Chef Jessica Baldus wanted to support the local food movement in her northeast Iowa community, using superior ingredients married into impactful dishes at her flagship restaurant, Taste in Osage.

It turns out there’s an appetite for knowing exactly where food comes from.

“It’s exciting for me as a chef to be able to take advantage of direct sales raised on and grown from some of the richest soil in the world,” said Baldus, who is a Mitchell County...