Master Gardeners Webinar Highlights School Garden Connections

Earn CEU credits learning how local communities partner with gardeners

The final session from the Iowa State Extension and Outreach Master Gardeners winter webinar series on how to support local food systems will be held on Thursday, March 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at ISU Extension county offices across Iowa.

The course, Back to School: Learn how Master Gardeners are engaging in school gardens and supporting systems change for health, will be lead by Master Gardener and ISU Extension’s Regional Foods Coordinator Laurie Taylor from Sioux City, in western Iowa.

As regional foods coordinator for Flavors of Northwest Iowa, Taylor serves Monona, Woodbury, Plymouth, Ida, Cherokee and Buena Vista counties. “Our garden network is for local food producers and consumers,” said Taylor. “The goal is to provide producers with education, consumers information, and overall give support for healthy food partnerships in local communities.”

Flavors of Northwest Iowa is part of the Regional Food System Working Group (RFSWG), established in 2003 by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. As a statewide program, RFSWG was setup to support education, conduct research, and facilitate partnerships between food producers, distributors and consumers. Today, education programming for RFSWG is coordinated through ISU Extension and Outreach’s Local Food Farm Initiative setup in 2011 by the Iowa legislature.

Craig Chase, state coordinator for the Local Food Farm Initiative at ISU Extension and Outreach says the RFSWG network is a partnership between the Leopold Center and ISU Extension and Outreach. “Each quarter, educational programs are coordinated by the ISU Extension and Outreach. So, the connection between Master Gardener Program and local food systems is a deliberate way to address eating behaviors and food insecurities in the community,” said Chase.

Chase goes on to explain, “Making the connection between the Master Gardener program and the RFSWG coordinators; it’s a natural fit between the Master Gardener program, school and community gardens, and local food system development.”

Taylor has been the master gardener coordinator at the ISU Extension and Outreach Woodbury County office since October 2012, and the regional foods coordinator since June 2013. In her position as master gardener coordinator, Taylor provides horticulture education to master gardeners and area residents through workshops, hands-on horticulture projects, and answering clients’ yard and garden questions. Taylor is also an integral planning team member for the Siouxland Garden Show which provides education to over 5,000 people annually.

The webinar will be presented at several locations including Albia, Altoona, Atlantic, Bettendorf, Boone, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Cresco, Denison, Dubuque, Fairfield, Fayette, Grinnell, Grundy Center, Independence, Indianola, Logan, Newton, Osceola, Oskaloosa, Ottumwa, Pocahontas, Red Oak, Rock Rapids, Rockwell City, Sioux City, Story City, Thompson, Tripoli, Vinton, Wapello, Washington, Waterloo, West Burlington, and Williamsburg. All master gardeners attending this webinar will earn CEU (continuing education unit) credits while learning how to support school gardens, food banks, community gardens, and more.

To register, contact your ISU Extension county office. (Benton County Extension 319-472-4739 or gwalston@iastate.edu

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