Wilson’s Orchard & Farm moves to source 100% of food locally by 2030 in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — At Wilson’s Orchard & Farm, farm-to-table goes beyond the buzzword popular in restaurants today. As the orchard merges with the former Rapid Creek Cidery, the family’s commitment to regenerative farming has taken deeper root.

With a new merger, the owners are reminded that it’s more than a goal. The rapidly growing operation has committed to procuring 100 percent of the food it uses in its restaurant, smokehouse, bakery and event space locally by the end of the decade.

“It’s a determined objective,” said Paul Rasch, whose family owns Wilson’s Orchard & Farm and the century-old barn that’s home to what’s now called Wilson’s Ciderhouse & Venue, at 4823 Dingleberry Rd. NE in rural Iowa City.

Rapid Creek Cidery, started in 2017 by Rasch’s daughter, Katie Goering, has been renamed Wilson’s Ciderhouse & Venue with the merger.

How it started

Regenerative, local and ethical farming has been a goal for Rasch and his family since Paul bought the established apple orchard with wife, Sara Goering, in 2009. A fourth-generation apple farmer from Michigan, Rasch and Sara chose to settle in Iowa City after living in China for 13 years, where Rasch said they started the country's first commercial juice business.

What started as a typical you-pick apple operation became a slippery slope of growth when the family expanded the bakery, planted more crops and opened an event center and restaurant in their restored barn. As the event space took hold, a tasting room for their hard ciders led to the opportunity to showcase food through what is now a full restaurant operation.

“It was kind of a domino effect,” Rasch said.

What they’re doing now

With their commitment to regenerative agriculture, the farm continues to expand with new crops that give visitors a reason to stop by any month of the year.

From tulips in May to pumpkins in October, the farm is incorporating livestock, new science and technology into an effort to buck the vertically-integrated system of corporate agriculture that relies on pesticides and large-scale shipping for food. With sheep and chickens, the farm is adding hogs this year as it moves to secure an entirely local food chain supply.

With 80 percent of the farm’s current food secured within a 20-mile radius in the growing season, Rasch said the goal of 100 percent is “imminently doable” by 2030.

“Regenerative farming implies you’re building something. You’re enhancing what you’ve got,” he said. “We learn how to build from the soil up. Most of the work of growing is done by a system of fungi and bacteria bartering to bring stuff to the roots.”

Instead of throwing herbicide on the soil to reduce its complexities, Rasch said they hope to use livestock and scientifically advanced methods that harness the system nature already has in place. In short, they’re trying to restore nature to agriculture.

Although it’s not a buzzword like it’s cousin phrase, farm-to-table, regenerative farming is starting to catch on quickly in Iowa, he said.

“People confuse sustainable (farming) with low yields,” he said. ‘We know how to use science.“

As they introduce new livestock like hogs, protein is one of the biggest missing pieces to securing a completely local food supply chain year-round. But it also has benefits for horticulture.

Hoofs gently tilling the soil, manure fertilizing it and micro feeding at the surface enhances the soil, building it up in the way it always did naturally before other methods came along.

Between plant selection, heating technology and greenhouse technology, new energy-efficient methods are rapidly developing to grow vegetables in the winter, making the supply chain even more feasible.

Making it tasty

Growing 100 percent local won’t do as much good if nobody wants to eat it, though. Since 2017, Chef Matt Steigerwald has brought a seasonal mindset always native in his cooking to a new audience. With the merger between Rapid Creek Cidery and Wilson’s Orchard & Farm, he now serves as the culinary director overseeing all food operations for Wilson’s Ciderhouse, bakery, smokehouse and catering, as well as Sutliff Farm & Ciderhouse.

With cuisine that rivals some of the best high-end restaurants in the Corridor, he said there’s no magic bullet they use for their plates — just a strong focus on the bounty available to them. That comes with its benefits and challenges, compared to the commercial food suppliers many conventional restaurants use.

“I end up not having to do as much to it, because it tastes so good anyway,” Steigerwald said. “But it makes it harder in the sense that you’re rolling with what the farmer has. You can’t fake it.”

With everything from wood for the smoker down to the mustard on the sandwiches made with local supplies, showcasing Mother Nature’s gifts is done at every turn.

“It’s almost like a campus of skilled workers contributing to one end goal,” said Steigerwald, who started Lincoln Cafe and Lincoln Wine bar in Mount Vernon.

But what’s more is that the culinary talents Steigerwald and new chef de cuisine Kagen Lewis bring to the table make you want to eat locally.

“You can take kale and turn it into something that your mother wouldn’t eat, or you can take kale and turn it into something that everybody would eat,” Rasch said. “The secret sauce is really in the preparation.”

Why it matters

In addition to the environmental costs often not factored into the cost of corporate agriculture, the farm owners say there are compelling economic reasons to farm in a regenerative way.

By rewarding local farmers for producing more nutritious and flavorful food, consumers get food they can trust, and money continues to circulate locally. Instead of money going to California for produce by way of grocery store purchases, Rasch said a more locally involved ag system creates resilience.

He sees a path spanning generations that will require local buy-in to be sustainable. It won’t be easy, but securing a food system that doesn’t depend on California, China or New Zealand will have significant benefits, he said.

“Are you treating your people right? Are you treating the earth right? Producing nutritious food?” he said.

That’s what Wilson’s hopes to serve on each plate, in each glass of cider and every bushel of apples.

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