Sustainable Iowa Land Trust to hold fundraiser in Fairfield

FAIRFIELD – The Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) will host a Solstice Party and Fundraiser from 6-10 p.m. Friday, June 21 at the Fairfield Golf & Country Club.

SILT’s Stuart Valentine said Barbara Rainbow will be honored at the event for spearheading the creation of the Fairfield Community Garden inside O.B. Nelson Park. Guest speakers that evening will include John Hogeland and Beth Hoffman, who wrote the book “Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America.” Hoffman writes about moving back to Iowa from the Bay area to take over the family farm.

Valentine remarked, “It’s an expose of the challenges facing the organic farming community and the benefits they enjoyed from selling their house in San Francisco.”

SILT Executive Director Briana Horsey will be in attendance, too. Valentine said the organization will also use the opportunity to educate the public on SILT’s “Circle Our Cities” campaign to surround 10 Iowa cities with organic food production zones that contain a SILT easement. Valentine explained that a SILT easement will ensure the property will only be used to grow organic food.

“Right now, Iowa imports 90 percent of its table food,” he said. “We’re good at growing corn and soybeans, but when it comes to table food, we don’t grow it anymore. The idea behind SILT is not to do away with commodity growing, but to rebalance the equation so that we’re growing more nutritionally dense food that feeds Iowa’s population.”

Valentine said other people who will be highlighted that evening include Bob Ferguson and his work with the SE Iowa Food Web project, and the City of Fairfield’s Sustainability Coordinator Faith Reeves.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com