September 8 - 11, 2005

Field to Family is Iowa City's annual celebration of local foods and culinary excellence. This year, one-third of the profits from the festival will be donated to Local Foods Connection! Please join us for a weekend of fun and education.

Volunteers Roy McGarrah, Mark Kresowik, and Erich Stroemer
work at Choice Earth farm in Brighton

Grow It Yourself Salsa Party
Thursday, Sept 8, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Johnson County Crisis Center Community Garden
1121 Gilbert Court, Iowa City, Free of charge
Celebrate community food security! Join Food Bank Director Danya Ballantyne, Bob Braverman from Friendly Farms, and Derek Roller with the Iowa City Community Gardens. Learn how to prepare fresh salsa with tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro grown at the Crisis Center Community Garden. Enjoy homemade iced tea and learn how the Crisis Center and the Iowa City Community Gardens provide access to healthy food through team spirit and cooperation.

Culinary Walk
Thursday, September 8, 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Downtown Iowa City $25/person
Don't miss the most diverse food-sampling event Iowa City has to offer. Taste the dishes that chefs are preparing from the late summer harvest. Take this rare opportunity to get to know many of Iowa City's food establishments.

Tickets are available at: The New Pioneer Co-op Stores in Iowa City & Coralville and Devotay Restaurant (117 N. Linn Street, IC). To order tickets by phone please call (319) 321-7935.

Live from Prairie Lights
with Sherri Brooks Vinton
Thursday, September 8, 7:00 p.m.* time change from 8:00 p.m.
15 S. Dubuque Street, Free of charge
Come meet author Sherri Brooks Vinton as she is a featured guest on Live from Prairie Lights, airing on WSUI AM910. Ms. Vinton is the author of "The Real Food Revival: Aisle by Aisle, Morsel by Morsel."

Wild Mushroom Foray
with Damian Pieper
Friday, Sept 9, 6 p.m. - Sunset
Hickory Hill Park, Free of charge
Join knowledgeable mushroom enthusiast Damian Pieper of the Central States Mushroom Club as he leads the foray. Damian will identify species and tell tall tales of mushrooms he has gathered and eaten. Wear long pants and bring insect repellant. The group will meet at Dodge Street entrance.

Farmers' Market Cooking Demo
with Chef and Author Odessa Piper
Saturday, September 10, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Washington and Van Buren in Iowa City, Chauncey Swan Parking Ramp, Free of charge
Join us for a local food cooking demo and free samples at the Farmers' Market with Author Chef Odessa Piper. New Pioneer will host the condiments as Odessa shows easy and delicious ways to prepare fresh local produce from the market.

UI Service Fraternity Alpha Kappa PSI
Volunteers Planting Garlic on ZJ Farm in Solon

Slow Food Iowa Harvest Dinner: A Celebration of Foods of the Season
Saturday, September 10, 6 - 10 p.m.
Izaak Walton League, 4044 Izaak Walton Rd SE, $50/person
Come and enjoy what is guaranteed to be the most memorable meal of the year. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with hors d'oeuvres and a reception. Dinner will be served at 7 pm with Chef-Author Odessa Piper speaking to the audience. Odessa will share knowledge and insight gained over the past 30 years since she established L'Etoile. Tickets are available at The New Pioneer Co-op Stores in Iowa City & Coralville and Devotay Restaurant (117 N. Linn Street, IC) or call (319) 321-7935.

ZJ Farm Tour and Harvest Party
Saturday, September 10
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Farm Tours
5:30 Potluck Dinner; 6:30 Square Dance and band
5025 120th St. NE, Solon, Free of charge
Discover how a small family farm is operated. The ZJ Farm covers 80 acres and is run by Susan Jutz and her four children Frances, Reuben, George and David. Susan will guide farm tours by walking down rows of vegetable plants, petting farm animals and admiring prairie fields. For the farm tour, please wear clothes for exploring and getting dirty. For the potluck, bring table service, a main dish and a desert or beverage. The evening will continue with live music and square dancing with a professional caller.

Directions: From Solon, 3 miles north on Hwy. 1. 3 miles east on 120th St. Large white house and barns beside road. Tenting space available. No dogs please. For more information: Contact ZJ Farm at by phone at (319)-624-3052, email zjfarm@ia.net or visit www.zjfarms.com.

Catch, Clean and Cook!
Sunday, September 11, 4 - 6 p.m.
F.W. Kent Park, 2048 Highway 6 NW, Oxford
Free of charge
Learn about fishing from Iowa's waters with Naturalist Brad Freidhof at the F. W. Kent Park pond. Then Brad will bring the group to the F.W. Kent Park Conservation Education Center and teach how to fillet and cook the fish you catch. Educational handouts and recipes will be given to all participants. For more information: Call 319-645-1911 to register and facilitate planning. (Persons 16 years and older must possess a valid Iowa fishing license.)

This summer the Iowa Governor's office released a report on the Role of Charitable Nonprofit Organizations in Iowa. The introductory paragraph states:

"Even in an era of globalization, we live our lives locally. Iowa's citizens, volunteering in thousands of charitable nonprofit associations, build our communities. Through these associations, Iowans on their own initiative address local needs, formulate values, and take action. Our charitable nonprofit organizations range across the board spectrum of daily life including religion, health, social service, education, culture, community development, housing, and human rights. Many are small and financially fragile. Yet they are vital factors in making Iowa a great place to work and live. Without these crucial community associations, Iowa cannot advance economically or socially."

The Governor's Task Force recommends: "It is essential that we understand the basic role of Iowa's vigorous charitable sector. We should actively support this sector at all times, especially in times of economic stress when sector services are essential . . . The basic responsibility for community development lies with each of us acting through our charitable nonprofit organizations.
We are our organizations, their successes are our successes; their failures are our failures. It is up to each one of us to be an active participant in

our local charitable nonprofit organizations to assure the future of our community and ultimately of our state."

Here are some statistics from the report:

- There were 3,459 reporting charitable nonprofits in Iowa in 2002. In addition to these reporting 501(c)3s, there are almost 7,500 organizations not required to file, including booster clubs, local PTAs, youth soccer, Little League, and numerous other small organizations.

- In 2001-2002, the average charitable deduction for itemizing taxpayers in Iowa was $2,361 - about 3.5% of their incomes. Both of these figures were lower than the national averages.

- Reporting charitable nonprofits had $7.3 billion in expenditures in 2002, almost 8% of the Gross State Product in Iowa.

- Human services organizations make up the largest proportion of Iowa's reporting charitable nonprofits (39%). These organizations provide a broad spectrum of services including youth development, disaster relief, housing services, and family support.

Download report at UI Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center:http://nonprofit.law.uiowa.edu/
updates/GovTaskForce/Report.pdf

Farm Workers: Educational and fun for everybody! First-time farm visitors and seasoned farm hands welcome. Large groups and individuals can make appointments to work on a farm. Farm work available year-round, May-Sept. is busiest. You can work on a farm once, or many times. A variety of opportunities are available to suit your interests and talents, although chores depend on the season. Minimum three (3) hours on farm; drive to farm can be twenty minutes to over an hour, depending on farm.

Writer: Write articles for newsletter; lots of interviewing.

Artists: Create images for website, newsletters, displays etc.

Meeting Facilitator: Provide structure at meetings,
ensure two-way communication, keep meetings on agenda.

Contact Laura Dowd at (319) 338-2010 or localfoodsconnection@yahoo.com

Iowa State Bank and the Iowa City Press Citizen are hosting a "52 Weeks of True Blue" event. Each week, they will randomly draw from the names of local charities you enter and donate $100 to one of them on your behalf. All it takes is a moment to fill-out a card and drop it into one of the True Blue boxes at all ISB&T locations, The Iowa City Press Citizen or at area malls. You can also enter on-line at:
www.goiowacity.com/trueblue/default.asp