Gathering - Happy Independence Day!

Jul 2

6 min read

Welcome to The Gathering

Happy 250th, America — and welcome to this week's issue. If you're new here, we're so glad you found us. The Gathering is the bi-weekly newsletter of Mint 'N More Foundation, where we explore the connections between soil, food, health, and community right here in Knoxville. We share what we're learning, who we're gathering with, and small steps you can take to be part of a healthier, more connected local food system. Welcome to the community — we think you'll feel right at home.

For those who've been with us a while, thank you for being part of this from the start. This issue feels particularly fitting for the Fourth of July. We're taking a clear-eyed look at who actually controls our food system — and what it means to reclaim a little independence from it. We're celebrating the launch of Gathered Local Foods Market and the chance it gives all of us to vote with our dollars for something better. And we have a summer full of events that put you face to face with the farmers, flavors, and community that make local food worth choosing. Let's dig in.

Group photo of happy community gardeners

Practice | What we are growing and learning

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a group of people declared that they had the right to determine their own future — to make choices about how they lived, what they built, and who they answered to. This Fourth of July, as we mark that anniversary, it feels worth asking: how much of that independence extends to something as fundamental as what we eat?

The answer, if we're being honest, is not as much as we might think.

The Illusion of Choice

When you walk into a grocery store, the shelves look full of options. But the numbers behind that abundance tell a different story. According to a 2023 report from the USDA Economic Research Service, market concentration has increased sharply over the last four decades in seeds, meatpacking, and food retail — with two seed companies accounting for 72% of planted corn acres and 66% of planted soybean acres, and the four largest meatpackers accounting for 85% of steer and heifer slaughter. As the USDA itself put it, agriculture policy focused on "get big or get out" has resulted in the acceleration of corporate consolidation — undermining economic resiliency, lowering farmers' and ranchers' earnings, and limiting the ability of rural economies to secure robust, self-sustaining prosperity.

This isn't a fringe concern. It's what the federal government's own researchers are documenting. And it matters here in Iowa, where farmers increasingly find themselves with fewer buyers, less leverage, and less say over what they grow and what they're paid for it.

Cheap Food Isn't Actually Cheap

The price tag on industrial food doesn't tell the whole story. What looks inexpensive at the register often carries hidden costs that get paid elsewhere — in healthcare bills tied to poor nutrition, in environmental damage, such as poor water quality, from industrial farming practices, in wages too low to live on for the workers who grow and process our food, and in dollars that flow straight out of our community to distant corporate headquarters. Cheap food may feel good now; we just pay later, and in ways that are harder to see on a receipt.

Local food often costs a little more upfront. But that price reflects something real: fair compensation for a farmer, soil-building practices that don't mortgage the future, fresh food that is more nutrient dense, and money that stays in Knoxville and circulates through our local economy.

What Food Independence Actually Looks Like

True food independence starts at the seed — a farmer who selects and saves their own maintains sovereignty over what they grow. It shows up in a community market where producers set fair prices and consumers know exactly where their food comes from. And it's built, slowly and intentionally, by people who choose to opt out of the consolidated system whenever they can.

The Founders understood that a free people needed to be able to feed themselves. That idea didn't go away. It just needs tending — like any good garden.

Gather | Community in Action

We did it!

The Gathered Local Foods Market is officially open.

After months of planning, licensing, vendor conversations, cold storage equipment, and more spreadsheets than we care to count, orders are live and our first pickups will happen July 8th and 9th right here in downtown Knoxville. We had a test run last week and it was a genuine thrill to see local food moving from producers to neighbors in a way that didn't exist in our community before.

What's Available Now

Our vendors are actively adding products, and the selection is growing every week. Right now you can find fresh locally grown chemical free vegetables, pasture-raised pork, beef, and poultry, and other Iowa-produced goods. If there's something you'd love to buy locally but can't find yet, tell us — we'll work to add it.

Come Taste Before You Order

Each pickup day is more than a handoff. We'll have samples available so you can taste what our vendors are bringing to the market — because the best way to become a loyal local food customer is to actually try the food. And depending on what's ready in our Foodscape at 112 S. First Street, you may get to snip fresh herbs or sample something harvested right from our edible landscape while you're here. It's a small thing, but it's exactly the kind of moment that reminds you why local food is worth seeking out.

Local Food for Everyone

We believe local food should be accessible to all — not just those with extra room in the budget. Gathered Local Foods Market is working to accept SNAP and EBT, so everyone in our community has a path to fresh, locally grown food. We are also working on ways to better connect resources for local community meals and food pantries as well as teach people to prepare food on a budget. Stay tuned!

How the Gathered Market Works — It's Simple

• Browse and order online between Wednesday 10 midnight Sunday each week.

• Pick up Wednesday or Thursday from 4–6pm at 112 S. First Street, downtown Knoxville

• That's it. Local food on your schedule!

One of our vendors is Crooked Gap Farm — and if you want to meet the farmers behind the food before you order, you're in luck. Read on!

Shop Now! Gathered Local Foods Market

Take Root | Your Next Step

This summer is full of ways to celebrate local food, meet the people who grow it, and build the kind of community independence that lasts.

🌶 Kick Up the Flavor: Salsa Making Class — July 18th

Saturday, July 18th · 12–2:30pm · Marion County Extension, Knoxville · $15

Put fresh summer produce to work. Join us for a hands-on salsa making class where you'll learn to craft and customize your own salsa from scratch — and take home everything you make. Tomatoes, peppers, and other salsa staples are available right now in the Gathered Local Foods Market, so you can stock up when you order this week and come ready to cook. Registration required: closes July 17th.

🐷 Rural Routes: Summer Pastures at Crooked Gap Farm — July 25th

Saturday, July 25th · 4–6pm · Crooked Gap Farm, 1707 80th Ave, Knoxville · $10

Meet the pigs behind your pork chops. Hop on a hayrack for a guided livestock tour through the pastures, learn what rotational grazing actually looks like on the ground, and wander the homestead vegetable garden at your own pace. Pulled pork samples included — food from this exact farm, eaten on this exact land. Crooked Gap is also a Gathered Local Foods Market vendor, so this is your chance to meet the farmers before you order. Hayrack tours at 4:30 and 5:15pm. Kids welcome. Wear shoes you don't mind getting muddy. Tickets available through July 24th.

🍽 Second Annual Farm to Table Dinner — August 22nd

Saturday, August 22nd · 5–8pm · Countryside Wedding & Events, Attica · $95

Mark your calendar for one of the most anticipated evenings of the local food season. Jonith VanWardhuizen and the team at Hometown Market and Deli are preparing a white tablecloth, four-course dinner featuring locally sourced ingredients — from a strawberry refresher welcome cocktail and charcuterie board with local cheeses and honey-glazed acorn squash, to fresh bread with local honey and jam, and a choice of ribeye or chicken as your main course. Farm-grown centerpieces, a raffle, and live auction round out the evening. Every dollar spent here supports local farms and the small businesses that champion them. Tickets on sale NOW!

Shop local. Eat local. Celebrate independence!