For SPN

STEVENS POINT — Farmshed is recruiting 150 Local Food Investors to donate $100 and fund 2 AmeriCorps Service Member Positions to serve as Volunteer Coordinators.

What will the investment do? Your investment will move the carrot in the local food economy. In 2017, the impacts of one Volunteer Coordinator included:

(Contributed)

• Recruiting and training 362 volunteers
• Supervising 16 UWSP interns
• Recording 5,402 volunteer hours, an average of 14+ hours per person.

Based on the Independent Sector’s value of volunteer time in Wisconsin, that time invested by volunteers was worth a whopping $129,648.00. Why are volunteers important to growing a resilient local food community? Farmshed’s direct impact isn’t possible without its passionate, diverse, and dedicated volunteer base. Here are some of the things they make possible:

PROGRAMS

• Farm Fresh Atlas of Central Wisconsin: Want to find a farm and pick strawberries with your kids, a farmers market that’s open on Friday, or a restaurant that buys produce from your CSA farm? Look no further than the Atlas…your free source for local food information.

• Farmshed at the Market: All people should have access to fresh, local foods. Farmshed provides an opportunity for FoodShare participants to shop with our farmers at the market.

• Frozen Assets: Sweet corn and vine ripe tomatoes in January? This is the program that makes it possible by freezing local produce picked at the peak of season. You can have Wisconsin summer right in your freezer.

• Growing Collective: Want to turn that black thumb green? The Growing Collective can help! The Collective’s 61 members inspire and educate each other while teaming up to grow thousands of edible plant starts.

• Local Food Tastes Great Fundraiser: Do you wish that that your kid’s fundraisers were more aligned with your values? Local Food Tastes Great teach our kids about agricultural abundance by letting them sell goods grown and raised by farmers in our community.

EVENTS

• Local Food Fair: Meet the farmers, chefs, and food entrepreneurs all in one place. It’s the local food event of the year!

• Plant Sale: Fill your garden with a diverse variety of vegetable plants that will provide you a healthy bounty all summer long.

• Chef on the Square: Learn how to prepare ingredients from the farmers market from the perspectives of local chefs.

• Farmer Tribute Dinner: We all eat. This is the fall event where we thank our farmers.

• Community Potlucks: Cook it, then share it with your neighbors! The potlucks are a themed, monthly opportunity to share amazing food with even better company at the Farmshed headquarters.

• Workshops: From beekeeping to canning up tomatoes, we line up instructors to
share their vast skills with you.

Be one of the 150 by sending a check to Farmshed 1220 Briggs Court, Stevens Point, WI 54481 or visiting: https://farmshed.networkforgood.com/projects/52935-local-foodinvestors. Campaign runs through July 20.

Donors from this campaign will be invited to a Local Food Investor Social on August 1 from 6-8pm. Small bites and beverages will be provided. At the social, feedback will be sought on strategies to advance local food ideas.