CL Iowa State University held its annual Local Food Festival from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Memorial Union West Loop Wednesday.
Iowa State University held its annual Local Food Festival Wednesday, where students and faculty learned about local foods and farmers. Around 30 vendors were selling their crops, proteins, baked goods and products from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Memorial Union West Loop.
The event was hosted in collaboration with the ISU Extension and Outreach Farm, Food and Enterprise Development, the ISU Office of Sustainability, ISU Student Wellness and the Live Green Initiative.
Members of the planning committee and faculty were excited to see the diverse population attend.
“I think we’re going to see quite a few more folks see how they’re connected to the Local Food Festival,” Megan Kemp, an education extension specialist and main coordinator of the festival, said. “I think we’ll get a different vein of students and different demographics than we typically would.”
Students received a punch card when they arrived and could get it punched by different booths, tables and vendors. After visiting at least three educational booths, the punch cards could then be brought to the Student Wellness booth and exchanged for a Local Food Pass as a part of the Produce Pass Program. Students could then use the Local Food Pass to go to Pass Vendors and get food and products of $5 value.
Merry Rankin, director of the Office of Sustainability, and her team had a table at the event and worked behind the scenes as well. Rankin was on the first planning committee and has been a part of the festival since its beginning.
“It had been something that had been of interest to students,” Rankin said. “We just had to find a way to effectively and successfully bring it to campus.”
Chloe Henscheid, manager of the Horticulture Research Station, also participated in setting up the festival. Henscheid, with several other booths, thrives on having opportunities like the festival to provide local produce.
“A big part of what we do at the Horticulture Research Station is [to] provide all of the tents for the vendors,” Henscheid said. “There’s a lot of local farmers in the area, and they are able to keep farming as long as the community keeps purchasing local produce.
Nicole Jonas, owner of Red Granite Farms and a horticulture graduate of ISU, was a returning booth and a Pass Vendor at the festival.
“When I was a student, I never envisioned myself selling produce on Central Campus,” Jonas said. “I think it’s a really neat event that opens eyes and brings awareness to local foods.”