New Pioneer Food op : Fresh Iowa Sweet Corn & Apples – In January!

Enjoy this guest post from the good folks at Iowa Choice Harvest, where they pick and freeze Iowa produce at its peak to bring us summer flavor in the dead of winter!

Co-op owner Jan Huber picks out Iowa Choice Harvest Iowa Grown Apples at New Pi Iowa City

Back in 2006,a group of 13 Iowans came together with a dream to craft a local food system that would provide a fair value to farmers while producing quality products for Iowans. These Iowans, all farmers themselves, were alumni and friends of 'Grow Your Small Market Farm,' a business training program Penny Brown Huber has run, on and off, over the last decade.

These early conversations began to come together around the need to open up new avenues for farmers to reach consumers, beyond farmers' markets and direct marketing. Reaching out to a wider customer base, however, requires the capacity to meet the ongoing demand. These farmers realized that an Iowa-based processing facility was the infrastructure they needed to rise to the challenge.

The team secured a plant in Marshalltown, centrally located for reaching all corners of Iowa and its neighboring states, with support from a USDA Value-Added Producer Grant and a USDA Rural Development Business and Industry Loan Guarantee. In 2013 - after nearly eight years of planning - Iowa Choice Harvest opened for business.

Co-op cashier Juli checks out at the register with Patti to take Iowa Choice apples & sweet corn home for dinner.

Iowa Choice Harvest now offers freshly frozen Iowa sweet corn & apples at New Pioneer Co-op. Iowa Choice Harvest's frozen Iowa Grown Apples are from orchards in Earlham, Iowa Falls, Montour, Marshalltown, Nashua, and Strawberry Point, and each package contains up to 21 fall apple varieties, including some heirloom varieties.Peeled and sliced, Iowa Choice Harvest apples are perfect for any recipe calling for fresh apples. They have no preservatives or ascorbic rinse, and no added sugars or sodium.

Iowa Choice Harvest's frozen Golden Sweet Corn is sweet corn grown from non-GMO seed by Iowa farmers and picked and frozen on the same day. In fact, Iowa Choice Harvest is the onlyfood processing company in the country where sweet corn is picked and frozen on the same day, sealing in that fresh and unique sweet corn flavor! It can be heated on a stovetop or in its convenient microwavable bag.

In keeping with Iowa Choice Harvest's mission to connect customers with earth-conscious Iowa farmers who grow high-quality fruits and vegetables, the company is working hard to provide opportunities for customers to have local Iowa foods when eating out. Iowa Choice Harvest has formed strong relationships with restaurants, schools, and institutions like retirement communities, including the Oaknoll Retirement Community in Iowa City.

Still majority farmer-owned, Iowa Choice Harvest is growing, with several new products on the horizon. Penny Brown Huber, Iowa Choice Harvest CEO, is proud of the strides the company has made over the last nine years. 'We are very proud to have our products in New Pioneer Co-op, an organization committed to supporting locally grown efforts,' Brown Huber explains. 'Together we are serving both our missions and building a local food system where Iowans can purchase locally grown products all year long.'

You can find Iowa Choice Harvest in the frozen foods section at New Pioneer Co-op, and online at www.iowachoiceharvest.com or www.facebook.com/iowachoiceharvest.