Healthy Harvest of North Iowa asks Mitchell County for $3,100 to support farm-to-school and farmers-market work

Andrea Evelsleiser, executive director of Healthy Harvest of North Iowa, told the Mitchell County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 16 that her organization seeks $3,100 from the county for fiscal 2027 to support farmers-market outreach, a local food guide and farm-to-school programming.

Evelsleiser said the nonprofit has expanded several initiatives across the county this year, including summer contractor participation at farmers markets, an online recipe database of more than 300 seasonally focused recipes, and distribution of a printed local food guide to libraries and chambers of commerce. "We've been over here quite a few times," Evelsleiser said, summarizing the group's outreach.

The request is unchanged from recent years, Evelsleiser said: "Our request is the same as last year, which is just a little over 3,000, 3,100, same as last year and last few years." She noted that funding is tight for small nonprofits and encouraged the board to consider the allocation again.

Board members asked about Healthy Harvest's work with schools. Evelsleiser said Riceville and Osage have been primary contacts through their food-service directors, and that the group recently included both districts in a USDA farm-to-school grant application aimed at deeper planning and classroom or cafeteria visits by farmers. "The grant includes some farmer visits, like in classroom and in the cafeteria education about healthy eating," she said.

Evelsleiser also identified local partners and volunteers, and asked the board to alert her to potential new board members; she named Jackie Armstrong as a departing board member and said contractor Natasha Newhouse will lead farmers-market and farm-to-school work.

The board placed the request on the county budget for further consideration, with no final appropriation recorded at the meeting.