SHEBOYGAN COUNTY, WI (WHBL) - Earlier this month the Wisconsin Local Food Summit was held in Sheboygan. It was a chance for several hundred people who are active or interested in this movement to learn techniques about growing and farming food made near where they live, along with networking with businesses already active in the movement.
Also part of the summit was a chance to showcase the local food network in Sheboygan County. “We are blessed with really fantastic organizations," says area resident Greg Zahn, who is a member of the Lakeshore Local Food Network. He says there are plenty of groups already doing their part to make local food in the area. "Nourish is primarily a farm-to-school and education organization. Organizations like Meals on Wheels bringing fresh healthy food into a meal situation like that and promoting nutrition in programs like this. And that also duck-tails with United Way of Sheboygan County, working with Sheboygan County Food Bank, all with this same mission of making some equal access to local food through their organizations. And of course Lakeshore Culinary Institute. We have a new permaculture group in Sheboygan County forming that is also interested in sustainability. We have a number of community gardens; even the Goodside Grocery with their new expansion. The city and the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation are really getting more involved in the value of local food as economic development.”
Zahn says his organization is helping to connect these groups. “I started with Lakeshore Local Food Network, and there as close as you can get to an umbrella organization. So there are so many things going on and so many different people involved that it’s really important to have conferences like this to share their enthusiasm as well as the knowledge on things like this.”
Zahn was also interested in what the reaction would be from other local food advocates making the trip to Sheboygan for the conference. “They had no idea that we have such great resources in Sheboygan and Sheboygan County. “ Part of that is with Blue Harbor helping to serve some of the select foods grown in Sheboygan County that were featured with tours and talks during last week’s Wisconsin Local Food Summit. “I really think that’s there’s going to be a legacy that the conference leaves here and that will stimulate the local food movement.”
As for the future of the local food movement in Sheboygan County, Zahn is optimistic that this summit will be the start of something bigger. “I think there is a real energy that will carry over and I feel like that the various organizations will maybe collaborate a little bit more. They’ve got new ideas from around the state and from our speakers and our agencies. So I really think this is a good milestone and springboard for the local food movement; we have a great base already, and we also have a diversified landscape that allows us to pasture graze animals and to grow both vegetables and fruits and berries and the maple syrup and all of these other things. So we really have that diversity is great for our local economy.”
