The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is celebrating the one-year anniversary of their Choose Iowa initiative, which was launched at the Iowa State Fair in 2023.
Choose Iowa is the state’s signature brand for Iowa grown, raised and made products. The program builds on the growing demand for local food, beverages and ag products, creates new markets for Iowa farmers, and provides consumers with more choices. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says the growing trend for locally grown products helped with the growth of Choose Iowa.
“We know that consumers are increasingly wanting to buy local. They want to know where things come from. They’d like to be connected to a farmer. It’s about having a great experience with your food, eating at a restaurant that sources locally, doing a meal at a farm with the producer right there telling you about where these products come from and looking for those things at the farmers market or on the grocery store shelf. There’s a tremendous amount of demand for this.”