For the past seven years, Central Rivers Farmshed has steadily implemented efforts to build, support, and educate our communities about their local food system. This has included production of the Farm Fresh Atlas, distributed to eleven counties and in-community programming to residents of Portage and Wood County. “These efforts have garnered awareness around the health, environmental, and economic impact our food system has on residents and productive lands,” shared Layne Cozzolino, executive director, Central Rivers Farmshed.

In partnership with the Wisconsin Rapids Mall and Get Active Wood County, Farmshed has served the Wood County Farmers Market by providing a wireless Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) machine. The machine enables residents on the FoodShare program to purchase tokens that can then be used to buy locally grown foods directly from the farmer. In place since 2011, this has resulted in a win for participants and regional farmers. In 2014, more than 300 EBT transactions were processed over the market season.