6 Ways to Help Local Farmers & Vendors

05 / 15 / 20
  1. Buy locally grown and made products when you shop. If the store where you shop carries local options, consider buying them if you can. Willy Street Co-op uses purple signs to highlight local products throughout their stores.
  2. Become a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) member. Joining a CSA is a fantastic way to buy local food directly from a farmer. Purchasing a “share” helps the farmer pay for supplies, seeds, and employees. Then the farmer delivers a box of their products to you regularly throughout the growing season. Farms offer both traditional farmer-selected boxes and customizable options. Many local farmers are now using online ordering systems and home delivery. CSAs have been very popular this year, so not many are left, but there are some! Find a CSA farm and available options at csacoalition.org and use the Farm Search to narrow down your options based on location, season, share size, home delivery availability, and more.
  3. Donate to the Double Dollars Fund. The Double Dollars program provides EBT card shoppers with a dollar-for-dollar match up to $25 per market day at participating farmers’ markets and up to $20 on Tuesdays in late October through May at Willy Street Co-op. The extra money spent by shoppers goes straight into the pockets of the vendors who get reimbursed for the full value of every Double Dollar they redeem. With Double Dollars, shoppers win, vendors win, farmers’ markets win, and our community wins! Donate at https://www.cacscw.org/get-help/food-security/double-dollars/ 
  4. Participate in Farmers’ Markets Innovations. While farmers’ markets in Madison are currently closed, there are alternatives to buying locally, such as local food pick-ups. Stay up-to-date with the Dane County Farmers’ Market (DCFM) and other farmers’ markets for news about reopenings: www.cityofmadison.com/live-work/neighborhoods/farmers-markets.
  5. Order community food deliveries. Examples include Brix Cider and Landmark Creamery, who deliver dozens of products from local producers to households in Dane and Green County. You can also order and have food delivered from over 30 local foodmakers, many of whom make their food at FEED Kitchens and/or are part of the Madison Public Market’s MarketReady Program, through Christine’s Kitchens.
  6. Patronize programs that give back. The Kessenich’s S.O.S. fund raises money to help Madison restaurant workers who have been furloughed during the COVID-19 crisis.  Funds raised will be dispersed to servers, bartenders, and Back-of-the-House employees who normally depend on tips for the majority of their income, or those who are not eligible to apply for unemployment. To help, watch for the Kessenich’s S.O.S. stickers on locally made products. For each of these products purchased, the maker of the product will donate a portion of the sale to Campaign. Plus Willy Street Co-op will donate at least 2% of the sales for any of these products sold at the Co-op.
    Another example is “Neighbor Loaves” bread made with at least 50% locally grown grain from participating bakeries like Madison Sourdough. Neighbor Loaves are distributed to community organizations offering food to support your neighbors in need.

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