Noted: For the last two years, the agency has awarded money for “buy local” projects, including $35,000 to the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (MACSAC), $25,000 to Underground Catering in Madison to develop traditionally made pork products, and $20,000 to the UW-Madisonâ??s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems to beef up Wisconsin apple distribution to the stateâ??s K-12 schools.
“The number of farmerâ??s markets in the region has increased almost exponentially in the past five or six years,” said Rick Brooks, outreach program manager and one of the founders of Dane Buy Local, an organization of local businesses that encourage local commerce. “East side, north side, west side, south side and many smaller communities host markets,” he noted.