Raw 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.

Expanding 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.

Robust 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.

There is growing consumer interest in dairy products from grass-fed cows. Consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental, health and taste benefits of eating dairy and other animal products from livestock fed using managed grazing. If this interest translates into demand, it may open new value-added markets for farmers who use managed grazing.

Eating locally is going mainstream. For years, committed eaters have gone out of their way to source local food from farmers’ markets, farms, roadside stands […]

Food and the Mid-Level Farm makes it clear that the demise of midsize farms and ranches is not a foregone conclusion and that the renewal of an agriculture of the middle will benefit all participants in the food system-from growers to consumers.

Since 2003, Carandale Farm has been evaluating 42 unusual fruits for environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The goal is to find nutrient-rich fruits that can […]

Greetings. Thank you, Chancellor [John D.] Wiley. That was a lovely introduction that you said about me, but when I started out, my path was […]

Odessa Piper, former chef-proprietor of Madison’s L’Etoile Restaurant, is one of five activists who will receive honorary degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Friday, […]

Graziers Rick Adamski and Valerie Dantoin of Seymour received an Honorary Recognition award from the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences on October 27. […]