The Food System Development Program was established in November 2013 to recognize and manage activities that had been occurring with direct support from Cooperative Extension for nearly two decades.
Formerly housed within the UW Center for Cooperatives and later the Agricultural Innovation Center, these activities have included over four dozen public, non-profit, university and industry partners– and counting.
FSDP is presently housed within the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension branch of Cooperative Extension. Its purpose is to secure and manage internal and external funding to support Cooperative Extension’s role in developing food systems in Wisconsin.
Some examples of previous project activities, with start dates and primary funding sources, include:
- The Farmer-Food Buyer Dialogue Project (1995)
- Funded by the Sustainable Agriculture Program of DATCP
- Home Grown Wisconsin Cooperative (1995)
- Funded in part by the Agricultural Development and Diversification Program of DATCP
- River Valley Foods (1996)
- Funded by the Agricultural Development and Diversification Program of DATCP
- Cooperatives: A Tool for Community Economic Development (1998)
- Funded by a USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Services Grant
- Wisconsin Community Kitchen Network (1998)
- Funded by a USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Services Grant
- The Potential Role of Cooperatives in Wisconsin’s Aquaculture Industry (2000)
- Funded by the Wisconsin Aquaculture Advisory Council
- North Central Initiative for Small Farm Profitability (2000)
- Funded by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (via Univ. of Nebraska)
- First Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference (2000)
- Funded in part by a USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Services Grant
- Direct Marketing Meat (2001)
- Funded by the USDA’s Federal-State Market Improvement Program
- Options and Strategies for Small Farms CD (2003)
- Funded by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
- Keys to Success for Food Co-op Start Ups in Rural Areas (2005)
- Funded by a USDA Cooperative Development Grant via Northcountry Co-op Development
- Farmer Investment Survey (2006)
- Funded by UW-Consortium for Extension and Research in Agriculture and Natural Resources (CERANR)
- Badger AgVest LLC (Conference 2006, Conference 2007)
- Funded in part by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (aka Kohl grant)
- First Wisconsin Local Food Summit (2007)
- Funded in part by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (aka Kohl grant)
- Business Feasibility: A First Cut Analysis – booklet (2007)
- Funded by a USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and a Rural Business Opportunity Grant
- Business Feasibility: A First Cut Analysis – video (2009)
- Funded by the USDA’s Value Added Producer Grant Program via AgMRC
- Scaling Up: Meeting the Demand for Local Food (2009)
- Funded by the Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment
- Madison Regional Food Incubator (2009)
- Funded by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce
- Grocers Buy Local Project (2009)
- Funded in part by the Madison Region Economic Partnership
- Food Business Innovation Network (2009)
- Funded in part by the Economic Development Administration (EDA)
- Wisconsin Agri-Business Leadership Academy (2011)
- Funded by the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin
- Sustainable Edible Economic Development (2011)
- Funded through a contract with S.E.E.D. to support their development
- Community & Regional Food Systems Project (2011)
- Funded by the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)
- Development of an Multi-Institutional Institute for Urban Agriculture and Nutrition (2013)
- Funded by the Growth Agenda for Wisconsin Grant Program
- Wisconsin Food Innovation Facility Opportunity Analysis (2013)
- Funded in part by the Economic Development Administration (EDA)
- A Systems Approach to Food Waste Composting for Urban Agriculture (2016)
- Funded by USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) Program
- Food & the Wisconsin Idea (2018)
- Funded by UW Cooperative Extension and five UW-Madison units
Partners in the projects above included:
- Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), Madison
- Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, UW-Madison
- Cooperative Development Services, Madison
- Wisconsin Rural Development Center, Mount Horeb
- Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, East Troy
- Madison Chapter of the Chef’s Collaborative 2000
- Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool, La Farge
- Wisconsin Chapter of the Organic Crop Improvement Association
- Tipi Produce, Evansville (formerly Madison)
- Home Grown Wisconsin Cooperative, Madison
- Renaissance Farm, Spring Green
- USDA Rural Development, Stevens Point
- University of Nebraska, Lincoln
- Wisconsin Aquaculture Advisory Council
- Meat Science Department, UW-Madison
- Survey Research Center, UW-River Falls
- Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service, Madison
- River Country RC&D, Eau Claire
- Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund, Minneapolis
- Wisconsin Small Business Development Center, UW Extension
- Badger AgVest, Madison
- Center for Community & Economic Development, UW Extension
- Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC), Iowa State University
- Madison Region Economic Partnership (formerly Thrive)
- Local Dirt, Madison
- Wisconsin Grocers Association,Madison
- Something Special from Wisconsin, Madison
- Metcalfes Sentry, Madison
- Miller’s Supermarket, Verona
- Mountin’s Piggly Wiggly, Mayville
- Daniels’ Sentry Foods, Janesville
- Farm Market Kitchen, Algoma
- Commonwealth Development, Madison
- Leadership Wisconsin, UW Extension
- Wisconsin Agricultural Education Foundation, Madison
- Sustainable Edible Economic Development, Racine
- Soil Science Department, UW-Madison
- Growing Power, Milwaukee
- PEOPLE Program, UW-Madison
- Program Development and Evaluation, UW Extension
- Cooperative Extension Publishing, UW Extension
- Milwaukee Food Council
- South Side Education, Access and Transformation (EAT), Milwaukee
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
- Marquette University, Milwaukee
- Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee
- Milwaukee Area Technical College
- City of Milwaukee, Home Gr/own Project
- Milwaukee County Extension
- Urban Economic Development Association, Milwaukee
- Organic Processing Institute, Middleton
- Food & Beverage (FaB) Wisconsin, Milwaukee
- Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Madison
- Wisconsin Business Incubator Association
- Discover Center, UW-Stout
- Purple Cow Organics, Middleton
- Compost Crusaders, Milwaukee
- Elyve Organics, Milwaukee
- Blue Ribbon Organics, Caledonia
- Organic Resource Enterprise Development, Milwaukee
- Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
- Groundworks Milwaukee
- Victory Gardens Initiative, Milwaukee
- Cream City Farms, Milwaukee
- Kaleidoscope Gardens, Milwaukee
- St. Clare Garden, Milwaukee
- Amy’s Acre and Hunger Task Force, Franklin
- Contract Comestibles, East Troy
- Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Wauwatosa
- Kohl’s Department Stores, Milwaukee
- Harley-Davidson, Milwaukee
- Kohl’s Department Stores, Milwaukee
- Energy Exchange, Milwaukee
- Mentoring Positives, Madison
- Madison Area Technical College
- School of Human Ecology, UW-Madison
- Agroecology Masters Program, UW-Madison
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, UW-Madison
- Kaufman Lab, Dept of Planning & Landscape Architecture, UW-Madison
Since 2008 the staff of the former Agricultural Innovation Center and the current FSDP have created videos to disseminate knowledge and information. Entering 2017 these videos were viewed by nearly 12,000 times. Here are direct links to specific playlists:
- Food Waste Composting (Ongoing)
- Food Business Incubators in Wisconsin (2014)
- Future Food Trends (2013)
- Farm and Food Business Profiles (Ongoing)
- Local Food and Supermarkets (2010)
- Pricing Your Food Products (2010)
Select articles and publications not included in the grant project links above or on other FSDP tabs:
- Cooperative Ownership Compared to Other Business Arrangements for Multi-Family Dairy Operations (1996)
- Can Food Co-ops Work in Low Income Communities (1996)
- Innovation is a Weed (2007)
- Ten Innovations in Wisconsin Agriculture (2007)
- Ten Local Food Opportunities (2010)
- Pricing Your Products for Retail and Wholesale Markets (2010)