Marguerite Pircer Harms, a self-described “city girl” from Detroit, MI is married to Keith a “farm boy” from Bristow, IA.  Their family consists of two daughters Alex Pircer and Erin Colwell and a son, Josh Harms.  Marguerite is currently working as a realtor at Century 21 LSB RE and is also a blogger and workshop facilitator.  Keith is a teacher and football coach at Hudson High School. 

Marguerite loves the quaintness of the Cedar Valley community and its people, in particular, the bike trails and local events that make this area appealing.  Her favorite place to shop is downtown Cedar Falls, especially Cup of Joe.  This is the place where she and her husband first met on March 5, 2000 and were married exactly ten years later.   She also enjoys Vintage Iron, Montage and has made many donations to St. Vincent de Paul. 

In their free time, Marguerite and Keith love to go biking, travel and just being out with their two dogs.  Their favorite season is fall, where they find the leaves and crisp clean air to be very refreshing.  They enjoy connecting with friends and helping with the Cedar Falls Food Co-op when they’re able to.  Marguerite also mentors a women’s center for change and runs a networking group.  In addition, she loves to cook and enjoys fresh, homemade meals.

As a Cedar Falls Food Co-op member, she says that she “is excited to belong to a community that is dedicated to local, fresh and organic”. Marguerite describes the Co-op as “an electrifying hub with classes, fresh food and a deli where you can meet up with friends and family”.  Another benefit she adds is that Co-op members are also given the opportunity to save at local businesses. 

image by Dan Phillips Photography – Cedar Falls, Iowa

Eric Giddens, his wife Kendra, their 11-year old son Henry, their “son” Alan, an international student from Honduras, and cats Nemo and Skippy John currently reside in Cedar Falls.  Eric is a Program Manager at the Tallgrass Prairie Center and the Center for Energy and Environmental Education at UNI.  Kendra, a Cedar Falls native, is the music teacher at Southdale Elementary School. Continue reading→

Patty Cutts has lived in the Cedar Valley with her husband Ken for over 40 years.  Both are currently enjoying their retirement from careers involving education.  After teaching at Helen Hansen Elementary in Cedar Falls, Patty worked at (then) AEA 7 as a technology consultant. Ken taught graduate courses for UNI and the University of Wisconsin. After retiring from educational roles, Patty worked at University Book & Supply as an Event Coordinator.   Patty and Ken love the friendly atmosphere of the Cedar Valley, the good educational systems as well as the caring organizations that build the community and make it a wonderful place to live.  Patty describes the Cedar Valley as “a large metro area with a small town attitude”.  She then added that the people here care about each other and always help in a time of need. 

Patty and Ken enjoy traveling, hiking and reading in their retirement.  In addition, both serve the community through volunteering.  This includes serving on the boards of  St. Luke’s Episcopal, the Boys & Girls Club of the Cedar Valley, the Food Bank of Northeast Iowa and serving on the committees at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa.

Some of Patty’s favorite places to shop are Hanson’s Dairy and the farmer’s markets for grocery items.  She and Ken both love the fresh food that is available, in particular, anything that is in season is “always delicious”.  Patty very much enjoys cooking and making dishes from scratch with fresh ingredients.  Patty says that her “day at the beach is a counter full of fresh ingredients, pots and pans, a hot oven surrounding my recipe laden iPad”.  Patty and Ken are also both coffee lovers and enjoy visiting Cup of Joe’s, Cottonwood Canyon and Sidecar Coffee for their favorite brew.

Regarding the Cedar Falls Food Co-op, Patty is looking forward to one place where she can shop for food that is made fresh or grown locally.  In addition, she likes that the Co-op will provide jobs and support local businesses, therefore growing and benefiting the Cedar Valley.   Overall, the Cedar Valley is a very special place for Patty and Ken.  Their home is located on the border of Hartman Reserve, and Patty says that “our heart is there as well.  The ever-changing woods are our source of renewal”.

image by Dan Phillips Photography – Cedar Falls, Iowa

Dr. Anne Hennessey moved to Cedar Falls eleven years ago with her husband and two daughters where she also works as a dentist at Hennessey Family Dentistry.  Because of her profession, she is very interested in living a healthy life for herself as well as her family.  This includes supporting local businesses as much as possible.  A couple of her favorite stores are the Runner’s Flat and Barn Happy.  She has also been a member of Hansen’s Dairy for at least five years and is a member of a CSA.  She uses the fresh produce from the farmshare to make her own salsa and spaghetti sauce as well as freezes some of the produce so that she and her family can enjoy it during the winter months.  In addition, Dr. Hennessey has a small garden which produces lettuce and spinach in early spring, and tomatoes throughout the summer. 

She is involved in the community by serving on the Sartori Foundation board.  This board is responsible for raising and distributing money in order to promote Sartori, for example, by purchasing new hospital equipment.   

Dr. Hennessey is excited about the new solar program through CFU and greatly enjoys the bike trails in Cedar Falls.  She  would definitely like to see Cedar Falls become even more bike friendly.  Overall, she believes the Cedar Valley is moving in the right direction in aligning with her health and wellness goals, and that the Cedar Falls Food Co-op fits perfectly with this direction.

Kamyar Enshayan, the director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa, has been excited about the Cedar Falls Food Co-op from the very beginning. In fact, he attended the founding membership meeting. His interest in the Co-op stems from a desire to support a retail store that supports local farms and organic farms and that helps to build elements of a food system that serves our region. His job includes managing a local food program, which has the goal of strengthening our region’s local food economy. He works with many farmers and large buyers and feels that having an additional grocery store that features local agricultural products is good for the community.

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Food is essential. It sustains us, it comforts us, and it brings us together in community. Our bodies crave it, our days are punctuated by it and yet, for many, our relationship with it is fractured. As someone who grew up in an urban environment, food, as I knew it, came from the grocery store. Much of it was sold in boxes, bags or cans that advertised how quickly and easily it could be prepared – Just pop it in the microwave and, presto, dinner!

As a teenager, I started questioning my diet. What was this food that I was eating? Why were there so many ingredients that I couldn’t pronounce? Where did it all come from? I began to minimize my consumption of packaged and fast foods and turn more to fruits and vegetables and other foods that I could readily identify. My curiosity intensified as an adult. I read books, watched documentaries, taught courses on sustainability with a focus on food, and participated in activities that expanded my understanding of agricultural practices. All of this has led me to the belief that our personal, communal, economic, and environmental health is best when we have a more intimate connection with our food and its source.

This past summer, my husband, Jim, and I relocated to the Cedar Valley. I was confident that our new home in the heartland of this country would provide me with great opportunities to continue my education about modern food practices and production. Shortly after we arrived, I was excited to learn about the efforts happening here to build a food co-op, exactly what I have been craving since those early days of questioning. Although a food co-op provides a place to buy fresh, healthy, ethically sourced food, it is not just a grocery store in the traditional sense. It is also a community space for the exchange of ideas and information, it is a place where we can learn from and be inspired by our neighbors, and it is an opportunity to gather around practices that promote a happy, healthy lifestyle.

My family has felt the warm embrace of the Cedar Valley community from the moment we arrived, which has inspired me to want to give back in meaningful ways. My eagerness to participate as an active member of the food co-op is a direct result of that inspiration. I believe in the power of a food co-op to bring people together in celebration of food, rekindling a relationship with the very stuff that sustains us, to heal the fracture that separates us from what nourishes us.

Any place you can eat good food feels like home. That’s a lesson you might learn from the story of Cedar Falls Food Co-op member Wyatt Vucic. Wyatt loves to travel and his travel mantra goes something like this: “Venture aimlessly, do an activity, stumble upon a hidden pub or café, enjoy the local menu, laugh, remember and repeat. ” The desire to connect with a place lead him to involvement in a community garden during a six month stay in Austria, and it is also what lead him here, to the Cedar Falls Food Co-op.

“I just moved here from the Quad Cities this past summer to open up a new local franchise: Batteries + Bulbs,” Wyatt explained. “Prior to coming to the area I did a lot of research. One of the things I searched for was local markets. I’m always looking for a great market to see the different things offered and more importantly be able to purchase locally. I discovered the co-op in my searches, started reading into it and it grabbed my attention. I thought it would be a great way to meet people (being new to the area), a great way to introduce Batteries + Bulbs in a natural way, not just going around handing out business cards—all while being a part of something that I am passionate about: healthy living and being sustainable.”

Wyatt is excited about being part of bringing local food to the Cedar Valley. He’s glad the local food movement is happening, but wants to be part of the co-op because, “[local food] is one of those things that should remain timeless and hopefully this newfound obsession with local will instill that in people’s minds. Yes, there is always cheaper out there, but I am more than willing even searching for the better, the fresher, the handmade and the quality over a quick buck.”

As Wyatt continues to make Cedar Falls home he has been getting involved with the Boys and Girls Club, doing some gardening on his own, and is looking forward to attending future co-op events using his co-op member discount at more local businesses. Welcome home Wyatt!

Homesteader Vanessa Kruger believes in strengthening her local economy and knowing where her food comes from. That is why she shopped at Wheatsfield Co-op when she lived in Ames and why she’s excited to be a founding member of the Cedar Falls Food Co-op.  It’s also why she raises most of her own meat and vegetables. Check out her cute baby dairy goats, which she raises in addition to gardening and raising hogs and poultry!

If you’re wondering how homesteading is working out for Vanessa, just ask her about the Thanksgiving meal prepared. “It was entirely homegrown,” she explained. She raised not only her Thanksgiving turkey, but supplemented it with potatoes, glazed carrots, a squash and sausage stuffing , and apple and pumpkin pies. Sound like a lot of work? “I loved doing it, I was so pleased with how it turned out!”

If you’re in awe of Vanessa’s expertise, it’s something she’d love to share. She says that while she’s still new to the community she’d love to offer classes on subjects such as cheese and soap making, lard rendering, canning or gardening.

The Cedar Falls Food Co-op is pleased to announce its first hire: Amy Andrews. Amy is the new Outreach Coordinator and she’s already proven to be a great addition to the Co-op’s team. “I’m really excited to join the Cedar Falls Food Co-op in supplying a readily available source of fresh and local food to the Cedar Valley,” said Amy, a recent graduate of Central College with a degree in environmental science and communications. “As a farm kid my interest in local food goes way back, and I’m still living on the family farm raising laying hens and dairy goats.” If you didn’t get a chance to meet Amy at the Fall Food Fest, you’ll be able to meet her at other upcoming events, including the Annual Member Meeting on November 10. Be sure to ask Amy about her international experiences in Wales, Romania and in Central America.

From the very beginning, the Cedar Falls Food Co-op has relied on volunteers to keep the momentum going. Two artist have made a huge impact on the Cedar Falls Food Co-op. Meet rockstars Desiree Dahl, who created our logo, and Matt Rafferty, who created our video.

Desiree Dahl is an Iowa artist working primarily in printmaking and graphic design. She graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in studio art from UNI with an emphasis in printmaking and a minor in art history. She worked as a graphic designer for the College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences at UNI for three years, and has worked on freelance and pro-bono projects for community organizations. As an artist-designer hybrid, she seeks to maintain creativity and quality, and work on projects that promote organizations with a positive mission.

A Cedar Valley native, Matt Rafferty graduated from UNI in May of 2014 with a bachelor of science in biology honors research. Along with his studies, he pursued a life long interest in videography and photography by starting his own production company. Matt’s work has been featured nationally with organizations such as the American Heartworm Society and Educause. His 2011 PSA video “Protecting Your Computer in a Public Place” earned a first place award in Educause’s national security contest. Matt is looking forward to continue growing his business and helping people express themselves creatively.