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CORNucopia 2011 Tour

Food Bloggers + #IACornTour = Exciting Whirlwind Experience

What do you get when you take eight influential foodie and mom bloggers from across the United States, invite them to Iowa for two days, introduce them to Iowa farmers and let them see firsthand how corn is used in foods and products we use every day? A recipe for a great food adventure—and a whole lot of fun! Hear what they had to say about it by viewing the video, and read about each stop along the way below.

On Oct. 19 and 20, 2011, eight bloggers from around the United States gathered in Des Moines for the Farmers Feed US Iowa CORNucopia Tour – an event sponsored by Iowa Corn. The two days provided them with a hands-on, behind-the-scenes look at Iowa agriculture. The tour was designed to reach those consumers who are increasingly taking their kitchen-table conversations online, asking questions and engaging in discussion about topics such as where food comes from, what’s safe and healthy to eat and how to decipher what confusing food labels really mean.

"Before I came to Iowa, I knew nothing – except how to cook corn. And that’s only sweet corn. I had no idea about #2 corn (field corn)," said Leslie Green, writer of The Hungry Housewife blog.

"We have an amazing story to tell," said Mindy Williamson, director of communications and public relations for Iowa Corn. "We were glad to have influential bloggers that were insightful and demonstrated a true passion for writing about food and how it gets to your grocery store shelves."

The Iowa Corn Growers Association and Iowa Corn Promotion Board partnered with the Center for Food Integrity to plan the tour, identify and recruit top bloggers and gain an understanding of the bloggers’ top-of-mind concerns. "This is especially important because these women are reaching a public that today’s food system currently isn’t," said Roxi Beck with the Center for Food Integrity. "By providing the bloggers with direct access to Iowa's farmers, their farms and food system experts, we can provide a platform that allows the bloggers to ask questions, get the facts and ultimately make decisions for themselves about today's food production."

Social media continues to supplement, if not replace person-to-person coffee shop talk as word-of-mouth information about products and services, said Williamson. "There’s a lot of misinformation out there and our farmers feel it. By bringing bloggers here, they got to meet the farmers, see the work being done, and build a relationship with someone who is a direct supplier into the food chain, that they can count on to get accurate details about today’s food production. The Iowa CORNucopia Tour made the most of a 30-hour window to immerse the food-focused bloggers into all things corn.

Breakfast at the Machine Shed

On day one, bloggers went from using an antique hand-cranked corn sheller at Living History Farms and learning about the strenuous work of farming in the 1900s, to visiting Lincolnway Energy, a 50-million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa, that opened in 2005 and strives to be an efficient, low-cost producer of clean, domestically-produced fuel. On a personal tour led by a knowledgeable plant employee, the bloggers were shown how ethanol is produced, including how it looks at each stage of the process.

Living History Farms

At Lincolnway, the tour attendees were joined by Bill Couser, a family farmer, owner of Couser Cattle Company and Founder of Lincolnway. Answering questions from the bloggers, Bill busted many myths as first as the group gathered for a lunchtime discussion about how Iowa farmers like him take steps on their farms to protect the environment. The Couser family, 2010 recipients of the state and regional Environmental Stewardship Award, farms 5,000 acres, raises seed corn, and feeds 4,000 to 5,000 head of cattle in Story County near Nevada, Iowa.

Lincolnway Energy Lincolnway Energy
Lincolnway Energy

"It’s my passion to protect the land and environment – leave it better than we found it," said Couser. Then, the bloggers had a chance to test their skills at harvesting corn by riding in Couser’s high-tech $500,000 satellite-guided combine through the fields on his farm.

"Going to the farm and riding the combine was my favorite part. Getting to see the actual process for everything that goes into corn and the faces behind the production was really amazing. It’s not as simple as one might think. Talking with the farmers reminded me that they really are the heart of America. We need to remember that they are still here," said Christina Arpante of Mele-Cotte.

Couser Cattle Company

The bus headed straight from the corn fields to the classroom! At Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, food scientist and registered dietician Dr. Ruth MacDonald, professor and chair of the Food Science and Human Nutrition department, served up candid answers about today’s food system.

From high-fructose corn syrup, organic farming, and the locavore movement, to hormones, artificial sweeteners and food safety, no topic was off limits. Dr. MacDonald answered each of the questions presented in easy-to-understand language, based on the research she has conducted and/or reviewed. "Dr. Ruth MacDonald was VERY informative. Before the session with her, I never bought meat with hormones. She just saved me $2 per pound for my ground beef!" exclaimed Green.

Iowa State University

Kristy Bernardo, who writes The Wicked Noodle blog, appreciated the science behind food. "I like what she said about processed foods. Many people, myself included, only think of processed cheese when we hear ‘processed food,’ but she told us about broccoli that has been frozen at its peak to preserve freshness. Though I don’t put broccoli and processed cheese in the same category, it really opened my mind to the wide range of foods that are processed."

As food-obsession goes, getting into the test kitchens for Better Homes & Gardens and Parents magazines (and all the other titles for which Meredith Corporation is responsible) ranks pretty highly! The Tour attendees enjoyed an overview of Meredith’s history from Successful Farming’s farm issues editor, Cheryl Tevis, and a tour of the test kitchens and photography studios from Lynn Blanchard, test kitchen director.

Meredith Corporation

After a long day of immersion, fact-finding and fun, the bloggers got a taste of Iowa’s farm diversity at Jasper Winery in Des Moines, where they sampled premium home-grown wines, and enjoyed a mouth-watering meal and lively conversation with fellow bloggers and Iowa farmers.

 
Jasper Winery

Early the next morning, bloggers literally took the fast-track to learn even more about the ethanol industry at the Iowa Speedway.

Flanked by cornfields just outside of Newton, the speedway is the brainchild of NASCAR icon Rusty Wallace and home to the Iowa Corn Indy 250, where cars are powered by 100 percent corn-based ethanol.

"We have the technology – we need to use it," said Chuck Spicer, Speedway vice president of sales and marketing, who contends that if the ethanol-fueled Indy vehicles can run 185 miles per hour for 250 laps with no engine failures based on fuel, then America can fuel with ethanol and reduce its reliance on foreign oil.

Iowa Speedway

Each blogger took a few exhilarating laps around the track in an ethanol-fueled Camaro Indy pace car that reached speeds of nearly 125 mph.

"The only part about the whole trip that was disappointing was that we couldn’t go faster around the track. For me, 125 miles per hour just wasn’t fast enough!" Heather Scholten of Farmgirl Gourmet teased.

The conversation continued at the final tour stop: Ador Kitchens. What better place to end a tour for the culinary-crazed than a professional kitchen where bloggers worked alongside professional chef, Terrie Kohl, to prepare a homemade farm-raised meal, and sprinkled in questions about nutrition and cooking techniques along the way.

Ador Kitchens

The whirlwind farm-, food- and fun-filled tour provided bloggers, whose reach spans around the globe, a new perspective for Iowa agriculture and modern food production and, of course, plenty to write about. "I loved meeting with the farmers," said Jyl from The Post-It Place blog. "I wish we’d had more time one-on-one with them to pick their brains to help them educate the public about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it."

Blogging about the tour certainly wasn’t a requirement, but tour organizers hope that what the food enthusiasts saw, touched and heard inspires them to share their experiences and sparks a curiosity to learn even more.

"Whatever they write, they write. The story will sell itself," said Craig Floss, CEO of the Iowa Corn Growers Association and Iowa Promotion Board. "It’s genuine, it’s real, and it matters."

Learn more about the Iowa CORNucopia Tour at http://www.farmersfeedus.org/ia/CORNucopia, visit our Facebook page or the Twitter hashtag #IACornTour.

Guests on the Iowa CORNucopia Tour included:

Costs associated with attending the Iowa CORNucopia Tour (travel, lodging and meals) were paid for by the Iowa Corn Growers Association/Iowa Corn Promotion Board. Participants also received a gift of corn-based products. They did not/will not receive other financial compensation and they were not required to write a blog post or engage in social media activity.

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Iowa Corn Promotion Board

The Iowa Promotion Board (ICPB) is composed of 17 corn growers, elected by their peers, who direct funds collected through the Iowa corn checkoff program. The ICPB and the growers it represents are actively working to create an economic climate in which the Iowa corn industry will flourish through research, market development and education.

Iowa Corn Growers Association

The Iowa Corn Growers Association brings growers together to proactively manage issues that advance the Iowa corn industry. The ICGA's lobbying and legislative efforts are financed through membership dollars. They target everyday issues that directly affect the corn growers livelihood. The association and its elected board of directors from each crop reporting district, represent nearly 6,700 farmer members. Through these efforts, the ICGA is advancing the Iowa corn industry by providing a voice in Iowa, Washington, D.C., and around the world.

Center for Food Integrity

The Center for Food Integrity is a non-profit member association comprised of more than 50 organizations, associations and companies who want to share accurate and balanced information about the food system with consumers. Center for Food Integrity staff manage all Farmers Feed US programs.