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growing local<br />
“We’re in America’s heartland,<br />
24% of Jackson County is in<br />
agriculture, and still shelves<br />
were empty. People couldn’t<br />
get milk and meat and eggs.<br />
That was really hard on me. I<br />
looked out my window and saw<br />
our cows and milk but knew we<br />
couldn’t sell it to people.”<br />
— Heather Moore<br />
area creating more resilient food<br />
processing infrastructure for our<br />
producers,” Hockenberry said. “Additionally,<br />
with the growing interest in<br />
local food, this project creates a retail<br />
hub elevating local producers and will<br />
provide fuel for other start-ups.”<br />
The overall project comes with<br />
an estimated $2.3 million price tag.<br />
Rockdale Enterprises has applied<br />
for and received multiple loans and<br />
grants to assist in bringing the project<br />
to fruition.<br />
From genesis to reality<br />
The idea of a creamery percolated<br />
for quite a while in Moore’s mind.<br />
She opened a pop-up shop in Maquoketa<br />
in 2015, with the intent to<br />
be open only through Christmas. The<br />
business venture flourished, adding<br />
Edgewood Meats, ice cream and more<br />
and became a permanent store.<br />
Moore eventually expanded into<br />
a former convenience store on West<br />
Platt Street, adding more locally<br />
sourced food, candies, and handmade<br />
gifts as well as coffee and sandwiches.<br />
But the Moores hoped to be able<br />
to make their own cheese in Jackson<br />
County instead of having their milk<br />
trucked to Wisconsin to be made into<br />
cheese.<br />
“We’d been looking for some time<br />
to make our own cheese and realized<br />
the potential was here,” Moore said.<br />
The pandemic cemented the need<br />
for the creamery, the grocery/retail<br />
store, and a new concept — a meat<br />
processor.<br />
Shortly after the pandemic began,<br />
“I had a really hard time watching,<br />
seeing empty store shelves,” Moore<br />
said. “We’re in America’s heartland,<br />
24% of Jackson County is in agriculture,<br />
and still shelves were empty.<br />
People couldn’t get milk and meat<br />
and eggs.<br />
“That was really hard on me. I<br />
looked out my window and saw our<br />
cows and milk but knew we couldn’t<br />
sell it to people,” Moore explained.<br />
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92 <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Iowa</strong> <strong>Farmer</strong> | <strong>Fall</strong> <strong>2021</strong> eifarmer.com<br />
<strong>Eastern</strong><strong>Iowa</strong><strong>Farmer</strong>_<strong>Fall</strong><strong>2021</strong>.indd 92<br />
9/15/21 10:25 am
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