(Spirit Lake)– A Spirit Lake man has been awarded an eight thousand dollar grant to study the potential for increasing local food production and sales in the Iowa Great Lakes.
The grant through the Iowa State University Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was awarded to Dennis McDonald and the Market Community Cooperative of Spirit Lake.
McDonald plans to locate and work with a group of growers in roughly a 30-mile radius of Spirit Lake and explore the feasibility of forming a regional grower cooperative, representing a diversity of products.
The Market Community Cooperative would serve as the primary vendor for participating farmers’ products.
A second goal is to establish a network of partners toward development of a sustainable regional food system. Partners include the city of Spirit Lake and its weekly downtown street market being held this summer that will feature local farmers’ produce along with local crafts and music.
The one-year grant is being administered through the Iowa Lakes Resource Conservation and Development of Spencer.
