The Root of the Matter. Artist Madai Taylor guides a long-handled garden tool across a dirt-and-gesso-covered paper canvas, delivering his distinctive script in earthen strokes. Taylor’s Fort Dodge ministry, as we learn in Jim Duncan’s story, is not a separate calling but part of the same conviction. As we grow this state, many dedicated residents are tending well to Iowa’s roots and contributing to its collective future. Josh Doležal introduces readers to a dogged group of organic farmers. Together they are living a shared vision for today and tomorrow that takes a valuable cue from the past. Fortifying community translates in many different ways. Meet Lorena Lopez. As Iowa’s population grows in diversity, the force behind north central Iowa’s Spanish-language newspaper La Prensa is cultivating mutual understanding by bridging cultures and educating and uniting residents.
