Annual Iowa Farmers Market Workshop, February 7th

The 17^th Annual Iowa Farmers Market Workshop will be held on Saturday, February 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall at the First Christian Church, 2500 University Ave., in Des Moines. The workshop is sponsored by the Iowa Farmers Market Association (IFMA) and will provide training and information for farmers market managers and vendors.

The workshop registration fee is $30 and lunch is included. For more information visit www.iafarmersmarkets.org or contact Barb Ristau, IFMA Treasurer, at 641-456-4811.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey will welcome attendees and Cindy Gannon, Marketing Coordinator for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, who will provide social media training for participants. She will present “Social Media Explained” during the morning session and “Social Networking – Tips, Tricks and Perspectives” during the afternoon session.

Other presenters include:

· James Romer, Compliance Officer, Food and Consumer Safety Bureau, Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals speaking about regulations for food sampling/selling at farmers markets.

· Dr. Angela Shaw, ISU Assistant Professor of Food Safety, along with Dr. Catherine Strohbehn, Extension Specialist & Adjunct Professor in the Department of Apparel, Educational Studies & Hospitality Management at Iowa State University will be speaking on food safety training.

To help support the more than 230 farmers markets in Iowa, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has an Iowa Farmers Market App for both iPhones and Android smartphones. The app allows users to find the farmers market closest to them by using GPS location services or to search for specific farmers markets by city or zip code. Once they have located a market, the user can view the hours of the market, browse a list of vendors and see a phone number and email address of the market manager.

Source: Iowa Agriculture.

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