Good to Grow – Regional Food Strategy

Vandewalle & Associates has been contracted through Blue Planet Partners to help lead the "Good to Grow" Regional Food Strategy Initiative. The overarching goal of this project is to play a catalytic and strategic role in helping the Upper Midwest increase consumption of sustainable, regionally produced and processed food from 2% to 10% within 7 to 10 years. The first phase of the project has developed a cohesive strategic framework for achieving the scaling up of a regional food system to serve the 11 million population of the Madison / Milwaukee / Chicago region, and to build partners. Vandewalle & Associates' primary role is to help define strategic direction, conduct a regional food system asset analysis, and provide communications expertise.

Initial partners in the project include Blue Planet; CALS, CIAS, the Extension, and the Ag Innovation Center at the the University of Wisconsin; DATCP; WK Kellogg, the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and a number of emerging partners from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota. The "Good to Grow" strategies, presented here at the "Cultivating Sustainability Conference," continue to help communicate the strategy and build momentum.