Local and Bioregional Food

 Links Or Info For Local and Bioregional Food

Current or summer / fall sources of local and bioregional food

1. Chequamegon Food Co-op
2. White River Farm Market
1. 60238 State Hwy 118, Ashland, WI, south of Ashland on Sanborn Ave. (Hwy 112) to Hwy 118, 3/4 miles west, 715-223-9625
3. Bear Trap Creek Farms
1. 47923 State Hwy 112, Ashland, WI, 715-209-0930
4. Bob "the Corn Man" 
1. In parking lot during the late summer and fall across Hwy US 2 from the power plant in Ashland
5. 
   

Events related to CBA local and bioregional food

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Organizations that might partner with people working to have more CBA local and bioregional food

1. Chequamegon Food Co-op
2. Bayfield Co-op
3. 
   

It seems like local and bioregional food is one of the easiest "carrying capacity overshoot" topics that will get people working together to improve the Chequamegon Bay Area (CBA). Three reasons point to this topic as a good place to put a bunch of energy.

1. High Visibility-- The terms "local food" and "organic food" have a relatively high visibility in both the CBA and in much of the rest of the world.
2. Immediate Impact -- Food is a topic with obvious and immediate impact on every single person. If, or when, there's another huge disruption in our region or the larger region of our state and our country, such as a pandemic, a sudden dramatic vehicle fuel shortage or price increase, or devastating weather, shelves at Walmart and other grocery stores may once again become bare. It appears that historical flooding this year in California will wipe out a large portion of the fresh vegetables and fruit we normally see in the stores this summer and for many months to come.
3. Low Cost -- Taking initial steps to improve the local food supply in the CBA is a relatively low cost opportunity for people who feel it's an important topic. If we organize a series of meetings around the CBA for people interested in local food, we'll probably be able to think of 20 to 50 ways to get more local food grown this summer (2023) and just as many ways to raise the interest of CBA people in having and eating more local food. Along with producing and eating more local food, we can start working on ways to preserve a lot more food from the summer and fall of 2023 so we've got lots of local food to eat this fall and next spring, when we can't be growing much food locally.

Two helpful steps toward having more local and bioregional food produced, eaten, and preserved in the CBA are:

1. Identify sources of local and bioregional food that are available now or likely to be available this summer and fall.
2. Begin a wide-spectrum effort to get the general public in the CBA aware of and interested in local food. And get that general public eating more local food!

Below are three examples of ways I'm definitely going to working on More Local and Bioregional Food in the spring, summer, and fall of 2023. (I've got about 17 other "local and bioregional food" ideas percolating but I don't want to put them into cyberspace until I figure out which ones I have a chance of actually accomplishing...)

1. Continue including more and more local and bioregional food in my diet, which includes finding out more about where I can buy reasonable cost local and bioregional food.
2. Learn more about local and bioregional food from people I currently know and intentionally connect with more people interested in or knowledgeable about local and bioregional food.
3. Grow some edible plants in the limited space where I currently live and talk to people to find a place within 10 or 15 miles of Ashland where I can grow a reasonable amount of food this summer, such as tomatoes, beans, carrots, squash, pumpkins, and other vegetables appropriate for our climate, or at least growable here.

Hope to connect with anyone in the CBA who reads this and is interested in talking about or working on projects to increase the amount of local and bioregional foods available to people in the Chequamegon Bay Area.

Bob Waldron