Tiny But Mighty Popcorn

Type: Producer

Produces: Popcorn

Location: Shellsburg, IA

Miles from Coop: 17

This is the most flavorful popcorn we’ve tasted – and its hulls explode so they don’t get stuck in your teeth.

As the story goes, the Kelty family either found their tiny popcorn: “growing wild, or traded Native Americans for it,” Gene Mealhow explains, and passed it down from generation to generation. During WWII, their yearly planting got forgotten, and a paltry handful of kernels found in a pantry jar rescued it from extinction.

Get the whole scoop about our visit to their farm here.

farmer-gene_tiny-but-mighty-popcorn_sm.jpg

Products available in store and online. Limited selection online.
 

Other Local Producers

Be sure to check out these others great local producers!

Echo Valley Farms

Echo Valley Farms

Echo Valley Farms, just eight miles outside Iowa City, produces certified organic, non‑GMO eggs on their family‑run farm.

Iowa City, Iowa

GG's Pasta

GG's Pasta

Matt and Jear Greiner have traveled the world learning about Italian cuisine, eventually bringing their talents back to Iowa to establish GG's Pasta in 2024. Creating delicious, unique, vegan pasta that is authentic.

Coralville, Iowa

Blues Best Mushrooms

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

Buffalo Ridge Orchard

Buffalo Ridge Orchard

The best thing about being an apple farmer is that, unlike a ripe tomato, [an apple] doesn’t have to be picked right now. It can wait until tomorrow. It is a nice pace.”

Central City, IA

Ferndale Market

Ferndale Market

“We keep [the turkeys] rotating onto fresh pasture. It’s a true free-range program, outdoors from early spring.”

Cannon Falls, MN

Hue Hill

Hue Hill

Hue Hill crafts farm grown vegetables into vibrant, live cultured, powerfully probiotic fermented foods.

Iowa City, IA

Beeler's Pure Pork

Beeler's Pure Pork

Their Heluka® breed and method of farming focuses on keeping their hogs stress-free: raising them with compassion, plenty of access to spacious bedded areas and sunshine, vegetarian feed, and no antibiotics or hormones.

Le Mars, Iowa

Frontier Co-op

Frontier Co-op

Founded in 1976, Iowa based Frontier Co-op is a leader in branded organic and natural herbs, spices, and essential oils. As a co-operative owned by wholesale customers that buy and sell its products, Frontier sources hundreds of different botanicals and oils from over 175 suppliers in 50 countries.

Norway, IA