Healthy Harvest of North Iowa Wins Top National Innovation Award — Iowa’s First-Ever First Place Finish

Healthy Harvest of North Iowa (HHNI) has earned the 2025 Farm Credit MarketMaker Innovation Award, marking the first time an Iowa-based project has ever brought home the top national honor. 

Communications Director Mallory DeVries of Charles City accepted the first-place award on Thursday (11.13) in Indianapolis at the National Agricultural Marketing Summit. The award is sponsored by Farm Credit, and includes a $6,000 top prize.

HHNI won for its project, “Click to Connect: Linking Recipes and Farms via MarketMaker,” an innovative tool that transforms everyday recipe browsing into direct support for local farms. By integrating MarketMaker, a national directory of farm and food businesses, into its 330+ seasonal recipe collection, HHNI allows users to click any local ingredient and instantly find nearby producers offering that product.

DeVries says, “This recognition shines a light on the important work that nonprofits like Healthy Harvest of North Iowa are doing on the ground to research, develop, and innovate practical tools that strengthen local food systems. Our goal has always been to make it easier for consumers to connect with the farmers in their communities. This project shows what’s possible when creativity meets collaboration.”

HHNI’s recipe platform continues to see strong consumer engagement, with more than 24,000 visits in the past year and growing interest in Iowa-grown ingredients. Each recipe now serves as a real-time bridge connecting home cooks with the local farms producing the foods they love.

Healthy Harvest of North Iowa is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a thriving local food network across nine counties in North Central Iowa, including Floyd, Mitchell, Franklin, Cerro Gordo, Hancock, and Worth. The organization supports farmers, strengthens community food access, and connects consumers with fresh, locally grown food through education, marketing, and collaboration.

The full recipe collection can be viewed at healthyharvestni.com/recipes.

**In pic left to right: Gary Matteson, (Farm Credit Council), Mallory DeVries (Healthy Harvest of North Iowa), Anne Russell Thompson (Farm Credit Council)