This website is the Internet home for Nebraska-Iowa Sustainable Growers (NISG). NISG is an association of farmers and ranchers who market branded, pasture-raised meat and poultry in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa.
NISG Projects
North Star Neighbors
We are working with North Star Neighbors of Fullerton to develop “Neighborhood” CSA’s for pasture-raised poultry, and eventually other types of meat. We are in discussions with Omaha food retailers on hosting the first CSA pickup point.
This project will include advertising in selected zip codes in cooperation with our retail partner(s). The campaign will be supported by a new North Star Neighbors website with links to our retail partner(s) and special offers on related products.
Economic Development
We will also include a series of articles for potential investors in NISG food production, processing and distribution ventures in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. This series will introduce our community economic development partners and other important individuals and groups that will benefit from retail sales of NISG farmer-owned sustainable brands.
Public Education and Focus Groups
To make sure we are on the right track, we want to talk with consumers and investors. To facilitate these conversations, we are planning public education programs and more focus groups based on our “What’s in Your Chicken?” theme. Our education programs will cover:
• Grass-based agriculture with fruit, vegetable and grain production
• Healthy foods (far less salt, fat and corn sweetener)
• Humane treatment of livestock and poultry
• More jobs and local economic growth
• Active consumer involvement
The focus groups will help us review advertising, select labels and determine prices for our CSA poultry. Once our CSA has enough customers, we plan to discuss retail supply contracts with grocers, food service operators and restaurant owners in Omaha, Council Bluffs and Lincoln.
USDA-Inspected Poultry Processing
NISG is also working to develop new processing facilities for grass-based meat and poultry intended for specialty markets in the Omaha area. The summary of our application to USDA-SARE is posted on this site. This $25,000 proposal is under review by the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) at www.northcentralsare.org.
Farm Profits
Woody Tasch in his Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money (Chelsea Green) offers a set of essays on money, food and soil that contrasts the effects of unbridled economic power with the potential benefits of food cultures organized along the lines suggested by E.F Shumacher and Wendell Berry. The ideas offered on this website might well expose these authors to a much wider consumer audience by building on the work of sustainable farming advocates, including my late father Bob Steffen, formerly farm manager for Father Flanagan at Boys Town. Our challenge is to find the economies of scale that lie between Small is Beautiful and the realities of the established food system – all without ignoring the real needs of land, labor, capital and management.
Contact Information
Retailers and consumers are encouraged to contact me, Jim Steffen, at jimsteffen@localfoods.org or 402-317-2639.
Updated 04-25-2012