200 Attend Wisconsin's First Annual Local Food Summit

STEVENS POINT - 200 farm group leaders, producers, nonprofit advocates, retailers and educators attended Wisconsin's statewide first annual Local Food Summit on Jan. 4 in Stevens Point.

The Summit provided a venue to share information about efforts on expanding Wisconsin's local food markets. Attendees provided information on challenges and opportunities on how to increase consumption of Wisconsin produced agricultural products.

Speakers included Brian Halweil of the WorldWatch Institute and author of "Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket", Rod Nilsestuen, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Senator Julie Lassa and Sarah Klavas of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. A lunch featured locally grown foods.

A highlight of the summit was the announcement of a Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin legislative initiative which would provide statewide support including technical assistance and grants. This proposal supports local grassroots efforts to increase consumption of Wisconsin produced agriculture products.

Speaker Brian Halweil noted that Wisconsin is a leader in local food innovations with a large and growing number of farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms. Building on these successes, a number of initiatives around the state are attempting to expand local food markets by increasing institutional purchasing of Wisconsin grown products.

The Wisconsin Local Food Summit was supported in part from a USDA Agriculture and Entrepreneur Education Grant, UW Cooperative Extension and a variety of organizations including DATCP, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and a host of local organizations dedicated to supporting local food initiatives.