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A Taste of Iowa Summer

IPR's Pat Blank

A first of its kind facility in Marshalltown is bringing a taste of Iowa summer to dinner tables.  Iowa Choice Harvest frozen sweet corn and apples have been available in a few grocery stores in the central part of the state, but in April, all 107 Fareway stores will feature the products.  Iowa Choice Harvest is a group of 30 farmers who have invested in the company to have Iowa grown fruits and vegetables available year round.   CEO Penny Brown Huber was able to secure a USDA grant to study how the market would react to a facility like theirs.  It took eight years and just under a million dollars to get the company up and running. She says "it's one hundred percent owned by Iowans, the products are grown by Iowans, the packaging is produced in Iowa, so every single dollar stays in the state."  There are plans to add asparagus, rhubarb, aronia berries and perhaps strawberries in 2015 and beyond.

  

Credit IPR's Pat Blank
A story about each producer is included on each package of Iowa Choice Harvest fruits and vegtables

  

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Pat Blank is the host of All Things Considered