Plan to attend this informative workshop to learn more!

Please consider coming to a workshop on commercializing natural food products on Friday, June 1 from 10:30-3:00.  Mark Olson, our host and presenter, will be serving his cinnamon rolls in the morning!      

The workshop will be held at:

 Workshop and lunch are provided free of charge. 

 This workshop is focused on touring an actual production facility and growing fields, and engaging in an active discussion on the practical processes for commercializing healthy food products. Learn about the elements of refining food products, production, distribution and managing a food business.  This workshop will provide you with insights on whether commercial food production fits with your business and personal goals, and how to succeed as a commercial food entrepreneur in Wisconsin.

 We encourage you to submit your questions in advance to surdickr@uwstout.edu to drive the afternoon discussion.   

 To register for the workshop and submit questions contact:

Click here to download the flyer

Project funded by the Division of Agriculture Development, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

Organic Tomatoes, Keewaydin Farms, Wisconsin

New Dates Added:

Cost with Scholarship: $60 (regular tuition rate is $135)

Credit: 1-2 semester units of graduate credit available at additional cost of $60/credit

Place:  Community GroundWorks Kids’ Garden at Troy Gardens (500 block of Troy Drive, near Warner Park)

Instructor: Nathan Larson, Education Director, Community GroundWorks

This 5-day, 20-hour course is designed for K-12 teachers and community educators who are interested in building skills in the areas of youth garden education, development, and management.  This course will emphasize an inquiry-based, hands-on approach to garden-based learning.  Course topics will include youth garden design and construction, funding and resources, recommended tools and equipment, organic gardening methods, cooking in a garden kitchen, garden-based nutrition, nature study and games, earth art, chickens in the garden, program evaluation, and the role of youth gardening in the sustainable agriculture movement.  Course instruction will take place outdoors in the award-winning Kids’ Garden at Troy Gardens.  Please bring sunscreen, drinking water, and appropriate clothing for the weather (e.g., hats, sunglasses, rain jacket). Enrollment is limited to 20 educators.

Scholarship applications are due by Friday, May 18.  As specified by the scholarship fund*, eligible applicants include all Madison Area School Teachers.  To apply for a scholarship, simply send an email message to Nathan Larson at nathan@troygardens.org indicating your interest in a scholarship.  Please enter Growing Minds Scholarship in the Subject line of your email and include your name and school in the message.  Scholarship grantees will be chosen through a random selection process administered by the Madison Area GROW Coalition.  Scholarship applicants will be notified of the results by Friday, May 25.    

For general information about the course, visit Growing Minds on the Community GroundWorks website or contact Nathan Larson at nathan@troygardens.org.

*Growing Minds Scholarships for Madison Area School Teachers are provided by generous individual donors who contributed through a Sustain Dane/GROUPON fundraiser.

Presented by River Country RC&D and Wisconsin Farmers Union

Featuring:

Laura Jackson, Author of “The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems,” Professor of Biology at the University of Northern Iowa, Daughter of Wes Jackson of The Land Institute in Salina, KS and Dana Jackson of Land Stewardship Project.

Francis Thicke of Radiance Dairy in Fairfield, Iowa and Author of “A New Vision for Iowa Food and Agriculture: Sustainable Agriculture for the 21st Century.”

John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural & Applied Economics, University of Missouri Columbia and author of “Small Farms are Real Farms: Sustaining People Through Agriculture” and “Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense.”

Also a Dinner Banquet and Reception Featuring Local Author and Entertainer Michael Perry

Conference tracks include:
Marketing
Business Management
Farm to Fork: Accessing Local Food Systems
Farmer to Farmer: Nuts and Bolts of Successful Strategies
On-Farm Renewable Energy
Also, a farmer forum featuring Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education project recipients from Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Interested in Sponsoring or Exhibiting at the Conference? Please request a sponsor/vendor packet River Country RC&D

See you in December!!

Where? Your computer

Cost?     FREE

How do I register?   sign-up here

Are you interested in selling processed foods, but need help navigating labeling requirements? Food Products Labeling 101 is an opportunity for you to find out exactly what you need to have on your product labels. Arthur Ness, a food scientist at the WI Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, will cover the mandatory label elements, nutrition labeling, claims on labels, special labeling issues, and licensing requirements. Following a short presentation, there will be ample time for questions. Arthur has been with the Division of Food Safety for over 30 years and brings a wealth of knowledge on product labeling and licensing requirements in Wisconsin.

This workshop is brought to you by Something Special from Wisconsin™. To learn more about the program, visit us at www.somethingspecialwi.com

A new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examines key disease rates in combination with health spending in states around the country, and concludes that sustained and sufficient investment in public health and disease prevention is essential to improving health and driving down the nation’s health care costs.

Citing analyses by the Institute of Medicine, The New York Academy of Medicine, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2012 Investing in America’s Health report notes that federal funding for public health has remained flat in recent years, limiting public health departments’ ability to adequately carry out core functions to prevent illness and disease before they require treatment at the doctor’s office, and to help keep people healthy and safe in the event of an emergency.

The report includes charts detailing federal investment in public health on a state-by-state basis, and “key health facts” including states’ rankings on health indicators such as incidence of asthma and diabetes, percent of population without health insurance, and obesity among adults and children. The report also includes brief local “Prevention in Action” profiles of health improvement initiatives in different parts of the country aimed at goals such as limiting tobacco use, expanding urban and community gardens, and making the healthy choice the easy choice.

Overall, the report concludes that disease rates will not be lowered without greater funding to support public health and prevention at the federal, state and local levels.

•          Read the report, “Investing In America’s Health: A State-By-State Look at Public Health Funding and Key Health Facts.”

•          Visit NewPublicHealth.org to read about different ways that health departments are maximizing limited resources and collaborating with health care, business, and other sectors to protect and improve health.

Direct link to Dane County report.

The report can be accessed at http://bit.ly/ccfsreport

 WASHINGTON, Feb. 29, 2012- Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan unveiled the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF) Compass, an interactive web-based document and map highlighting USDA support for local and regional food projects and successful producer, business and community case studies. While hosting a live webinar to highlight USDA’s work over the past three years, the Secretaries emphasized how local and regional food systems across the country create additional economic opportunities for farmers, ranchers and food entrepreneurs, expand healthy food access and meet growing customer demand.

“USDA works every day to strengthen American agriculture, drive job growth and support farm-family income,” said Vilsack. “The KYF Compass highlights how USDA support for local and regional food systems has brought additional opportunities to our country’s farmers, ranchers, processors, distributors and food entrepreneurs. The stories and maps in the Compass underscore how diverse and innovative American agriculture can be.”

The KYF Compass is a digital guide to USDA resources related to local and regional food systems. The Compass consists of an interactive U.S. map showing local and regional food projects and an accompanying narrative documenting the results of this work through case studies, photos and video content. The KYF Compass organizes USDA’s work on local and regional food systems into seven thematic areas. Among the themes covered on the map and in the narrative portion of the Compass are:

Local Food Infrastructure: maps USDA support for food hubs, cold storage facilities, local food processors and other infrastructure and examines how this infrastructure keeps wealth in rural communities.

Farm to Institution: examines programs to connect local food producers and institutions and the results of these initiatives for healthy food access, farm incomes, and students’ understanding of agriculture.

Careers in Agriculture: discusses USDA support for young and beginning farmers and ranchers, as well as opportunities to get involved in agriculture through food business development and public service, and the importance of this work to creating vibrant rural communities.

Stewardship and Local Foods: explains how local food producers are implementing environmentally sustainable practices on their farms and ranches to preserve farmland, forests and natural landscapes across the country.

Local Meat and Poultry: showcases resources for local meat and poultry producers and small processors to succeed in local markets.

Healthy Food Access: highlights tools to connect farmers and ranchers underserved communities to increase access to healthy food for consumers and economic opportunities for producers.

Local Food Knowledge: tracks existing research and identifies opportunities for further understanding of local and regional food systems and their impacts.

“By encouraging all Americans to know their farmer, USDA is helping consumers learn more about agriculture and the people producing your food,” said Deputy Secretary Merrigan. “The Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative helps farmers and ranchers tap into a vibrant, growing market opportunity. And it’s also stimulating a broader national conversation about where our food comes from and how important agriculture is to our country.”

A large selection of USDA-supported programs and projects is also visible on the KYF Map, which can be displayed by theme, program, or recipient type. Both the KYF Compass and map will be regularly refreshed with new data and case studies.

In September 2009, USDA launched the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative to coordinate USDA resources and expertise on local and regional food systems. The KYF Compass documents the ways in which USDA has collaborated across its 17 agencies and additional offices, enhanced transparency and met congressional mandates from the 2008 Farm Bill on local and regional food. KYF is not a separate USDA program or agency. It is a management initiative to increase inter-agency coordination.

For more information and to join the national conversation, please visit the ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ website, at www.usda.gov/knowyourfarmer . People can join the national conversation on Twitter by using the hash tag #KYF2.

CRS Local Food & Farm Policy Report Jan 20, 2012