Western Wisconsin Farm Fresh Atlas

Applications from Farmers, Businesses, and Farmer’s Markets for the Regional Food

Directory Are Due January 28, 2011.

After a two year hiatus, the Western Wisconsin Farm Fresh Atlas will again be available in hardcopy. TheAtlas is a publication that lists farmers and businesses that grow, sell, and support locally grown food.The directory will include: farms that direct market, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, upickfarms, retailers/restaurants, farmer’s markets, and sponsors of the project. Participants must befamily/cooperatively owned and sign a pledge that affirms their commitment to reducing chemical use,raising animals humanely, conserving the environment, and treating workers fairly. The Atlas was firststarted in this region in 2006. Since 2009, the Atlas has been only available online.

Applications were sent out in the middle of December through an extensive, but not 100 percent

complete, list of farms and non-farm businesses. Applications are also available on the West CentralWisconsin Regional Planning Commission website at: http://www.wcwrpc.org/. The

The directory gives customers an easy way to find farms and non-farm businesses. In addition, the Atlashelps build our culture of eating local food and promoting our local economies, which are exploding inthe region. The Atlas will be available by Earth Day, April 22, 2011. They will be distributed at libraries,tourism offices, grocery stores, UW-Extension offices, farmer’s markets, through businesses that sponsorthe Atlas, and any other business/organization that wants to provide them.

Farm Fresh Atlas is a trademark of Research, Education, Action, and Policy on Food Group, Inc. used bypermission by grassroots coalitions throughout Wisconsin to produce five independent atlases. The WestCentral Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission is leading the project for the Western Wisconsin FarmFresh Atlas.

As a sign that direct market farm industry is on the rise, according to the 2007 USDA Census of

Agriculture, the 18 listed counties above experienced an 86 percent increase in value of direct marketagricultural products sold between 2002 and 2007, while the State as a whole experienced a 50 percentincrease. Nine of the 18 counties exceeded a 100 percent increase, with Eau Claire County (378 percentincrease) and Polk County (273 percent increase) leading the way. In 2007, the 18 counties totaled $9million in direct market sales, and the seven major Twin Cities counties totaled $8 million.

Please contact Eric Anderson at 715.836.2918 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions.