Farm to Business
What is Farm to Business?
Project Spotlight
The 25th Anniversary of the Farm Fresh Atlas of Wisconsin
“The 25th Anniversary of the Farm Fresh Atlas of Wisconsin was a special publication to put together. Being able to look back at old copies of the Atlas from around the state, looking at each farm and food business that’s been with us from the beginning – the history of the Atlas is full of incredible advocates for locally-grown food. It’s exciting to be able to honor that history, and use it as a guide as we move forwards with growing the Farm Fresh Atlas for the years to come”
– Aidan Coffin Ness, REAP Farm Fresh Atlas Director
What Does Farm to Business (F2B) Do?
The Farm Fresh Atlas of Wisconsin
When the Farm Fresh Atlas launched in 2002, we couldn't lean on our mobile phones' Google Maps to help us navigate. The first Farm Fresh Atlas was a folded booklet printed on a sheet of newsprint with 50 farms, 11 businesses, and 20 farmers' markets put together by REAP Food Group, Dane County Farmers' Market, and UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. REAP printed out a few thousand copies of the first Farm Fresh Atlas and handed them out at the local farmers markets.
Interest rapidly grew throughout the Dane County farming community, and the number of farmers listing in the Atlas quickly doubled, then doubled again. The Atlas continued to expand over the next 20 years as regional Atlases launched in Southeast, Southern Northern, Central, Eastern, and Western Wisconsin. A statewide website at FarmFreshAtlas.org launched in 2017.
By 2022 there were over 500 farms, farmers’ markets, restaurants, retail businesses and organizations across Wisconsin listed in six regional Farm Fresh Atlases. In 2024 those regions combined in a single Farm Fresh Atlas of Wisconsin, serving all 72 counties. We're thrilled at the connections the Atlas has been able to foster over the years, and will continue building that community for years to come!
Nourishing Wisconsin: A Farm to Institution Conference
Join us for Nourishing Wisconsin: A Farm to Institution Conference , November 11th in Chippewa Falls at Wisconsin Farmers Union Market on River.
Wisconsin farmers grow incredible food, and institutions across the state want to buy it. But connecting the two isn't always easy. Wholesale buyers have specific needs around volume, delivery, and food safety that can be hard for farmers to navigate, and institutions often don't know where to start building relationships with local producers. Nourishing Wisconsin exists to close that gap.
This conference brings farm to institution efforts, resources, and connections together from across the state so farmers and institutional buyers can meet face to face, work through the practical barriers standing between a harvest and a cafeteria tray, and share what's actually working in the field. Whether it's a school district figuring out procurement, a farmer scaling up to meet demand, or a hospital looking to source more locally, we want the people doing this work to learn from each other and leave with real solutions to bring home.
REAP Food Group and FairShare CSA Coalition and are hosting.
Past Projects
- Vegetable Processing Pilot Feasibility Study (2019 LFPP)
- Wholesale Ready: We created wholesaleready.org as a landing page for both buyers and sellers to assess their wholesale knowledge and find resources to improve and grow. This website is in the process of being transitioned to Maize. This project was supported by the USDA Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) and by North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE).
Collaborators
We know collaboration is key to advancing Farm to Business, so be sure to check out our partners and their resources.
We support local food businesses across the state to grow their markets