(Radio Iowa) – A non-profit organization that works to bring locally grown food to people in need is getting more money from the U-S-D-A. Giselle Bruskewitz is the director of the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development program that works with food hubs, food banks, and Meskwaki nation. “It’s going out to under-served communities and a lot of different ways. It’s not a one size fits all program. So the food hub and food banks especially are working with folks all across the state,” she says.

She says there are a lot of people in Iowa right now who need food and they work to get high-quality produce, meat, and other products out to them. “In different areas, the need is different. So you talked to one pantry, and they’ll say that the need for fresh produce is really, really dire and it’s hard to find those really high-quality produce items,” Brusckewitz says. “And then sometimes you’ll talk to another community access site and they’re more interested in finding those local high-quality meat products.”

Brusckewitz says setting up distribution systems so the food can be delivered fresh is part of the project. “The food hub managers working group has been working with the Department of Ag for several years to try to develop this hub-to-hub network. So, through this program and even before the program, but definitely thanks to the program, we’ve expanded a lot of those routes from the food hubs,” she says. “And the majority of the producer relationships are through a food hub. And so they’re getting really creative about how to help better distribute that food to food banks and other sites.”

Brusckewitz says they have a range of prices that the producers tell them are fair prices that meet their cost of production to sell their products to sustain their businesses. “And so, there’s opportunity for producers that are smaller scale, or maybe beginning farmers to be able to get into this new market and be able to build those relationships to help build their businesses. And so that’s a really big deal to be able to have that flexibility in pricing range so we can get more people sustaining their business and growing food in our state,” Brusckewitz says.

The latest award is two-point-nine million dollars, bringing the total to over five-point-six million dollars for the three-year program. To learn more about the program or how to participate, visit: www.iowalfpa.org.