Northeast Iowa Food Bank

Empty Bowls 2026

Ticket Link:  https://events.handbid.com/auctions/empty-bowls-2026

Friday, March 27 | 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Bien VenU, Cedar Falls

A night that helps fight food insecurity across our 16-county service area, featuring a soup buffet, silent auction, live auction, and new this year: the NEIFB Dessert Auction! 

This year’s theme is Bloom with Purpose: Growing Young Leaders. Fighting Food Insecurity. Hear from young leaders of all ages about their commitment to volunteering and making our community a better place.

Friends of the Family 

Chefs Take a Stand 2026

Ticket Link: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/chefstakeastand-2026/

Thursday, April 2 | 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Hilton Garden Inn, Cedar Falls

The money raised from this event helps families throughout the 25 counties we serve by funding Friends of the Family programs dedicated to helping individuals in crisis due to domestic violence, sexual assault, and homelessness. 

This is our 12th annual Chefs Take a Stand fundraiser. We’ll have the area’s hottest Chefs and Beverage Makers in one place for one great cause. Guests will sample bites and sips from each participant and vote on their favorite.

We are partnering with the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective to offer a FREE bicycle maintenance workshop for Rooted Carrot member-owners and friends this spring!

Saturday, April 11 from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, Waterloo

Learn how to keep your bike running smoothly in this workshop that will cover the nuts and bolts of bicycle components, tips and tricks for cleaning, applying lube, and setting tire pressure, how to make small adjustments in brake and shifting performance, and the best tools and products to keep your bike in tip top shape. The instructor, Mark Stevenson, has over 30 years of bicycle maintenance experience and is sure to teach new and experienced cyclists something new! Bring your bike if you would like to apply these concepts specifically to your bike. Everyone should bring their questions!

Space is limited to 10 people and 6 bikes. If this session fills up, we will start a wait list and work to schedule another. Use this form to sign up! Youth may attend if accompanied by an adult.

Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective is a non-profit organization that builds community through bicycling. We increase access to affordable bicycles and bike safety by refurbishing used bicycles, providing education and advocacy, and hosting events and education.

African American Museum of Iowa

Rooted: Labor, Land, & Legacy

Website: https://blackiowa.org/collections-exhibits/rooted/

October 17, 2025 – August 8, 2026 at the African American Museum of Iowa, Cedar Rapids

This exhibit celebrates the role farming plays in Black resiliency and activism. Farming has played a significant role in Black communities’ struggles and triumphs for economic independence, cultural preservation, and self-determination. Visitors will learn how Black farmers, nationwide and in Iowa, are turning to agriculture as a way to reclaim land, promote sustainability, and address environmental and economic inequalities.

The African American Museum of Iowa is a statewide museum dedicated to preserving, exhibiting, and teaching Iowa’s African American history.

Last chance to sign up for Food Bank February!

Help to lift up and encourage support for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank during Food Bank February! The Northeast Iowa Food Bank helps feed the growing number of northeast Iowans facing food insecurity across 16 counties. Volunteers are an important part of expanding the impact that can be made. 

RCCM member-owners will work together on Saturday, February 21 from noon – 2 p.m to help feed families right here in Black Hawk County. If you’d like to be part of the team, please email membership@rootedcarrot.coop by February 15 to give staff at the NEIFB time to plan for the size of our group. Space is limited. 

If this day doesn’t work in your schedule and you’d like to volunteer another time, go to the NEIFB Volunteer page and sign up today! 

If you are interested in donating food or money, or in corporate or planned giving, visit the NEIFB donations page for information. 

Hello! I’m Marian Kuper, the newest board member on the RCCM board.

It was a no-brainer for me to decide to apply for a board position. The combination of a board  vacancy and the board treasurer stepping down, plus my own background with several food co-ops and co-operatively-run food buying clubs, and finally my work history in accounting — all these made for an easy decision.

But the main thing is this, and here’s where I align completely with all of you: I really, really want there to be a storefront food co-op in our community, again. (We had one in downtown Cedar Falls 40-50 years ago!)

Iowa City/Cedar Rapids has New Pioneer Food Co-op, now with 3 locations. Ames has Wheatsfield Co-op Grocery. Decorah has Oneota Community Food Co-operative. Even Des Moines has a relatively new storefront food co-op – the Iowa Food Co-op – and while it’s not open every day, it just keeps getting better.

Iowa was the birthplace of two major co-operative food distributors – Frontier Co-op and Blooming Prairie Co-operative – which did business across the country. Frontier is still going strong. Like all of the co-ops I’ve mentioned so far, these got their start in the 1960s or 1970s. They, and thousands of other co-ops like them, all over this nation, were part of the food co-op “New Wave.” Continue reading→

Join Iowa Worm Farm for a hands-on vermicomposting workshop! Learn how to turn food scraps into garden gold with the help of red wigglers. Each participant will build and take home a complete 5-gallon worm bin, perfect for indoor or garage use. We’ll cover bin design, feeding routines, troubleshooting, and seasonal tips. No experience necessary — just curiosity and a willingness to get your hands dirty!

Saturday, March 28 from 10:00 a.m. – noon at College Hill Lutheran Church, 2322 Olive Street, Cedar Falls

Registration will be required – details coming soon!

From: Co+op

Total Time: 35 minutes; 15 minutes active

Servings: 6

Portobello mushrooms become very “meaty” when roasted, taking on a steak-like quality in vegetarian dishes like this one. Each mushroom serves as a cupped base for a cheesy filling, with roasted tomatoes to spoon over each one.

Ingredients

• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 medium portobello mushrooms, wiped clean, stems removed
• 2 cups prepared spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh basil or parsley, minced

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Pile the tomatoes on a sheet pan, add half the garlic, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then toss to mix well. Spread the tomatoes evenly on the pan.
2. Nestle the mushroom caps, gill side up, in the pan between the tomatoes. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over the mushrooms. Sprinkle the remaining garlic on the mushrooms, then fill each cap with spaghetti sauce, then top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
3. Bake for 20 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling around the edges and the cheeses are melty and browned on top. Serve sprinkled with basil or parsley.

Serving Suggestion

Serve with buttered noodles or garlic bread.

Nutritional Information

360 calories, 24 g. fat, 45 mg. cholesterol, 730 mg. sodium, 19 g. carbohydrate, 4 g. fiber, 19 g. protein

More Recipes from Co-op: https://www.grocery.coop/food-recipes/

Building community, connections, and understanding is vital to the co-op moving forward. That is the goal for our new Rooted Carrot Co-op event called Brews and FAQs!

Member-owners are invited to come to a coffee shop or a bar for some brews (or any beverage of your choice, of course). Board members will be present to connect with fellow member-owners and answer any questions (FAQs) that may come up. 

There are two opportunities to come to Brews and FAQs in January. Please come on out, and watch for more dates this spring! 

• Brews & FAQs: Tuesday, January 13 | 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at Urban Pie
• Brews & FAQs – Morning Coffee: Saturday, January 17 |  9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at Side Car Coffee on 1st Street

It is time again to lift up and encourage support for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank during Food Bank February! The Northeast Iowa Food Bank helps feed the growing number of northeast Iowans facing food insecurity across 16 counties. Volunteers are an important part of expanding the impact that can be made. 

RCCM member-owners will work together on Saturday, February 21 from noon – 2 p.m to help feed families right here in Black Hawk County. If you’d like to be part of the team, please email membership@rootedcarrot.coop by February 15th to give staff at the NEIFB time to plan for the size of our group. Space is limited. 

If this day doesn’t work in your schedule and you’d like to volunteer another time, go to the NEIFB Volunteer page and sign up today! 

If you are interested in donating food or money, or in corporate or planned giving, visit the NEIFB donations page for information.