Post from Community: Local Farmer Open House | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Anne Steinberg
February 17, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
Local Farmer Open House
March 7, 2020 – 11am – 3pm
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1500 E. Park Place, Milwaukee, WI 53211  in Riverside Park on the east side of Milwaukee.
A free, family friendly, once-a-year opportunity to visit with local farmers and arrange to buy farm-fresh healthy food directly from them – including a urban farmer in the Walnut Hill neighborhood
A dozen small-scale local farmers from SE Wisconsin – farmers who use sustainable growing methods and sell directly to the public – will take part in the 18annual Local Farmer Open House at the Riverside Park branch of the Urban Ecology Center.
One of these farmers is David Johnson of Cream City Farms, an urban farm located in the 30Street Corridor based in the Walnut Hill neighborhood.  In this innovative project in a reclaimed industrial site, Cream City Farms is “dedicated to growing great produce for our local community as well as creating jobs for our residents.” Community members subscribe to this farm and pick up produce right at the farm or get it delivered to their homes in nearby neighborhoods. They can also work on the farm to help pay for their food.
Community members will be able to meet David at the event and  learn about the variety of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription options offered by  all these farmers — with different sized subscriptions that work well for all sizes of households, custom-sized shares and installment payment plans. There will be information at the event about accommodations for households on a tight budget including special assistance funds, rebates, ad using SNAP benefits and worker shares (working on the farm in exchange for food).
Families are encouraged to bring their childrenfor new activities just for kids. They can explore how plants grow and what it takes to grow their very own vegetables, play farm-themed games, discover the wonders of decomposers and pollinators, and even plant their own seedlings to take home.
This educational event is free including workshops:
11:30 AM & 1:00 PM – CSA Basics Workshop
Learn how Community Supported Agriculture works & how to select a farm.
12:15 PM -Chef Cooking Demo with Simple Cafe  – Using Farm Fresh Ingredients
1:45 PM – Cooking from Your CSA Box
How to use the contents of your CSA box to prepare quick healthy meals. Recipes, tips and resources for cooking seasonally from scratch will be provided
Lunch will be available for purchase from the Simple Cafe
For more info: UrbanEcologyCenter.org/LFOH
Meghan Forseth, Branch Manager at Riverside Park, says “The Local Farmer Open House does a great job of informing people on how to support local farmers while eating healthy and keeping your food options affordable. There are many ways in which people can take advantage of rebates and special assistance fund options. Eating healthy doesn’t always mean it’s going to be expensive and the Open House will provide people with affordable options.”
Anne Steinberg, an event organizer, describes why she is a long-time CSA member: “I first joined a CSA 14 years ago because I was looking for the freshest, most nutritious veggies — and the food is better than I imagined. In these years I’ve also come to appreciate that choosing to spend my food dollars with a local sustainable farmer is something I can do to reduce my carbon footprint, protect our environment and to help small family farms stay in business.”