Education & Community Development

To Further this mission, we currently have three goals:

1. To participate in community activities, organizations, and initiatives for fostering:

• good health, well-being, and a high quality of life for area residents.

• public understanding of agriculture, food, and community development and how these are interconnected.

• strategic planning for reaching consensus on goals and for pursuing these goals effectively.

• increased production of food for local consumption and increased use of that food.

• public appreciation of the value of having diversity in our food and agriculture system.

• good health, well-being, and a high quality of life for area residents.

• public understanding of agriculture, food, and community development and how these are interconnected.

• strategic planning for reaching consensus on goals and for pursuing these goals effectively.

• increased production of food for local consumption and increased use of that food.

• public appreciation of the value of having diversity in our food and agriculture system.

2. To collaborate in organizing events intended to increase appreciation of both agriculture and healthful food as integral components of vibrant rural communities.

3. To participate in professional activities that relate to the Harrisdale Homestead mission.

Our activities undertaken in pursuit of these goals:

1. Community Activities

• We are currently collaborating with community leaders and organizers (see affiliations page) to increase county residents’ access to healthful, locally-produced food.

• Ardy participates in the Healthy Cass County (HCC) network (https://www.atlanticiowa.com/relocate/health-wellness-2/healthy-cass-county/).

• THCC is a conduit for sharing information about programs and activities pertaining to health in Cass County. It thus helps to avoid duplication of efforts and to initiate needed programs. She is currently active in the Healthy Cass County Food Access project which includes the Grow an Extra Row initiative launched in April, 2020 during the Covid-19 disruption.

• Gil is a member of the Cass County Local Food Policy Council (https://www.atlanticiowa.com/county/county-departments/food-council-policy/)…

  • The Cass County Local Food Policy Council is a Cass County Government advisory body charged with promoting a vibrant and diverse local food system that supports the health and well-being of Cass County residents.
    The Council's activities include:

    • building networks among people engaged in all aspects of the food system,

    • supporting local food activities consistent with its mission through promotion, resource allocation, or other types of assistance,

    • gathering information about the formal and informal food policies of government agencies, public institutions, and private businesses, and

    • making reports and recommendations for improving food policies.

  • The Council recently worked with the Board of Supervisors in obtaining a grant for distributing food to County families in need.

• Recently we have made presentations about our activities and goals to the following local organizations: Kiwanis, Atlantic Lyons Club and the Atlantic Rotary club, and Iowa Western Community College Loess Hill Learners.

2. Organizing Community Events

We collaborate with our Local Food and Farms Celebration partners--Rolling Acres Farm, Brun Ko Farm, and Harrisdale Farmstead--to sponsor an annual Local Food and Farms Celebration in which local farms host open houses for the public. The goals for the celebration are both to provide people an opportunity for a fun outing and to increase people’s understanding and appreciation for food raised in our community and the impact it can have on human and community health. The 5th annual Local Food and Farm Celebration is scheduled for August 28 and 29, 2020. For more information contact Emily @ 712-249-3187 or brunkofarm.weebly.com/farmcrawl.

We also link to and contribute to external resources to promote sustainable food production which supports growers and contribute to health and well-being


3. Professional Activities

• We presented as co-authors on “Community Builders Process for Local Food System Development,” at the joint annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society / Agriculture Food, and Human Values Society (ASFS/AFHVS) that was held last June at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. Our co-authors were Frank & Kim Spillers of Rural Community Solutions and LaVon Eblen. This presentation focused on the food and agriculture component of a larger local community development project conducted in Cass County in 2004-6 & 2009. Our goal was to highlight the community development achievements and to share the process with others who might find it useful in their localities.

• Ardy is co-author of the introductory chapter, “Communication is the Essence of Nutrition Practice” (Mayfield and Gillespie), for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Guide to Nutrition Communication, edited by B. Mayfield, forthcoming 2020.

• Gil is an associate editor for Renewable Agriculture & Food Systems for which he manages the peer review process for approximately four manuscripts per year.

• We have become a “shareholder” in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD; https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/about). JAFSCD is organized to bridge gaps between practitioners and academics by providing information sharing and publication opportunities that benefit our community and the worldwide movement toward a more sustainable food and agriculture systems. It has recently become open-access, which means that its content is freely available without charge, a change that has been made possible by organizations and people who have become contributors (shareholders). Gil and Ardy serve as advisors to JAFSCD and and Gil serves as a “JAFSCD Author Mentor” who works with practitioners and junior authors to help them prepare publishable manuscripts.

We are available to:

• Assist community organizations and initiatives in studying and evaluating community-based programming.

• We are interested in continuing to develop more effective means and practices for reasoned discussion and examination of agriculture and local food to increase understanding and appreciation of the topic.

• Ardy has organized a small group of people for regular discussions of agriculture, food, and health. Its main focus is on our aspirations for our community and actions we might take to realize our goals. This group, informally labeled “Cass County Aspirations and Action Planning,” is working “connecting the dots” regarding current and potential organizations and initiatives to maximize use of resources and to improve communication. One of the interests that has emerged from this group is increasing access to healthful foods produced locally. As a result, some members have joined the Healthy Cass County Food Access Initiative.