Want to pick organic blueberries en route to the cabin? Seeking a romantic farm to table restaurant in the Driftless region? Looking to pick up locally made brats for a barbecue in Appleton? With over 800 listings, farmfreshatlas.org is a one-stop shop for finding local food in Wisconsin. This easy-to-use website helps individuals find a farmers’ market, grocery store, or restaurant to eat at to support Wisconsin farmers.
The new site currently features 378 farmers and food producers, 225 farmers’ markets, 87 restaurants and bakeries that serve local food, 58 retailers that sell local food and 36 organizations that support local growers. The site also houses local food events from farm tours to chef demonstrations. Stories from the Field: 5 Minutes on theFarm by writer Julie Garrett and produced by WORT-FM, provide a snapshot of why listed farmers are passionate about producing good food.
Farm Fresh AtlasTM was created in 2002 by REAP Food Group, a non-profit located in Madison, Wisconsin to promote sustainable, local food producers in Southern Wisconsin. Today, REAP leads a coalition of statewide partners who develop five regional Atlas print publications every year: Southern, Western, Southeastern, Eastern, and Central. In 2016, REAP Food Group received a United States Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Market Promotion Program grant to develop and promote a unified statewide website, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the Atlas in increasing local food sales.
Each listed farm and business commits to the Farm Fresh Atlas pledge to ensure they practice environmental sustainability, treat workers fairly, and sell products that are grown or produced on a family or cooperatively owned farm.
THE FARM FRESH ATLAS PLEDGE
Each farm listed in the Atlas pledges that it:
- Is cooperatively or family-owned
- Is committed to reducing the application of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers
- Operates in a way that protects and sustains the region’s land and water resources
- Treats animals with care, respect, and access to the outdoors
- Provides safe, fair working conditions for employees
- Sells Wisconsin products that they have grown or helped produce on their farm
Each business and organization listed in the Atlas pledges that it:
- Is locally and cooperatively or family-owned or is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote a sustainable regional food system
- Operates in a way that protects and sustains the region’s land and water resources
- Provides safe and fair working conditions for employees
- Sells or advocates for products grown on Wisconsin farms, or sells products made by their business using raw materials grown on Wisconsin farms, or uses fair trade, sustainable, and/or organic ingredients in their products
