with metabolomics expertise in the Center for Human Nutrition Studies at Utah State University. His research is performed at the nexus of agricultural and human health. He collaborates with farmers, ecologists, and agricultural scientists to study critical linkages between agricultural production methods, the nutrient density of food, and human health. His work has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Scientific Reports, the Journal of Nutrition, and the Journal of Physiology.

Stay in the Loop

Stay connected to the latest in Iowa's food system news. Subscribe to our newsletter for timely news, action alerts, and event updates, all focused on supporting local farms and communities. Sign up today and never miss a bite!

For this episode we visited our partners at the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) food pantry network, where collaboration, data collection, and advocacy are changing how food insecurity is understood and addressed. We hear how local pantries work, who they serve, and why even in a state known for agriculture, one in four Iowans is struggling to access enough food.

This episode also examines how cuts to programs like LFPA and the underfunding of Iowa’s Choose Iowa Purchasing Pilot threaten progress that supports both farmers and families.

Resources

* Food insecurity rises in Iowa; 385,000 residents face hunger

* Iowa SNAP Work Rules

* How SNAP cuts will impact your state

Voices in this episode:

* Helen Bell – DMARC pantry volunteer

* Blake Willadsen – Communications Manager, DMARC

* Luke Elzinga – Policy and Advocacy Director, DMARC and Chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition

Call to Action:

Food insecurity doesn’t start or end at the pantry door. We need policies that address the root causes of hunger — and investments that connect Iowa farmers directly to Iowa families.

* Support organizations like DMARC and the Iowa Hunger Coalition.

* Share this episode to help spark conversations about real solutions to food insecurity.

* Stay engaged as an advocate for policies that value both people and local food producers.

So much of the food we eat is grown, processed, and prepared by people we rarely see. Many of them are immigrants and refugees. In this episode, we hear from Iowans whose lives and work are deeply woven into the fabric of our food system and explore what it means to search for safety, stability, and opportunity in a country that sends mixed messages.

Thanks for listening to the At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new episodes to your inbox.

Voices

* Alex – aspiring farmer and refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo

* Valerie Lacarte – Senior Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute

* Maria Torres – community leader, Pottawattamie County Public Health

* Yves Fleurima – Haitian immigrant and advocate, Waterloo

Resources

* Latinos in Iowa, 2024 - Iowa Data Center

* Migrants in Iowa - Migrant Policy Institute

* The Essential Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Supply Chain (infographic) - Migrant Policy Institute

* The Hidden Costs of Trump's Mass Deportations -Wall Street Journal (Video)

* State Immigration Profiles: Iowa - Migrant Policy Institute

About Our Labor Equity Team

The Iowa Food System Coalition’s Labor Equity team is working to strengthen Iowa’s food system workforce through skill-building, fair compensation, and safe, equitable work environments. Our goal is to uplift ALL workers; especially those historically impacted by unjust labor policies and to ensure that every job in the food system is a job worth having.

Dig Deeper

Iowa immigrant group is alarmed by a state lawmaker’s demand for confidential information | AP News

Amid fear and nonprofit closure, immigrants need services in Pottawattamie County | KMTV Omaha

Pottawattamie County Public Health’s Maria Torres Honored with Awards for Community Impact | Pottawattamie County Public Health

‘We are not illegal humans’: Hundreds march in Iowa City in support of immigrants | Little Village Magazine

Stay in the Loop

Stay connected to the latest in Iowa's food system news. Subscribe to our newsletter for timely news, action alerts, and event updates, all focused on supporting local farms and communities. Sign up today and never miss a bite!

Listen Now | What does it mean to add value on the farm and why does it matter? In this episode, we explore how Iowa farmers are going beyond raw products to create products that feed their communities, build resilience, and keep more food dollars close to home.

This kind of work is getting a boost from the Choose Iowa Value-Added Grant Program, which recently awarded $463,000 to farmers and food businesses across the state. That funding is expected to spark over $1 million in local investment. Demand for the program beat funding 4-to-1, showing just how many great ideas are waiting in the wings. That’s why we’re pushing to grow the program and back every bold step Iowa farmers want to take.

🎧 Like what you hear? Subscribe to At the Iowa Farm Table and bring more local food stories to your ears.

Voices

Jeff Hafner—Early Morning Harvest

Mark Westbrock—Solstice Farm and Paha Cider

Savanah Laur—Practical Farmers of Iowa

References

Iowa State researchers help lead multistate project for a more diverse Corn Belt—Iowa State University

Secretary Naig Awards 33 Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants—Official State of Iowa Website

USDA Food Dollar Series—Note: The Food Dollar shows the farm share at 15.9 cents of the dollar. In an email exchange with Beth Hoffman, USDA clarified that half that amount is spent by farmers on inputs (seed, herbicides, etc), leaving farmers with only 8 cents of every dollar.

Music

* Mom n' Pa by Beat Mekanik - licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License.

* Coalition Call by Chris Schwartz IFSC

Stay in the Loop

Stay connected to the latest in Iowa's food system news. Subscribe to our newsletter for timely news, action alerts, and event updates, all focused on supporting local farms and communities. Sign up today and never miss a bite!

Listen Now | In 2012, Rob Faux was bringing water out to the hens on his organic farm in northeast Iowa when a plane flew over and sprayed pesticides on him, his partner, and his farm. Not once, but twelve times.

The experience of that day and the weeks and months after it led him to become who he is today: an advocate for pesticide control and regulation.

In today’s episode of At the Iowa Farm Table, Beth Hoffman of the Iowa Food System Coalition dives into Rob Faux’s shocking story and what the new “pesticide immunity” laws creeping up around the country could mean for us all.

You can listen to this and every episode of At the Iowa Farm Table wherever you listen to podcasts (ie—Spotify, Apple, etc).

Subscribe for free to receive At the Iowa Farm Table straight to your inbox.

Featured Voices

Rob Faux – diversified organic farmer in northeast Iowa, pesticide‑drift survivor, and Iowa Communications Manager for Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network (PAN) North America)

Key Episode Insights

* A negligent crop‑dusting event wiped out Faux’s crops and sparked his fight for stricter pesticide rules.

* Proposed “immunity” bills would stop farmers and cancer patients from suing, even when labels intentionally hide risks.

* Today, Faux is a cancer survivor. But like many, where his cancer originated from is unknown. In Iowa, there are no laws mandating farmers to alert neighbors as to which chemicals will be sprayed or when. Iowa is also one of the most heavily sprayed places on earth.

* Iowans across party lines want companies to be held accountable for land, water, and human health.

Resources & Action

* Bills to track by state

* Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network (PAN) North America – campaigns, science briefs, action alerts, resources:.

* Iowa Food System Coalition

* 2025 Policy Asks

* Newsletter Sign-Up

* Find Your Iowa Legislator – quick lookup & contact info

* Roundup/Cancer Trial Tracker – ongoing litigation statistics (U.S. Right to Know)

News & Media

* Iowa House declines to advance bill shielding pesticide companies from cancer lawsuits—IPR

* 30+ Groups To Iowa House: Stop Cancer Gag Act—Food & Water Watch Iowa

* Farmer raises concern over bill exempting pesticide companies from lawsuits—KCRG

* Bayer moves to block lawsuits that claim glyphosate causes cancer—Chemical and Engineering News

Thanks for reading At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

In 2024, Governor Kim Reynolds made headlines when she declined $29 million in federal funding for Summer EBT (also known as SUN Bucks)—a proven program that helped feed nearly 250,000 Iowa kids each summer. Instead, the state applied for a waiver to pilot its own approach: Healthy Kids Iowa. While that waiver was denied under the previous administration, it gained approval this year under USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.

In this episode, we unpack what Healthy Kids Iowa looks like on the ground. We speak with pantry leaders, parents, and advocates to understand how this new model is actually playing out across Iowa. Has it truly expanded access and autonomy? How is it working for the volunteers and pantries tasked with distribution? Are families receiving food in ways that meet their needs?

And—importantly—what’s in the box?

Featured Voices

* Missy Loux, First Lutheran Food Pantry

* Christina Romp, Healthy Kids Iowa recipient

* Paige Chickering, Save the Children Action Network

Dig Deeper

* Map the Meal Gap (Feeding America)

* Summer EBT: Nutritious Food For Iowa’s Kids (Iowa Hunger Coalition)

* I am thrilled to announce with Secretary Rollins Iowa’s new summer food program, Healthy Kids Iowa! (Governor Kim Reynolds)

* SNAP Map (Iowa Hunger Coalition)

Take Action

Iowa families deserve access to fresh, healthy food and the ability to choose what works best for them. Here’s how you can support real solutions to summer hunger:

* Urge lawmakers to reinstate Summer EBT in 2026: This proven, efficient program helped feed nearly 250,000 Iowa kids each summer. It’s time to bring it back.

* Support Double Up Food Bucks: This statewide program matches SNAP dollars spent on fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and grocery stores—making healthy food more affordable while supporting Iowa farmers.

* Build your advocacy skills

* Join the Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) for their Iowa State Advocacy Summit on Saturday, July 26 in Des Moines. This free event brings together advocates from across the state to learn about the issues facing children and families in Iowa—and how to speak up for solutions that work. Register >

* Explore IFSC’s Legislative Priorities: From food access to farm resilience, learn what the Iowa Food System Coalition is advocating for and how you can get involved. Learn More>

* Come see us at the Iowa Hunger Summit! This Wednesday, July 16, we’re hosting a breakout session: Networking Iowa’s Community-Based Food Groups (Co-hosted by Center for Rural Affairs, Iowa Farmers Union, and IFSC).

* Make the Iowa Local Food Promise—Join the Iowa Food System Coalition by pledging a portion of your food budget to be spent on local food this summer.

* Share this episode with your friends, family, and neighbors.

Stay in the Loop

Stay connected to the latest in Iowa's food system news. Subscribe to our newsletter for timely news, action alerts, and event updates, all focused on supporting local farms and communities. Sign up today and never miss a bite!

Special thanks to Christina Romp, Paige Chickering, Missy Loux, and Luke Elzinga. Mallory DeVries edited. Music by Chris Schwartz and Lobo Loco.