Over 75 people attended the NEWfare conference held at NWTC on Friday, November 4. Thank you to all who participated in the event. Special thanks to our panelists, facilitators, speakers and all those who donated time and resources to make the event such a success. The agenda for the conference can be viewed here.
Theresa Marquez, the Executive Marketing Director for Organic Valley Cooperative, shared with us the history and mission of Cropp Cooperative (the parent company of Organic Valley and Organic Prairie). Theresa talked about how the cooperative sold a piece of equipment for the down payment on the first building and how the farmers/owners of the cooperative put a lot of their own sweat equity into remodeling that building. She stressed how important it is to Organic Valley to help revitalize small towns.
We then had our choice of three different break-out sessions. The first session was NEW Farm and Value-Added Food Businesses as Economic Drivers. The panelists included Dale Johnson, owner of Sun-Century Organic Sunflower Oil and Century Farms Eco-Market near Pulaski; Mary Pat Carlson, founder of the Algoma Farm Market Kitchen, and Tom Lutsey, Owner of Waseda Farms, an organic grass-fed beef operation in Door County. Dale shared his experience in repurposing dairy equipment for use in his sunflower oil business. Mary Pat talked about the small and fast-growing businesses started in the commercial kitchen and the opportunities she has had to help other people start commercial kitchens and business incubators. Tom spoke of his awareness of how foods affected his health after having been ill and how concerned he is with providing a healthy, organic, and safe product.
The second panel was Local Food Economy in Health and Wellness Programs. The panelists included Dr. Debra Pearson, UW-GB Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Food in Community and Culture; Bill Hafs, Director of Brown County Land and Water Conservation Department, and Regina Young, a Clinical Nutritionist at Bellin Health. The panelists helped everyone understand the connection between “how we grow our food” and health. We are fortunate that people are not just making this connection but acting on it as this session showed. Dr. Debra Pearson from UWGB showed study results demonstrating the connection between organic growing methods and increased nutrition in food. Healthy farm practices do create healthier people. “It’s all about the nutrients.” Bill Hafs from Brown County Land Conservation showed the connection between farming practices and water quality, linking intensive agricultural and row crops such as corn and soybeans to soil run-off into streams, and excess manure and nutrients to algae. He also pointed out our area is unique for its high number of cows and thus manure and excess nutrients in the soil. Also of particular concern was groundwater contamination due to shallow and cracked bedrock in eastern Brown County. Last, Regina Young from Bellin health showed the wide range of programs they are implementing to endorse and provide healthy food to their employees and to the Northeastern Wisconsin community they serve. Just one of their many achievements was that 30% of their food served in the Green Bay hospital was locally grown. They really showed what a committed and dedicated organization could do.
The third session was Connecting Farmers, Food and Community. The panelists included Fred Depies of Trust Local Foods, Teresa Engel of the Wisconsin Department of Ag, Trade & Consumer Protection, working on the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin program, and New Leaf Market’s president of the board of directors, Lynn Walter. Fred shared how he and his wife had started publishing the Farm Fresh Atlas for Northeast Wisconsin and now he is working on Trust Local Foods which will connect farmers to local markets. Lynn talked about the goals of New Leaf Market Cooperative and how we will be more than just a grocery store, we will work to educate as well. Teresa Engel talked about the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin program and how DATCP is there to help even the very smallest of businesses and provide information to those looking to start a business.
After a delicious local lunch, Margaret Krome, Policy Program Director for the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy, talked about the local food economy. Margaret spoke about how Northeast Wisconsin is a “hot spot” for growth in the local food economy. She said that we should not dismiss someone, particularly our political representatives, just because we think they wouldn’t agree with us. Finally, Margaret shared information on a bill just introduced by a Congresswoman from Maine and a Senator from Ohio called the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act. She encouraged us to call our representatives and ask them to co-sponsor this bill. According to the handout from Margaret, the “goal of the bill is to advance the development of local and regional farm and food systems from farm to table.” If you would like more information, the bill number is HR3286.
New Leaf Market commissioned a study of the local farm and food economy of the Green Bay area. This study was completed by Ken Meter of the Crossroads Resource Center. You can find the full document from this study here.