support our food hub!

The closing of the USDA Local Food Purchasing Program has been devastating for hundreds of farm and food businesses across the state. One critical infrastructure partner affected is the Wisconsin Food Hub Coop. Our food hub moves local foods to market and is partnering with smaller warehouses to create the Super Transport Coop.

To replace the LFPA market, the WFHC is initiating a statewide food box program. You can order boxes to be delivered to sites across Wisconsin for pick up, starting late summer.

Now, you can purchase a t-shirt to support the effort. Every t-shirt you purchase helps feed families in need, uplift local farmers, and strengthen the roots of Wisconsin communities. It’s more than just a shirt— it’s a statement of support and a step toward a stronger, more resilient food system.

Order t-shirt online

INVITE: Collaborating for regional food systems

Join us Thursday, February 20, 9:30-noon in LaCrosse. The event will bring together businesses working on distribution and logistics for local and regional foods.

UW-Extension will host the event at their office, 212 6th Street North, Suite 2200, La Crosse. Several organizations are co-hosting the event in advance of the 2025 Marbleseed Organic Farming Conference.

RSVP appreciated but not required: email mmmille6ATwisc.edu

Starting at 10am, we will hear lightening talks from:

  • Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative on distribution
  • Wisconsin Food Systems on data management
  • UW Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems on collaborative logistics
  • DATCP on Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grants
  • Great Lakes Midwest Food Business Center on progress
  • Great Lakes Common Market on the Chicago scene
  • Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition on collaboration

We will pass a hot mic around for YOU to share your projects and your interest in collaboration, too.

Watch this space for more information and updates.

Co-hosts include Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative, Wisconsin Food Systems, UW-LaCrosse Extension, UW-Madison Division of Extension Community Food Systems, and UW-CIAS. If you are interested in co-hosting, contact us at WFS.

Confirmed Participants as of 2/19/2025

  1. Josh Bryson, The Good Acre
  2. Stephanie Spehar, University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh
  3. Andrea Noll, University of Wisconsin
  4. Alpa Goswami , Marbleseed
  5. Marcus Grignon, Food Systems Development, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, Menominee Nation
  6. Maisah Kahn, Regenerative Agriculture Association
  7. Sara Ecker, Ecker’s Apples
  8. Kara Black, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin
  9. Stephanie Dodge, Intertribal Food Systems Coordinator, Menominee Tribal Department of Agriculture and Food Systems
  10. Hinu Smith, Director, Department of Agriculture, Ho Chunk Nation
  11. Gary Besaw, Director, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, Menominee Nation
  12. Will Hughes, consultant
  13. Marlie Wilson, USDA-AMS, RFSI program
  14. Jennifer Falck, Food Business Development Coordinator, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, Menominee Nation
  15. Keitra Olson, WEDC
  16. Danielle Endvick, Wisconsin Farmers Union
  17. Rue Genger, UW Horticulture
  18. James Pyecroft, UWEX Community Food Systems
  19. Sara Tedeschi, Crawford County Extension
  20. Bradley Bolling, NSF Engines project, UW-Madison
  21. Bernard Lager III, Arise Nutrition
  22. Jan Joannides, Renewing the Countryside
  23. Andrew Adamski, Full Circle Farm
  24. Josh Engle, Driftless Organics
  25. Tyler Dvorak, Fifth Season
  26. Sarah Larson, Great Lakes Midwest Food Business Center
  27. Rufus Haucke, Keewaydin Farms
  28. Halee, Meadowlark Mill
  29. Phil Jahnke Sauer, Iowa RC&D
  30. Teresa Wiemerslage, Iowa Extension
  31. Beth Heller, WELLO
  32. Juli McGuire, Blue Roof Orchard
  33. Sheri Scott, Driftless Berry Growers
  34. Karin, Driftless Berry Growers
  35. Alondra Cano, Hungry Turtle Farm
  36. Ann Vang, Central Rivers Farmshed
  37. Kattia Jimenez, Pura Vida Organic Farm, LLC
  38. Christy McKenzie, Pastures and Plenty
  39. Joleen Baker, Coop Partners Warehouse
  40. Kat Becker, Cattail Organics
  41. Tracy Vinz, Olden Produce
  42. Tara Roberts-Turner, Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative
  43. Eliana Pinella, Common Market Great Lakes
  44. Peter Krause, Iowa Food Hub
  45. Bob Wills, Cedar Grove Cheese
  46. Noah Bloedorn, REAP
  47. Aidan Coffin Ness, REAP
  48. Rose Santa Gonsáles, NSF ICICLE
  49. Grace Puc, DATCP RFSI
  50. Allison Lindsey, DATCP Farm-to-School
  51. April Yancer, Farm to School and Institution Program Specialist
  52. Katie Kratch, DATCP Local Food Purchasing Assistance
  53. Sarah Lloyd, Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative
  54. Rebecca Kemble, Wisconsin Food Systems, Inc.
  55. Cathryn Herlihey, UWEX-Community Food Systems
  56. Lindsey Day Farnsworth, UWEX-Community Food Systems
  57. Regina Hirsch, UW-CIAS
  58. Michelle Miller, UW-CIAS

Bobby Golden: Pioneer of Madison’s Food Movement

Restaurant owners in the Madison area know Golden Produce for its exceptional service and local foods selection. The company has outgrown it’s space and moved to Madison’s south side, on Fish Hatchery Road.

Its founder, Bobby Golden, was a key builder of Madison’s local food movement back in the early days. Watch this short film to understand the work needed to create our food co-ops. It also shows the role that Golden played in that effort.

Transforming Food Systems: Key Political Challenges

“While the need for a transformed food system that is healthier and more resilient is rarely disputed, the politics of adopting and implementing necessary policies to achieve these goals is highly contentious.” – Danielle Resnick, International Food Policy Research Institute

Come hear Resnick speak on Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm on this topic and hear responses to remarks from food system practitioners.

Dr. Danielle Resnick, political economist, will highlight key constraints at the local, national, and global scales that require priority attention for food systems transformation. She writes:

“While the need for a transformed food system that is healthier and more resilient is rarely disputed, the politics of adopting and implementing necessary policies to achieve these goals is highly contentious. Policy reforms typically involve addressing trade-offs across interest groups, reconciling opposing cultural and ideological beliefs, and navigating the distribution of power within extant institutions. This lecture will highlight key political economy constraints at the local, national, and global scales that require priority attention for the uptake of improved policies for food system transformation. In addition, it will consider the viability of possible solutions to overcome these constraints, including better sequencing and framing of policy options, forging coalitions and expanding networks, and transparency mechanisms that keep relevant stakeholders accountable for food systems performance over time.”

Dr. Resnick is a Senior Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Her key research areas include the political economy of agricultural policy and food systems, decentralization, urban governance, informality, and democratization.

Her remarks will be followed by community responses from organic farmer Rick Adamski, Seymor, WI, and supply chain developer Sarah Lloyd, Wisconsin Dells. Dr. Nan Enstad, Department of Community and Environmental Sociology is moderating the event.

Resnick edited a book on the topic last year that is free to download: https://library.oapen.org/ handle/20.500.12657/85666. She also co-authored a report on urban agriculture released in July that includes recommendations on how to improve the urban-rural interface at:https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/publications/hlpe-19

This event celebrates the 35th anniversary of the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, founded by Wisconsin farmers, environmentalists, faculty, staff and students.

Co-Sponsors: Weston Roundtable, Union Directorate Distinguished Lecture Series, CALS Global, Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, Extension Community Food Systems, Departments of Community and Environmental Sociology, Agricultural Economics, Political Science, and the Bradshaw-Knight Foundation.

The Political Economy of Food Systems Transformation. Dr. Danielle Resnick, International Food Policy Research Institute and Brookings Institution. Community responses from Rick Adamski and Sarah Lloyd

Wednesday, October 30th, 7pm, Wisconsin Historical Society auditorium, Free and open to the public. Livestream link and recording at cias.wisc.edu

Resilient Food Infrastructure

For those of us working on building our regional food infrastructure, it has been a busy couple of months. Up to March 6, we were writing, emailing, and zooming to develop successful proposals to DATCP to rebuild our food systems. The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program is a one time USDA Agricultural Marketing Service effort to provide states with capital to make our food systems more resilient. Of all the states, Wisconsin received the second largest federal investment: $27million. Only California had a larger program.

Wisconsin Food Systems submitted a proposal to build the information platform our small and medium sized businesses need to improve B2B transactions. We also wrote letters of support for several other proposals to demonstrate that we are in this together. One of those proposals supported the expansion of RE Golden’s warehouse in Madison. Bobby Golden was a founder of the local wholesale food movement, bringing truckloads of food to ICC and Mifflin St. Coop in the early 70s. His company, now owned by his son and partners, continues the tradition, serving Madison area restaurants with local foods. Other proposals supported the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative’s efforts to move Wisconsin produce throughout the state, with a special commitment to serving the underserved. Our Tribal partners submitted several proposals to restore Tribal trade routes for foods native to Wisconsin such as manoomin, maple syrup, and white corn.

Proposals were due March 6 and the word is that 255 proposals were submitted, totaling $158 million in requests. We expect funded projects will be announced this summer. Perhaps state government and private investors might step in to further meet this demonstrated need? We know that not all the projects requested will be funded through this program so making sure that our work is inclusive and strategic is more important than ever. We will continue to build alliances and work together to realize the food systems we envision.

(Rumor has it that this program was inspired by the Madison Terminal Market report. How cool is that?)

Food Rescue Convening

On October 11, Chris Brockel from FEED Kitchen and Rebecca Kemble from Wisconsin Food Systems convened key organizations to discuss food rescue efforts and summarized findings in a report.

At the end of the convening, three main needs were identified by the group:

  1. An easily accessible, centralized storage and/or processing facility to preserve
    more food before it spoils
  2. Digital data infrastructure to optimize logistics and information about available
    food
  3. Financial and logistical support for composting food waste that is generated by
    grocery stores who donate food, but ultimately paid for by non-profit pantries
Data from 2020 WDNR Waste Sort

Participating were Community Action Coalition, Second Harvest Food Bank, The
River, Badger Prairie Needs Network, Way Forward, St. Vinnie’s, Neighborhood House Community Center, Sustain Dane, Little John’s, Healthy Food for All, Northside Planning Council, as well as representation from the City, County and University of Wisconsin.

Dane County Pandemic Food Systems Study

The Dane County Food Council documented the effects on our food systems during the Pandemic. Their report, released in March 2023, details the negative impacts during this historic disruption as well as several stories of innovation and adaptation.

The report recommends five overarching priorities for the Dane County Food Council and other food organizations to embrace, along with ten distinct
actionable strategies for county-level action.

Sift Consulting prepared the report, with help from Bill Warner, Marcia Caton Campbell, Dan Cornelius, Jess Guffey Calkins of the Council, community advisors Yusuf Bin-Rella, Mariela Quesada Centeno, and Yimmuaj Yang.

Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center

Hot off the presses! Our regional center has a live website and is gearing up to serve entrepreneurial food businesses in our region. Wisconsin is one of four states served by our Great Lakes regional center. We are also blessed with proximity to the center serving Native Nations, hosted by Menominee Nation’s Department of Agriculture and Food Systems.

While they handle administrative details (very important!), Sarah Larson is offering two live “office hours” sessions in December:

Wisconsin Stakeholder Regional Food Business Center Office Hours 

Hello World!

As South Central Madison grows, our commitment to local and regional foods grows with it. Farmers throughout the 56 county “foodshed” provide an abundance of fruits, vegetables, grains, meats and dairy products. Farmers markets are an important market, especially for beginning farmers. Some of these farmers grow their businesses to serve larger markets, and small-medium wholesale is an under realized opportunity for their farm products. As one farmer put it, “Farmers markets give street cred. CSAs are for R&D. But to make money farming, we need wholesale markets.”

This labor of love began, by some accounts, in 2003. The cooperative wholesale distributor network had just collapsed and bits were taken over by United Natural Foods, a for-profit company on the East Coast. In addition to serving food coops across the country, this natural foods distributor serves Whole Foods, now a subsidiary of Amazon.

For small and medium food wholesalers to compete, they need warehousing and a shared information platform to succeed. And that is where we come in.

Thanks for checking us out and thinking about ways you can help move this project forward. We need skilled volunteers and capital to fulfill the needs of farmers, processors, and eaters committed to our regional food economy. Join us!