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A Sense of Where You Are: Food Bank Booster

Part 7 in a Series

By Brian DeVore
January 15, 2025

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Note: This is the 7th installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. 

Here’s some troubling context in the land of plenty: in 2023, 18 million U.S. households were food insecure at some time during the year, according to the USDA. That figure is up from 17 million in 2022. Food insecurity is defined as a situation where people can’t access the sustenance they need to live their fullest lives. In short, these are people who simply aren’t getting enough to eat. It’s a problem that’s more common in rural communities; such areas comprise less than two-thirds of all U.S. counties, but nine out of 10 counties with the highest food insecurity rates are rural, says Feeding America.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of farmers who are willing and able to produce food for local eaters in their communities, but who are stymied by a marketing and distribution system that’s structured around commodities like corn and soybeans. This troubling gap between farmers and eaters was the focus of attention during an August field day on Rodrigo Cala’s farm in western Wisconsin’s Barron County.

“It’s for the benefit of not just farmers, but the community,” said Wisconsin Farmer Rodrigo Cala of a program that gets locally produced food into area food shelves.

“In rural communities it’s difficult to get really healthy food,” said Cala. “We need to find a way to help low-income families get access to organic food, natural food.”

That’s why Cala, who raises produce, chickens, hogs, and sheep, is participating in a program that’s trying to reduce some of that food insecurity in rural areas while supporting farmers who churn out produce, meats, and value-added products. The Wisconsin Local Food Purchase Assistance Program pays farmers a fair price for their production, and then distributes that food to local food pantries and food banks. Called LFPA for short, versions of the initiative exist in other parts of the country, and are often structured around a partnership between state departments of agriculture and farm and food nonprofits. The USDA administers the program, which is funded by the federal American Rescue Plan.

In Wisconsin, the program has been up and running for two years and is led by the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, in collaboration with Marbleseed, the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative, and the Wisconsin Farmers Union. In 2024 alone, 125 farmers from throughout the state sold $1.8 million worth of food through the program.

Cala sells produce and pork through the LFPA, and said it now accounts for about 20% of his farm’s income. Since the program picks up the food at the farm, it helps alleviate two major headaches for farmers: marketing and transportation.

One of the farmers attending the field day was Mike Lenz, who, along with his wife, Jody, operates Threshing Table Farm in Star Prairie, Wis. Like Cala, the Lenzes have been selling produce through the LFPA program the past two years.

Lenz said being involved with the program has allowed them to employ at least four more seasonal employees, which means more money is circulated in the community.

“The money stays local to our area and the produce stays local to our area,” he said. “It gives me a lot of hope, actually.”

Brian DeVore edits the Land Stewardship Letter and produces the Ear to the Ground podcast.

Give it a Listen

  • Ear to the Ground 360: Food Bank Booster (Rodrigo Cala & Mike Lenz)

Installments in the ‘A Sense of Where You Are’ Series:

  1. Introduction to the Series: A Sense of Where You Are
  2. Red Dresses & Magic Management
  3. In the Blood
  4. Seeking Signs of Life
  5. Forest for the Trees
  6. The Quickening
  7. Food Bank Booster
  8. First Things First
  9. The Big Picture
  10. The Snowball Effect
  11. 7 Years Later
  12. Against the Grain

 

Category: Blog
Tags: A Sense of Where You Are • Cala Farm • CSA • food banks • hunger • Local Food Purchase Assistance Program • Rodrigo Cala • rural economic development • rural poverty • Threshing Table Farm • vegetable production

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May 2025

Saturday May 31

10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
Saturday May 31
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
872 320th Ave, Frederic, WI 54837, USA

The NW Wisconsin Graziers Network, River Country RC&Dand UW-Madison Extension invite you to a multi-species pasture walk hosted by JohnsonFamily Pastures LLC. The farm is located five miles east of Frederic in PolkCounty. This educational event willemphasize direct marketing, multi-species grazing, part-time family agricultureand silvopasture development. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

TheJohnson Family Pastures farm is home to Chris and Tamara Johnson and their twochildren. They raise grass-fed beef, silvopastured goats, and recently raised anumber of other species. The farm consists of about 160 acres of gently rollingpastures, silvopasture, and forest. Use of both temporary polybraid fencing andhigh tensile permanent fences allow for rotational grazing of small ruminants andout-wintering of beef cattle. Use of long-term farm transition strategies, cost-shareprograms, silvopasture development with goats, regenerative grazing, cattlehandling facility and bale grazing will be discussed along with answering anyand all questions from pasture walk participants.

An extensive and diversified direct marketing programhas been developed by Tamara and Chris that has included farmer markets, e-maillists, newsletters, website ordering, on-farm freezer storage, and other strategiesand tools to support direct sales and services for their customers.  Come and learn all about their successfulapproach.

For more information,contact Chris Johnson at 920-960-4475 or Lynn Johnson 715-225-9882 at NW Graziers.

June 2025

Wednesday June 25

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Wednesday June 25
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Hoosier Ridge Ranch, 15998 Wabasha County Rd 26, Altura, MN 55910, USA

Over the last 50 years, livestock have left many farms. Eric Heins is doing the reverse: bringing cattle – and their poop, pee and hooves – back to his land. Come see how Eric is using his Normande-shorthorn crosses in a variety of grazing situations. During this Land Stewardship Project-Practical Farmers of Iowa field day, you can view permanent pasture, where Eric (like everyone) is battling the cool-season grass takeover. You’ll also learn how Eric is using his cattle in cover crop mixes, prairie and woodlands.

Since purchasing the farm in 2020, Eric has converted the cropland to pasture. He also custom-farms a diverse rotation of crops, covers and small grains on neighboring farms, including an established prairie on Iowa Department of Natural Resources land. A possible bonus: Eric is hoping to have virtual fence collars by the time of the field day, but no guarantees!

A meal featuring Hoosier Ridge Ranch burgers will follow the field day.

See & Discuss

  • Cash-flowing the conversion to pasture on owned versus rented cropland
  • Stockpiling pasture for winter grazing
  • Mechanical buckthorn clearing for silvopasture
  • Grazing agreements on DNR prairie and neighboring cropland
  • A sudangrass mix after a canning pea crop
  • An extended rotation with oats, barley and Kernza

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday June 28

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Saturday June 28
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Dream Acres, Co Hwy 8, Spring Valley, MN 55975, USA

Join Land Stewardship Project members and supporters to kick-start the Driftless summer with an evening of good food, good music, and good times. We’ll have activities for all ages that will get you out in nature, exploring the connection between our region’s farms and your community’s food, land, and water. Bring a side or dessert to share for dinner, and the Dream Acres wood-fired oven will provide locally-sourced pizzas and flat breads. Dinner will be followed by live music and contra dancing by the Crater City String Band.  

To reserve a spot, click here.

Camping sites are available at nearby Masonic Park and Forestville Mystery Cave and Lake Louise State Parks. Camping at Masonic is rustic,first-come-first-serve, free, and does not require a reservation. Fillmore County, who manages the park, only asks that you call the dispatchers at507-765-3874 when you arrive with your vehicle information and phone number in case of emergency. State Park reservations cost $25 a night and can be made online.

July 2025

Tuesday July 15

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
Tuesday July 15
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
1805 Dudley Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113, USA

Join U of M researchers and Extension for updates on organic fruit and vegetable research and tour the Student Organic Farm and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in Saint Paul. Topics include: organic insect management, integrating livestock into vegetable farms, new crops for Minnesota, irrigation strategies, and more. Free to the public.
 
For details and to register, click here.

Wednesday July 16

9:30 am – 2:30 pm
Russell Hedrick Soil Health Event: Cottonwood County
Wednesday July 16
9:30 am – 2:30 pm
Russell Hedrick Soil Health Event: Cottonwood County
27092 Co Rd 8, Comfrey, MN 56019, USA

Details here.

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