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Good taste 'GROWN Locally' Area cooperative expands shopping options
Everyone loves convenience. And most people like good food. A new area
cooperative is striving to provide both to families and businesses in our area.
GROWN locally is the name of a 14-member farmer cooperative that is marketing
local food products - almost everything from soup to nuts. In season, the
producers of GROWN Locally raise vegetables, fruit such as apples and berries,
chicken, beef, pork and bison, eggs, baked goods, goat cheese, honey, popcorn
and fresh flowers for the table. Some of the products are available right now.
Michael Nash is the father of the GROWN Locally brain child. He began nine years
ago growing vegetables on his 215 acre-farm outside of Postville, Iowa. He
started a CSA community supported agriculture operation he called
Sunflower Fields. In a CSA, families prepay at the beginning of the season to
receive a weekly delivery of fresh produce throughout the growing season. He had
20 subscribers. "I liked the CSA concept really well, and I stuck with it," said
Nash. But he was also interested in expanding it. By 1998 Nash began to bring
other growers into his business, people who could offer different products to
his customers like eggs and fresh chicken. It was a winning proposition for
everyone. Customers liked the new items, and the cooperating producers got
access to new customers. The CSA business grew, and by 2001 Sunflower Fields had
170 subscribers. As the producers got used to working together, they began to
discuss how they could expand their business to serve larger customers such as
restaurants, nursing homes and schools. None of them had the capacity to serve
larger customers individually, but together it was possible. With that the idea
for GROWN Locally was born.
Fertile Ground GROWN Locally got a boost with three Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The first
$15,000 grant, which the group got in 2001, helped the cooperative get organized
and create a web site. A second $15,000 grant was used to upgrade the group's
web site, adding e-commerce segment to it to allow on-line ordering. A third
grant, received last year allowed the Nash's partner Solveig Hanson, to
construct a state-approved kitchen to expand into food processing that could be
shared by the cooperative. While the producer cooperative has been very busy
behind the scenes, this year will be actual launch of GROWN Locally's full
service operation. The cooperative has taken over the customers formerly served
by Sunflower Fields and will continue to offer CSA shares to families. In
addition, the GROWN Locally web site will serve institutional customers, and
anyone can also order items from the Food Basket section of the web site.
Virtual grocery store The GROWN Locally web site operates like an on-line
storefront. Customers register by e-mail at the site or by calling the
cooperative to create an account and a password. With the password they can
access the storefront during the winter from Thursday through Saturday.
Customers can see exactly what is available and how much there is of each item.
After Saturday, the web storefront closes, allowing the cooperative to process
the orders for Tuesday delivery, and upload the information for the following
week. Storefront hours will increase during the summer months. GROWN Locally is
already serving some area businesses. Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital,
Thornton Manor nursing home in Lansing, and the Twisted Chicken restaurant in
McGregor are customers. The group is also working with Luther College in Decorah
and a grocery store in Decorah. Even though the web site might seem a little
high-tech and impersonal to some, it is person-to-person contact that the
organization values. They have intentionally not hired any staff. "When you call
GROWN Locally, you talk to a grower," Nash emphasized, and growers are the
experts, he says. For customers the advantage of buying from GROWN Locally is
not just the personal service, but the quality, convenience and freshness of
their products. While not all of the producers are certified organic, they
follow sustainable farming practices with zero to minimum use of chemical
inputs. The vegetables are hand-harvested and then washed and sanitized in the
cooperative's packing facility. They are usually delivered within 24 hours of
harvest. The growers can also offer a much wider variety of vegetables than most
grocery stores, even some new ones customers may not have tried before. Delivery
means convenience. Cooperative CSA subscribers usually enjoy delivery to their
homes within the service area, and delivery is also available to web Food Basket
customers for a small fee. Of course, wholesale orders from institutional
customers are also delivered. A convenient drop-off site can often be arranged
for customers nearby but outside the delivery area. Price is always an issue
with shoppers, and GROWN Locally is price-conscious. They know customers are
going to evaluate their services and products against what they can get from
their local grocery store. According to Solveig, their products add up to a
great value. She recently did her own price analysis comparing their product's
prices with some area grocery stores. She noted that CSA share for a family of
four, which is 3/4 of a bushel of produce per week was actually cheaper than
buying the equivalent amount of produce at the store, about two-thirds as much.
Using the web Food Basket was slightly more expensive, but within one or two
dollars of grocery store prices. Additionally, CSA customers can also work out a
payment plan that is convenient for them.
Nash emphasizes that shopping with the cooperative offers a tremendous
benefit to local farmers and the community. He says that 80 to 90 percent of the
profits the cooperative generates goes back to the growers, and therefore, back
into the local economy. According to Nash, keeping those dollars in the
community has a tremendous benefit. As an example, Nash cites a 2004 analysis of
the economic impact of food production and spending in the northeast Iowa
counties of Allamakee and Winneshiek done by the Crossroads Resource Center.
According to the study, only one percent $40 million spent on groceries is
purchased from local buyers. "What would happen if it were 25 percent," Nash
asks. "It's nothing but an upward spiral for our farmers and communities," he
said.
School Board: ECHOES to remain open for another year
ECHOES Charter School in Eastman will continue for at least one more school
year. The Prairie du Chien School Board voted 6-1 Monday night to extend the
ECHOES Charter. Board member Ron Goodman voted against the measure. ECHOES has
seen a significant drop in enrollment this year and the question of whether or
not to keep the school open officially came to the fore during the December
board meeting. It was decided at that time to table any decision for a month to
give ECHOES personnel more time to recruit new students and get the enrollment
back up. ECHOES enrollment is currently 36 students. ECHOES had 50 students last
school year. ECHOES personnel have met limited success in their recruitment
efforts. Several teachers and parents were on hand at Monday night's board
meeting, however, to address the board on the issue. "This charter school has
been built upon the high levels of community and family support," said ECHOES
President Julie Moret, who is also a parent. "Together we have developed a
curriculum that incorporates an appreciation for the rural life with a strong
commitment to academic achievement and character development." Moret went on to
say: "These past few years, ECHOES has brought in thousands of extra dollars to
the district. Even now, with decreased enrollment, keeping the doors open is not
financially negative. My hope is that we can increase enrollment for the years
to come. Thank you for all of your support and we will support your decision
tonight." "We're not losing money, we're just not making money," ECHOES Vice
President Lonnie Achenbach told the board. Achenbach, who is also an ECHOES
parent, asked the board for one more year in order to get the enrollment up to
45, which would bring the student-teacher ratio up to the 15-1 recommended
level. Prairie du Chien Superintendent Jim O'Meara recommended that the board
vote to close ECHOES. O'Meara said his recommendation is not based on finances,
but rather on equity, whereby the ratio for the district's other schools is 18
students per teacher and at ECHOES it is currently 12-1. "Based on the equity
part, it's time to close the building," said O'Meara. "Too many times all we
ever talk about is money," said board member Joe Atkins, who noted that the real
mission of the board is to provide a quality education. Atkins said that he is
in favor of keeping ECHOES open for one year to see if the school can get its
enrollment up. "My heart hurts," said board member Russ Gillitzer about the
prospect of closing down ECHOES. Gillitzer recalled that he learned more in a
country school than in any other school he attended. "I want to give them one
more year." In other business, the school board voted to restructure the
district's administration. The board voted unanimously to eliminate the position
of B.A. Kennedy principal and curriculum director and the position of Bluff View
principal. The board also voted unanimously to create the new positions of Pre
K-8 principal and Pre K-8 assistant principal. This restructuring will take
effect starting next school year. Following its closed session, the board then
voted to non-renew the contract of Kathryn Roe, who is the current B.A. Kennedy
principal and curriculum director. The board approved the hiring of current
Bluff View principal JoAnn Wick to be the Pre K-8 principal starting next school
year. The board will need to hire someone to fill the new Pre K-8 assistant
principal position before the start of the next school year. In further
business, Mike Coughlin, the district's business director, gave a presentation
to the board explaining the recent 17-page decision by the Wisconsin Employment
Relations Commission (WERC) concerning the challenge by the teacher's union to
the Qualified Economic Offer (QEO) that was imposed by the district on the
teachers for the 2001-2003 school years. WERC ruled that the district was in
error when it did not factor in the $122,533 of Wisconsin Retirement System
credits when it calculated the costing of the QEO. WERC further ruled that the
district should have granted the teachers their regular "step" even though it
would not legally have had to pay it.
Coughlin said that the upshot, according to the district's legal counsel, is
that the district will have to apply these rules should they ever impose the QEO
in the future. Coughlin said that if the district should impose the QEO in the
future, the district can't reduce teacher benefits, would have to give the
current step and, if any money is left over, would have to then go back and
start making up for the step that was lost in 2001-2003. "We pay a lot of money
to get legal counsel," said board member Brian Edwards. "How is it they get this
wrong?" The case has cost the district in excess of $60,000 in legal fees so
far. There has not been an actual teacher contract since the 1999-2000 school
year. The school district and the teacher's union have agreed recently to a
tentative contract but the teachers still need to vote on the contract to make
it official. The teacher's union is now considering what the implications of the
WERC ruling is before they vote on the tentative contract. When contacted
Tuesday, LeRoy Roberts, the executive director of the South West Education
Association, said that the union's legal counsel has a different interpretation
of the WERC ruling and that the case still could go back before the WERC or to
court in order to have the district "make correct" what was taken away from the
teachers. "This could mean as much as several hundred dollars to each of our
employees," Roberts said. As far as voting on the tentative contract is
concerned, Roberts said that the teachers probably won't vote on it until all of
the QEO costing data is in from 1999 to the present to determine, what, if
anything, the district owes the teachers.
"The district is refusing to provide the electronic costing data," said
Roberts, who noted that sifting through the "hard" data will take much more time
before he can make a recommendation to the teachers on whether to ratify the
tentative contract or not.
"Why should they settle (without knowing the full implications) when it will
significantly impact contracts in the future?" he said.
PdC Fire Department to
donate equipment to firefighters in Nicaragua
Firefighting equipment is expensive. And like computers and other
electronics, the technology of the equipment is constantly changing and
improving the quality and functionality of many of the items
firefighters use. The Prairie du Chien Fire Department, like most
others, upgrades by purchasing new equipment whenever possible. That is
why in the loft of the fire station on East Blackhawk Ave. there are
neat stacks of fire equipment that will never feel the heat of another
fire in this city. But there are places in the world where American fire
department castoffs can find a new life and help save lives, places like
Managua, Nicaragua. According to fire chief Mark Hoppenjan, he and
deputy chief Brad Steiner were attending a Wisconsin State Firefighters
convention two or three years ago when they saw a booth for the
Wisconsin/ Nicaragua Partnership. This organization has assisted with
the donation of used firefighting equipment since 1999. Hoppenjan knew
that they were going to be purchasing new air packs for the department,
so he and Steiner discussed the idea of donating the old ones. And they
thought about other older equipment they had around the station house
that they could donate. So they began the process of getting approval
from the city. At the last city council meeting the donation was
approved. "It's kind of a neat feeling if we can do something like this
instead of let it collect dust," said Hoppenjan. The Wisconsin-Nicaragua
Partners (WNP) is a non profit-organization that operates several
programs to assist the people of Nicaragua. It is part of a national
organization Partners of the Americas, that links individual states with
countries in Central and South America. The organization began as a
government effort under the Kennedy administration in the Agency for
International Development and became a private non-profit in 1970. Dr.
Brad Martin, assistant fire chief in Whitehall, Wis., also served as
board president for the WNP from 1996 to 1998. He visited Nicaragua
during that time and decided to check out a fire station in the capitol
city of Managua, which has a population of over one million people. At
the fire station he discovered a small fleet of 1950's era Soviet
firefighting trucks that were beyond their last legs. And there was very
little firefighting equipment. When he returned, Martin organized the
donation of a 1969 Ford pumper truck that was being retired from the
Whitehall fire department. Since then seven fire trucks and seven
ambulances have been sent to Nicaragua, along with a number of shipments
of firefighting equipment, all from Wisconsin communities. "It turned
out to be a good fit," Martin said, noting that equipment that is
out-of-date here is often retired when it is still very serviceable. The
vehicles are shipped abroad through the Denton Program of the U.S. Air
Force. The Denton Program in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for
International Development, provides shipment of cargoes of charitable
goods on military cargo flights that are already scheduled to land in a
particular country. The Air National Guard at Fort McCoy has also
assisted with the shipment of vehicles. All the shipping paperwork and
customs documents are handled by the WNP. There are three fire trucks
and two ambulances currently awaiting shipment from Wisconsin, but the
war in Iraq and tsunami relief will delay the shipment of these items
for about six months, according to Michael Dougherty, director of the
WNP. The Prairie du Chien equipment donation may not experience such a
long delay since it will not be shipped by air. According to Martin,
equipment is shipped to Chicago and then the east coast, mostly by rail.
Then it is put on ships heading for the Port of Cortez, Honduras. From
Cortez it is loaded on trucks heading for Nicaragua. Much of the donated
equipment has gone to the city of Managua, but three other cities have
received donations as well. According to Dr. Martin, the items donated
to the Nicaraguans are in good hands. He has had an opportunity to see
the trucks and other items on subsequent visits to the country. "It's in
good shape and being well-taken care of," he said.
Drive to help tsunami victims begins in PdC
If you ever felt helpless while watching the ongoing South Asia
tsunami coverage on television, you now have a chance to do something
about it, however small the contribution may be. A collection of people
and businesses in Prairie du Chien have collaborated on a project to
raise money for victims of last month's tsunami, which according to the
Associated Press, has killed over 147,000 as of Jan. 7, with thousands
of more bodies being discovered every day. Cash donation boxes are
currently in the five Prairie du Chien banks, and they will remain there
until Jan. 31. Weekly updates on how much the effort has raised will be
given on WQPC-FM and in the Courier Press. After Jan. 31, all the money
will then be pooled and sent to the American Red Cross as the Prairie du
Chien community's collective effort. Bird Skemp, who came up with the
idea of starting the community effort, said she was like many people
around the world who wondered what could be done to help out after one
of the worst natural disasters in history. "There's a lot of people like
me and my husband who probably can't afford to make a huge contribution,"
she said. "I wanted to find a way to pool all the money together
regardless of how small it is." Skemp said she was motivated to start a
drive for the victims after watching a news piece on children in New
York who were selling hot chocolate to raise money for the victims. "If
anything, I wanted to encourage people to use their imaginations," she
said. Other area businesses and organizations are also chipping in.
Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital, for example, is doing a fundraiser
within the organization, with the money raised by employees to be
matched by the hospital.
As of Jan. 6, the hospital said they have raised $1,400. |
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