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Wisconsin Local Food Summit

Posted at 10:46 PM on January 27, 2008 by Gina Keenan (2 Comments)

The Wisconsin Local Foods Summit was held in Eau Claire this past Thursday and Friday. In all honesty, I know I would not have thought of going if I hadn't been participating in this challenge to eat 80 percent local. On Friday, I squeezed in going to the conference between some errands, and was happy I did.

At the poster sessions, I met a couple from the Thief River Falls, MN, area who in their late ‘70’s are still operating a mill which they built themselves over thirty years ago. They do specialty milling of all types of organic grains and legumes, most grown in North Dakota or Minnesota (the fringe of my range of local). Their operation is called Natural Way Mills (www.naturalwaymills.com). They are an amazing couple.

I talked to the registration desk, and explained I was just looking around and wouldn’t be able to stay for the day. They recommended that I sit in the session where speaker John Ikerd (http://web.missouri.edu/ikerdj/) was talking about everything about from eating, growing and marketing local foods, and the issues associated with it. Now, like others that are partaking in the local eating challenge, I understand the benefits of eating local that can result to the environment, economy, etc. In other words, I am not someone that is totally foreign to the eating local concepts; but I was blown away by Mr. Ikerd. It was inspiring. I came out of the session feeling like I was part of a revolution. He said many things, but of particular interest was his summary at the end of the things going on across the nation. Here is a small summary:

-Seattle has a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that only takes food stamps.
-A CSA in Kansas City which is supported totally by vegetables grown in the standard city lot back yard.
-A CSA in New York City supported with a combination of empty city lots to provide low cost healthy food for low income families.
-Someone (sorry can’t remember who) in Oklahoma City puts out a newsletter, including recipes, on how to eat local for the week, within a food stamp budget.
-It is now state law in California that all schools have a garden.

Again, this is just a small summary. The stories were awe-inspiring, and I was really struck by how many people are trying to make local foods affordable for low income people. I know one of the big complaints of organic and eating local is that the food is much more expensive than the mass produced food. However, there is a price we have to pay for good, nutritious food which is sustainable. As John Ikerd stressed, we have to learn, food is not a commodity, which is how most of us treat it.

Comments (2)

Wow Gina - it sounds as if your local food summit was a great event! I will have to look at the web site for Mr. Ikerd - how interesting about the different CSAs. The one that I buy from here in Boise is on about 4 acres of land just 5 miles from downtown.

In May, Boise will be having their first Green Expo with speakers and workshops similar to the ones you mentioned. After hearing about your experience, I am even more excited.

Posted by Scott | January 28, 2008 10:47 PM

Scott,

Thanks for the comments. I hope the Boise Green Expo is as inspirational. Is there a web-site for it yet?

I am always fascinated with comparing CSA's. Have you been a member for long? How long does it provide produce weekly? What are the weather issues limiting production?

Gina

Posted by Gina | February 1, 2008 2:22 PM