• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / News / Health and Wellness / Fondy Food Center to lease 80-acre farm in southeast Wisconsin

Fondy Food Center to lease 80-acre farm in southeast Wisconsin

March 20, 2011 by Kenya Evans

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Fondy Food Market

Photo by Dwayne Burtin, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Beginning this spring, Fondy Food Center will have a new source of fresh fruits and vegetables — its own 80-acre farm. Fondy is negotiating a lease with Afterglow Farms for the property, located in Port Washington, as part of Fondy Food Center’s expansion plan.

“Our country is losing an acre of farmland a minute,” said Young Kim, executive director of the Food Center. Afterglow Farms, approximately 30 miles north of Milwaukee, wants to keep the land for farming, rather than sell to developers, he said.

Fondy Food Market, an outdoor farmers market at 2200 W. Fond du Lac Ave. in Lindsay Heights, had 45 farmers in 2004. Since then, Kim has noticed a decline of approximately five farmers a year. Most of the farmers at Fondy Market are Hmong and small-scale farmers who do not own the land where they grow their produce. Kim explained that Fondy’s Hmong farmers paid more than other farmers to lease their land. He believes the language barrier and lack of written contracts are part of the problem. The Neighborhood News Service was unable to contact the Hmong farmers for comment.

The Fondy Food Center’s mission is to create fairer farming opportunities, and provide access to healthy foods for residents of Milwaukee’s north side with the goal of becoming a year-round farm. If the center is successful, people will cook more home meals with fresh ingredients instead of processed foods.

Farmers who are part of the Fondy Farm Project will rent affordable land and share farming equipment. In the past, they have done everything by hand. Kim hopes to lease the land to each farmer for at least three years, and, eventually, to develop the farm into a cooperative. To Kim, the point is “reaching deeper into the food distribution system, having vendors be profitable, distributing more and teaching healthy habits.”

One of the few farmers’ markets to accept food stamps, Fondy Food Center saw food stamp sales increase 56 percent between 2009 and 2010, from $16,000 to $25,000 last year. “That’s a lot of healthy foods going into the community,” Kim said. Last year, more than $400,000 was spent at the farmers market, and the money stays in the community. All of the vendors live on the north side of Milwaukee, added Kim.

Leasing the farmland is the first major step in an expansion plan that includes building a cooking pavilion, an outdoor restaurant, permanent office space and a teaching kitchen for canning and preserving food. The Zilber Family Foundation has donated $75,000 to fund the expansion plan. Additional funders include the USDA, Ceres and the BRICO Fund.

The average age of farmers in Wisconsin is 60, and their children are not going into farming, Kim said. Everyone is wondering where the next generation of farmers is going to come from in Milwaukee, he added. He’s hoping that the Fondy Farm Center will be part of the answer.

This story was corrected 3/24/2011.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Health and Wellness, Lindsay Heights, Neighborhoods, News, North

Avatar

About Kenya Evans

Advertisement

Top Stories

Advertisement

How To …

How to avoid stimulus check scams

A new round of stimulus checks will likely also bring out a new round of scams. Here’s what to watch out for.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in