By Taylor J. Hale
Reporter

STEVENS POINT — A sense of communal pride undulated from the entrances of the SentryWorld building in Stevens Point as over 2,000 guests gathered for the annual Farmshed Local Food Fair, held on Feb. 9.

The event invites residents to meet with local food producers and organizations to network and learn about different food and farm practices.

“Local food is critical for our area,” said Farmshed Program Coordinator Sarah Zdroik. “We have so many farmers in our area that grow a variety of different products. It’s important that we are supporting these smaller farmers so they can grow and thrive in our community, this provides us an outlet to show that to the public.”

The program first started in 2007 at Pacelli High School. In its formative stages, the program was more of a discussion on local food, but as interest grew, so did the event. Farmshed began to invite vendors and soon moved to SPASH to better accommodate their crowd. Group members reached out to Sentry in 2018 in search of a larger venue. SentryWorld was a perfect fit.

A young boy helps package coffee at the fair. (Taylor Hale Photo)

“We just keep growing over the years,” Zdroik said.

This year also featured a “Farm to Fork” chef contest. Thirteen local chefs from around the region competed to create the best potato-based dish. Farmshed officials distributed awards for People’s Choice and Judges’ Favorite to winning contestants.

Over 70 exhibits and vendors were available to visitors throughout the day. All proceeds from the fair support future Farmshed programming and aid the group in their mission to connect local Portage County residents with regional farmers and business proprietors.

“This is a venue for food producers and business owners to share what they do with the public,” Zdroik explained passionately. “It lets people showcase what they do in the community.”

To learn more about Farmshed and their work visit www.farmshed.org.