Check out the latest news and articles.
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Tiers of the Food System: A New Way of Thinking About Local and Regional Food
Posted on September 1, 2010From farmers’ markets to supermarkets, there is a spectrum of relationships between consumers and the businesses that grow, process, distribute and market their food. Small-scale, local food production is often contrasted with the anonymity of global, industrial food production, resulting in a black and white portrayal of local and global food systems. In reality, the food system is far more complex than local versus global and artisanal versus industrial.
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UW-Madison Organic Ag Field Day
Posted on July 13, 2010Organic vegetables will be the focus when the University of Wisconsin-Madison holds its fourth annual Organic Agriculture Field Day on Wednesday, July 28, at the […]
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Perceptions of Raw Milk’s Risks and Benefits (Research Brief #83)
Posted on July 7, 2010Raw milk for human consumption that has not been pasteurized is a controversial product. Unpasteurized milk may contain pathogens that can lead to serious illness. Nonetheless, a study led by researchers Özlem Altıok and Michael Bell of the UW-Madison Department of Community and Environmental Sociology found that customers cite improving their health among the top reasons for drinking raw milk. A growing number of consumers feel that pasteurization robs milk of some of its nutritional and health benefits.
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2010 Southern Wisconsin Farm Fresh Atlas
Posted on April 29, 2010When it comes to local food, Southern Wisconsin is considered a national leader. With farmers’ markets every day of the week, pick-your-own farms, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, grocery stores and restaurants that offer local fare, the only challenge is deciding where to shop. And that’s really no challenge, thanks to the newly released ninth edition of the Southern Wisconsin Farm Fresh Atlas.
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Economic Potential of Increased Fruit and Vegetable Production in the Upper Midwest
Posted onExpanding the fruit and vegetable industry in the Upper Midwest could have a huge economic impact in the region. A new analysis from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, in collaboration with CIAS and other regional partners, estimated potential state and regional economic values associated with increased production of fresh fruit and vegetables in a six-state area.
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Americorps Farm to School Program
Posted on March 10, 2010In September 2008, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) launched the AmeriCorps Farm to School Program. Citizens participating in AmeriCorps programs […]
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Organic Agriculture in Wisconsin: 2009 Status Report
Posted on February 24, 2010While growth in the organic industry has slowed, U.S. consumers are not giving up on organic food. Organic sales, which expanded at a rate of 20 percent per year from the early 1990s through 2007, likely experienced negative growth in 2009. But 31 percent of U.S. families bought more organic food in 2009 than in 2008.
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Midwest School for Beginning Apple Growers
Posted on February 10, 2010CIAS held the inaugural Midwest School for Beginning Apple Growers on February 5-7, 2010 in Madison. Over 40 students learned how to minimize risk in […]
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Scaling Up: Meeting the Demand for Local Food
Posted on January 5, 2010Robust local and regional food systems offer social, environmental and economic benefits. Increasingly, wholesale buyers are demanding locally grown food and growers are looking for new regional markets. To develop informed business development strategies for Wisconsin farmers and other supply chain start-ups, the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) and UW-Extension Agricultural Innovation Center studied and documented eleven models of regional food aggregation and distribution.
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CIAS Provides IPM Expertise to Apple Growers through Conference Calls and Blogging
Posted on December 28, 2009Due to the limited number of apple IPM consultants in Wisconsin and the high cost of hiring consultants, few Wisconsin apple growers have been able to take advantage of professional consultant expertise in implementing IPM on their orchards. To address this need, the Eco-Apple Project launched a blog in 2006 and free weekly conference calls with an apple IPM consultant in 2007.