Field Trips

Field Trips will be offered on Saturday October 10th, 2009.  Advance registration is closed.

On-site Registration

We will be accepting registration on site for two field trips:
Diversity in the Heartland and Farmers Tell it Like it Is

To register on site for one of these field trips, please arrive at the Des Moines Farmers Market between 7 and 8am, and find the CFSC conference table.

Fairfield, Iowa:  An Entrepreneurial and Environmental Oasis in Corn Country

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Experience the entrepreneurial spirit of the rural heartland. Fairfield is known for the Maharishi University of Management. Many of the transcendental management students who have flocked to Fairfield have set up their own food-based business. Participants will visit a grass-based dairy farm with on-farm processing, a lab for testing products for genetically modified organisms, an eco-village and the Vedic City, a newly created town incorporating greenhouse production.  This field trip is FULL.

Diversity in the Heartland

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Like much of the country, Iowa is seeing an influx of immigrants, especially Latinos. This tour will take you out to Marshalltown, the site of recent immigration raids on a local processing plant. You get the chance to visit an immigrant farmer training and business incubation program. This project builds on the entrepreneurial spirit and diverse foods sought by new immigrants as a way to create entry points for Latino farmers in local food systems. The tour will also include a stop at a Des Moines area farm in the middle of a suburban development, where one family works hard to nurture the immigrant community while keeping development at bay.  We will accept on-site registrants for this field trip.

Farmers Tell it Like it Is: Challenging Corporate Dominance

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

October exemplifies the nature of business in Iowa. Combines comb the fields of corn and soybeans, mining the soil in order to export one third of the entire crop.  Several Iowa farmers who have worked both in Iowa and internationally will discuss what it is like to challenge the dominance of corporate agriculture. On the way to a local farm to hear from these farmer renegades, you’ll get a first hand view of a hog confinement operation, and stop by a packing plant, with which we are negotiating to let attendees enter. On the way home, you’ll get a sweet treat at a local dairy business that makes and sells ice cream.  We will accept on-site registrants for this field trip.

Urban Food Initiatives by Bike

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Starting at the downtown Farmers Market, you’ll pedal your way through Des Moines visiting community gardens and edible landscapes in schoolyards and neighborhoods. The terrain is flat and the ride will be less than 20 miles. This field trip is FULL.

Three Different Approaches to Food Security

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Participants will experience three different ways in which Iowans address hunger. We’ll visit the Iowa Food Bank and hear about the relationship between food banks and government and agri-business.  We’ll drop by a local farm in the midst of urban sprawl, which is helping immigrants to develop their own farming businesses. Finally, we’ll visit Pioneer Seed Company, an Iowa-based corporation now owned by DuPont. Pioneer is the “world’s largest developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics.” We’ll hear about their philosophy and contribution to addressing world hunger through biotechnology and plant breeding.  This field trip is FULL.

Grow it, Show it, Know it: Understanding the Links Between Food Security, Farm Diversity, and Farm Income

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

This tour will take participants to three farms in rural Iowa, where the owners have added value to their operations through agri-tourism and other means. The tour will emphasize the challenges and strategies that mid-sized farms, or “agriculture in the middle” face in obtaining a secure and sustainable livelihood. On the way back to Des Moines, you’ll stop at a local winery to sample some local vintages and talk with a leader in the Iowa wine field.  This field trip is FULL.

Opening Reception, Breakfast in the Market

Saturday, October 10, 2009 7:30 – 9:00 am
Des Moines Farmers Market

(Reception only for field trip participants)

The Farmers Market is on Court Avenue from 5th Street to Water Street.  Because it is a street market, they don’t have an official address;  for mapping purposes the nearest address is 300 Court Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309.

Download a map of the Farmers Market [PDF format]

Or for more information about the market, go to: http://www.desmoinesfarmersmarket.com/

Field Trip Schedule

7:15 AM

Shuttle from the Holiday Inn, and guided walk from the Marriott to The Farmers Market for field trip attendees (or within walking distance)

7:35 AM

Breakfast in the Market Reception Welcome

7:40 AM

Good Eats, Treats, Networking and Market Wandering

8:45 AM

Gather back at Reception area for field trip departures

5:00 PM

Field trips return