Ansel's Awesome Sauce
Ansel’s Awesome Hot Sauce, founded by Ansel Cummings in Riverside, IA, creates a variety of tasty hot sauces that prioritize flavor, heat levels, local producers, and exceptional quality and practices.
Riverside, IA
Gray Toad Tallow
Type: Producer
Produces: Skincare
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
Miles from Coop: 1
Locally Made and Sourced in Iowa
Made from organic tallow sourced from grass-fed cows in Eastern Iowa (or from the Co-op!), Gray Toad Tallow Balm is pure and natural nourishment for all skin types.
How it Began
Five years ago, Sharon's son began to get red patches on his legs and she developed red, dry patches on her face. She wanted the most natural remedy without side effects that can come from lotions and creams, even organic ones. After researching, she found tallow balm and began making it from locally sourced animals.
"By the time we saw our doctor two weeks later I had to point out where the patches had been and then cleared up with the tallow balm. It has since been used by friends and family to soothe eczema, psoriasis, dry skin, saddle sores from cycling, calluses, sunburns, chapped lips and more! "
What is Tallow Balm?
Tallow balm is a skincare product made from rendered animal fat. Gray Toad Tallow uses organic beef tallow, often sourced right from New Pi's Meat Department! Tallow's rich composition of vitamins A, D, E, and K offer unique nourishing properties for the skin, with a lipid profile that mimics our skin.
How to Use
Gray Toad Tallow can be used like a traditional moisturizer. Apply a small amount to clean, dry skin and massage gently. It can also be used as a targeted treatment for dry patches, chapped lips, or as an overnight mask for intensified hydration. It is safe for use on face and body, and suitable for children.
Gray Toad Tallow Products
Checkout these great products from Gray Toad Tallow
Other Local Producers
Be sure to check out these others great local producers!
Milton Creamery
The Musser family – Rufus, Jane, and sons Junior and head cheesemaker Galen – make artisanal cheese the old fashioned way, and source their added growth hormone-free milk from less than 30 miles away.
Milton, IA
Lion Bridge Brewing
Since 2014, Lion Bridge Brewing Company has produced beers that are delicious, complex, and most importantly, approachable, and highly drinkable.
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Blues Best Mushrooms
Blues Best Mushrooms is a family-owned specialty mushroom company in Eastern Iowa that supplies fresh mushrooms to the Co-op including Shitake, Oyster, and Lion's Mane.
Vinton, IA
Thousand Hills Cattle Co.
Thousand Hills sources beef from small Midwestern independent family farms that must meet the most stringent requirements around.
Cannon Falls, MN
Old Capitol Tofu
Jake, Matthew, and the gang at Old Capitol Food Co. make their local organic tofu in Iowa City with organic Iowa soybeans and pure, reverse osmosis water for the freshest, cleanest tasting tofu around.
Iowa City, IA
Cafe del Sol
With a passion for great coffee and sustainability, Stephen Dunham developed a line of coffees with a clean flavor and footprint.
Iowa City, IA
Great River Maple
“We like our sap to stay extremely fresh – if the sap clouds over it affects the flavor, so we like to keep our sap clear as water,”
Garnavillo, IA