SHH, River Country launch local food project
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Monday, July 21, 2008 3:36 PM CDT
Special to the Herald
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle visited Sacred Heart Hospital this past week to announce the statewide “Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin” (BLBW) grant awards during a hospital delivery of food from local farmers. Doyle chose Eau Claire as the city to announce the grants due to the innovative partnership between Sacred Heart Hospital and River Country RC&D Council.
A $41,660 BLBW grant was awarded by the Governor to the council, a nonprofit organization based in Altoona with a decade of experience in value added agriculture helping farmers sell directly to customers. River Country will use the grant to launch a Chippewa Valley Buy Local Consortium to bring together farms and institutions that wish to sell and purchase food locally.
Sacred Heart Hospital, a founding partner in the project, pledged 10% of its $2 million annual food budget to purchasing local food and committed in kind support of $15,000 in matching funds in the form of staff, supplies and support.
“We wish to provide patients and employees fresh food products with greater nutrition, a longer shelf life and reduce fuel/transport costs,” said Steve Ronstrom, CEO of Sacred Heart Hospital. “Following our historic Franciscan Mission to benefit and support our community, we wish to further invest in the local economy to provide additional community jobs and encourage sustainable agriculture.”
A kind of buying club, the consortium will employ an experienced coordinator to facilitate buying and selling and reach out to farmers in Eau Claire, Chippewa, Barron, Dunn, Pepin, Trempealeau, Buffalo, Clark, Jackson, Polk, Pierce, and St. Croix counties. The Consortium will facilitate the task of finding and developing local sources of food products (meat, poultry products, fruits and vegetables, etc.), organize the process of buying and selling, and invite other area institutions to buy local food. The Consortium will manage product orders from institutions, fill orders and coordinate deliveries.
“The hospital’s commitment to purchasing local products provides a ready-made market that reduces need for farmers to advertise and reduces the risk to farmers in expanding their production,” said Dr. Rich Purdy, PhD, president of River Country. “With other regional buyers participating someday—hospitals, universities and even public schools—the local economic impact will be significant.”
Steve Ronstrom, added, “We are honored to be the catalyst in an innovative startup with River Country and pleased that the Governor visited Sacred Heart Hospital to showcase this partnership as a model for other communities.”
Over the past decade, River Country RC&D Council has worked with value-added farmers through the Midwest Value Added Conference, Managed Intensive Grazing Programs and other projects that help expand markets for local farmers. River Country also has more 25 years of extensive experience in managing state and federal grants and hiring personnel to implement a wide variety of successful projects. It also partners with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
“Last January, the Midwest Value Added Conference brought everyone together to make this possible,” said Pam Herdrich, River Country RC&D coordinator. Rick Beckler, director of hospitality services for Sacred Heart , added, “Not only do we avoid the higher fuel costs of transporting food in from out of state, the consortium allows us to support our local economy, providing jobs and encouraging sustainable agriculture.”
In addition to Sacred Heart Hospital, River Country BLBW grant support letters were contributed by Aaron Ellringer on behalf of Just Local Food Cooperative (Eau Claire), Bruce E. Anderson of Genesis Acres Naturally Grown Meats and Poultry (Whitehall) and Jill Johnson from RiverWinds Farm.
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