Organics as value-added approach for Driftless agriculture

Jim Riddle recently did a video on “What is Organic?” for SPNN and the St. Paul Farmers Market. View it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQskVbWGT2c

During the interview, he was asked about GMOs, and why people are concerned. I mentioned that researchers in Europe have found Bt corn damages the liver and other internal organs of lab animals. Here’s a link to one of the studies I was referring to, “A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health,” published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences: http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm

From Lila Marmel @ WDRT

I produced a news story for WDRT, which will air TODAY on the WDRT Local News at 5:30 pm. The station is at 91.9 FM, and can also be streamed live at wdrt.org. The Local News is also available on the website for a week following the broadcast, but will probably not be posted until some time tomorrow. Look for it on the upper right area of the home page.

– Lila Marmel

Follow-up note: Go to http://snd.sc/SxXcrA to listen to the file. Nice interviews with Neil Heinen from Channel 3, the CBS affiliate in Southern Wisconsin, Brad Niemcek, the Kickapoo Community Kitchen, Tony Roth and their greenhouse / fishfarm. There are some fun clips of participants sharing some of their creative messaging on the Driftless — “Glacier-free since 8,000 BC”.

Last chance! REGISTER NOW for “Telling the Driftless Story”!

REGISTER HERE!

In order to guarantee enough lunch and snacks for all participants, we need to close online registration by the end of the day today, August 6. Please register now to save yourself a spot at this dynamic regional workshop! A draft agenda is posted below and is also available here.

Telling the Driftless Story: August 12-13, 2012

Sunday August 12

5-7 pm: Cocktail Networking with a cash bar

7-8:30pm: Dinner and Welcome talk

This is a free networking event open to all registered participants in Monday’s workshop. Please email driftlessfoodandfarm@gmail.com if you would like to RSVP. Space is limited.

Monday August 13

7:30-8:30: Breakfast  

8:30-8:45: Introduction

8:45-10:00 Share Your Driftless Story

Work in small groups to share your memories and favorite things about the Driftless region while learning more about your neighbors and their motivations for participating in this workshop. Themes will be developed from the results.

10:00-10:15 BREAK

10:15-11:15 What the Italian Story Tells Us

A look at the agriturismo industry in Italy, its history and traditions, economics and regulation, its connections to place including regional uniqueness and the importance of land, agriculture and topography. Agricultural tourism has grown deep roots in Italy, and there are clear implications for Wisconsin. This session will highlight the Italian model and how it might inform the Driftless Story.

11:15- 12:00 LUNCH at Old Oak Inn

12:00-2:45 TOURS of local food and agriculture businesses

Tour 1- Organics in Action: Diversified Produce, Value-added Sunflower Oil and Grass-fed Beef and Lamb in the Heart of the Driftless (TENTATIVE)

  • 12:20-1:20pm Driftless Organics
  • 1:30-2:30pm Pine Knob Farm

Tour 2: Cheese & Apples! An award-winning Cooperative Creamery and Family-owned Apple Orchard and Farm Market (CONFIRMED)

  • 12:20-1:20pm Mt. Sterling Co-op Creamery
  • 1:30-2:30pm Sunrise Orchards, Inc.

Tour 3: Culinary Innovation: The Driftless’ Newest Community Kitchen & Aquaponic Fish and Produce Farm

  • 12:10-1:00pm Kickapoo Culinary Center (CONFIRMED)
  • 1:20-2:15pm Roth Fresh Farms (TENTATIVE)

2:45-3:15 Connect with theme groups and have groups collaborate to come up with one minute’s story, one image, one sentence (etc.) to summarize their group’s stories/experiences on the tours. Groups report back and present to entire group.

*Full group stories, themes and drawing can be reported on the Driftless blog after the conference in order to allow more time for group work.

3:15-4:15 Next Steps for Creating a New Future for the Driftless

Small group work and facilitated larger group discussion about possible next steps to take in the Driftless Region.

4:15-4:30 Concluding remarks

August 13 workshop speakers

The August 13th workshop “Telling Our Story” is happening soon! If you haven’t registered yet, please do. tiny.cc/driftlessforum

We are finalizing the day’s farm tour hosts, and have confirmed three speakers for the event. Nancy, Rossana and Neil will talk about agriturismo in Italy, and share their thinking on communicating about our farm and culinary richness  in the Driftless. Their bios are posted below. The rest of the day will be devoted to tours and participants crafting regional story themes. We are finalizing arrangements for an informal dinner the night before for those of you who plan to arrive Sunday.

Nancy Christy Heinen is the owner of the consulting firm Meaningful People, Places and Foods, working with companies, universities, organizations and nonprofits to craft well designed, meaningful food and work cultures. Her work has included creation of several social enterprises that merge sustainable agriculture and hiring people who have been disenfranchised from the workforce. Nancy is the former co-owner of the Wilson Street Grill and The Kennedy Manor. She has produced more than a half dozen videos and one related workbook on employing people with disabilities. She is currently working with the Goodman Community Center on a USDA grant to teach kids at risk skills needed to preserve local, sustainable food that is grown for the center and then made available for food pantry recipients in Dane County food pantries as well as Goodman’s own food pantry. She is the co-author of the monthly column Genuine Articles for Madison Magazine. She lives in Madison with her husband Neil and their dog Baguette.

Rossana Strunce is a native of Milan, Italy and moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1994 with her husband and their two children. She attended the Interpreter School in Milan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned a Bachelor Degree in Anthropology as well as a TESOL certificate (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). She has worked as an interpreter for Madison Mayor Sue Bauman when she went to Mantova, Italy to sign a sister-city agreement. Since then she has participated in many of the Mantova-Madison visits as an interpreter in both locations, as well as giving several presentations about Italian culture and traditions. More recently, when she is not teaching English as a second language to immigrants, she has been undertaking the new project of promoting the Italian agriturismo in the United States. She just came back from a trip she organized accompanying a group of 8 Americans on a two-week vacation around Northern Italy. Her hobbies are playing tennis and travel with friends Neil Heinen and Nancy Christy to scout new agriturismo sites throughout Italy.

Neil Heinen is the Editorial Director for WISC TV and Madison Magazine. He is also co-author, along with his wife Nancy, of the monthly column Genuine Articles. Heinen has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Opinion Journalists (formerly the National Conference of Editorial Writers) including serving as president in 2007, and is a past president of the AOJ Foundation. He is a member of the clinical faculty of the Kettering Foundation, and a member of the adjunct faculty of Edgewood College. He is a member of the board of We The People Wisconsin.

Registration for the August 13 “Telling the Driftless Story” Regional Workshop is OPEN!

Register here!

Driftless Food and Farm Project’s Regional Workshop, “Telling Our Story”

Monday, August 13, 2012
8:30 am-4:30 pm

The Old Oak Inn
550 Church St
Soldiers Grove, WI 54655

$10 registration fee

Join us for a day of exploring and developing themes and storylines on food and farming in the Driftless Region. This meeting is a precursor to work branding the region. Professional communicators, artists, farmers, chefs, and others involved in the life of the region will have an opportunity to tour local businesses, hear stories of the region, and consider strategies that leverage desired change.

The first 50 registrants will receive a copy of Amy Trubek’s The Taste of Place: A Cultural Journey into Terroir or Lapham’s Quarterly issue on food.

Please fill out the form here to secure your registration for the conference. The registration fee of $10 is payable by check to the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. Receipts can be provided upon request. Please mail your check to:

Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
Attn: Driftless Project Workshop
1535 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

For more information and registration, click here.

Publication outlines ISU resources for Local Foods

If you think local food stops at the Saturday morning farmers market, think again. Iowa State University offers a host of organizations, programs and classes related to local food systems.

From a year-round class where students earn college credit while operating a direct-market vegetable enterprise, to a 12-week Homegrown Lifestyle course for Iowans who want to produce food in a way that sustains the environment, Iowa State University offers a variety of resources for people interested in local foods. Other examples include an online database to help businesses locate food products and the farmers who grow them, as well as a consortium of Iowa winemakers whose products have passed extensive quality tests.

All are outlined in a new directory published by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, “Learning About Local” at ISU. The directory lists 28 programs and 35 graduate and undergraduate classes that have a local foods component or could be applied to local food production and marketing.

Click here to see the directory.

Northeast Iowa Local Food Directories Available

The Northeast Iowa Buy Fresh Buy Local chapter announces the 2012 Local Food Directory is now available. The directory has been connecting consumers with direct marketing farmers for six years. Buying local products from farmers is good for you, your family, your community and the environment.

This year’s directories were printed in a unique partnership with Inspire(d) magazine, a local publication based out of Decorah, Iowa. Inspire(d) covers positive news in the Driftless Region – Northeast Iowa, Southeast Minnesota, and Western Wisconsin and can be picked up for free at more than 100 locations across the region. Directories are also available online at www.iowafreshfood.com – click on Finding Local Food.

The Northeast Iowa Buy Fresh Buy Local Chapter is part of the Northeast Iowa Food & Farm (NIFF) Coalition and the Food & Fitness Initiative (FFI). Together, they are working to create community environments that support access to fresh, locally-grown food. More information about these programs can be found at www.iowafoodandfitness.org.

The Buy Fresh – Buy Local guide for the Dubuque region is in production and should be available shortly.