Jason Grimm

Jason manages his own farm enterprises while farming alongside his parents and grandparents at Grimm Family Farm near North English. Grimm Family Farm raises dry beans, pastured poultry and produce for local markets. The farm raises small grains, corn, and alfalfa for feed for its livestock.  Jason and his wife Hannah and their son Elliot live in Williamsburg.

Jason continues to work full time as the Food System Planner with Iowa Valley RC&D. Jason is the project manager of the RC&D’s Regional Food Initiative. Jason manages 6 program topic areas; local farmer education and training, regional food system metrics, Come to the Table Summit, Iowa Valley regional farm to school, The Iowa Valley food business development and the Iowa Valley food policy program. Jason works with local and county governments, health authorities, schools, producers, non-profit organizations, food processors and developers who are working to build a sustainable food and agriculture system in the Iowa Corridor Region that includes Benton, Iowa, Johnson, Linn, Tama, Poweshiek, Washington, Cedar and Jones counties.

Jason in addition manages the Iowa Valley Food Co-op in Cedar Rapids. Jason co-founded the Co-op in 2011. The Co-op is a web-based cooperative that aggregates orders for household and wholesale business members directly from area farmers and other local businesses, and facilitating delivery to customers.

Jason has degrees in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Studies from Iowa State University, with an emphasis in regional and urban food system design and planning. In 2009 Jason’s research awarded him with a 2009 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) President’s Award for academic excellence, and an ASLA Certificate of Honor. In 2008 and 2009 Jason conducted his senior thesis Food Urbanism that he termed based on his interests in urban planning and urban food systems. His research, how food relates to the organization of a city and how it becomes infrastructure that transforms the urban experience, included research on urban agriculture in London and interviews with officials and local farmers in Ames, IA and the surrounding counties.