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Success: With youth
- All six Wood County public school districts served locally grown dried cranberries to their students in March. In April, students sampled spinach and other salad greens-some grown in school greenhouses.
- It's just about time to start planting seeds in the Wood County school and community gardens. Washington Elementary in Wisconsin Rapids is breaking ground for a brand new school garden in May with the help of Faith Reformed Church. Also, Mead and Howe Elementary's are adding to existing gardens on May 6 with the help of Woodlands Church. That's not all! Nekoosa's Boys and Girls Club is also in the process of creating a community garden at their site. To get involved with a garden in your community contact Torri Bradley at torriutech@gmail.com.
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Success: In the community
- The Get Active Farm to School program announced an innovative partnership with central Wisconsin area wholesale farmers. Farm to School staff will now facilitate a local wholesale supplier information network that will help farmers connect to area wholesale produce buyers. This means that you will start to see more locally grown foods in Wood County restaurants, grocery stores, and other local organizations.
- The Wisconsin Rapids and Marshfield Opportunity Development Centers are now allowing organizations to use their kitchens for educational cooking classes.
The classes may include:
- How to cook healthy meals
- How to process and package fresh produce
- How to freeze/can fresh produce for storage
In order to use the kitchen, there must be a qualified instructor teaching the class. The kitchen cannot be used for personal use. Contact ODC at 715.424.2712 for more information.
- The number of Smart Meal restaurants
still continues to climb. China Chef in Marshfield has joined the list of participating restaurants!
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Success: At worksites
- Summer is just around the corner and now
is the time to become a community supported agriculture (CSA) shareholder. Presentations about CSAs are ongoing at many worksites in the area and more are coming. Contact Joelle Groshek at jgroshek@co.wood.wi.us if you would like to schedule a CSA Lunch n' Learn at your worksite.
- Many local vending machine companies have begun new healthy vending initiatives. Wood County businesses still have the opportunity to bring healthier snack options into their worksite vending machines! Worksites that have recently adopted the Go-Slow-Whoa healthy vending labeling include: Wisconsin Rapids and Port Edwards YMCA's, The Aspirus Doctor's Clinic, New Page Mills in Portage County and MSTC in Stevens Point. Click HERE for a full list of participating worksites.
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Partner Highlight
By the Blue Heron BrewPub & West 14th owner
Thanks to the hard work of the Get Active staff, here at the Blue Heron BrewPub and West 14th Restaurant in Marshfield we have been able to highlight healthy changes in our menus and purchase food from local producers. We implemented the Smart Meal Program in both our BrewPub and West 14th menus. The Smart Meal Program outlines a set of calorie, fat, and salt requirements considered healthy. A red fork next to a menu item indicates an item that qualifies as a Smart Meal. Examples of our Smart Meals from the BrewPub are the Wisconsin Cranberry Salmon Salad or the Elk Burger served with a side salad or fresh fruit. Two examples from West 14th are the Elk Medallions and the Jumbalaya Grilled Tiger Prawns. In addition to healthy menu labeling, we have been able to purchase food from more local producers. We have expanded our local food purchasing to include tomatoes from Superb Produce in Spencer and potatoes from Sunny Grove Farm in Plover. We hope to continue to strengthen our local food economy by purchasing local. The closer, the better!
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