the territory
Madison, Wisconsin’s capital has a population of 258,000 in a metropolitan area of 680,800 (2020 census). State government offices (45,000 employees) and the state’s flagship university (48,000 students and 24,000 employees) work in Madison.
Mifflin Street Grocery Cooperative (1969-2006) Born of political strife and student activism, neighborhood volunteers opened Madison’s first food cooperative and market for local, organic products. Mifflin helped to open several coops in different locations, with four retails currently operating in Madison and supporting local, organic foods.
Dane County Farmers Market (1972), is the largest producer-only farmers market in the US. 150 vendors encircle the state Capitol April through November, and a vendor’s cooperative manage the market.
The Wisconsin Cornucopia Report (1982) was a first attempt to study Wisconsin’s food system.
The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (1989) is a UW participatory action research center for sustainable agriculture and food systems.
The Agroecology Program (2007) is a UW graduate program that teaches students to research and engage with agricultural systems in a broader environmental and socio-economic context.
Madison Food Policy Council (2012)This government-supported forum and platform acts as a driver of Agroecology, bringing stakeholders together to address issues of food security, food sovereignty, nutrition, and justice in local food systems, using both governmental and nongovernmental policy.
Case study referee
Michael Bell
Other participants
Sarah Lloyd, Michelle Miller
Madison Food Policy members and constituents
michaelbell[at]wisc.edu
Territorial food system
Type of region : Peri-urban
Approximate size and population
508,000 acres farmland in Dane County; 2500 farms; top ranked county in state ag production; sales $152m in grains and oilseeds and $9.3m in produce; 378 farms under 10a, 85 farms over 1,000a and average acreage 197a (2017). 2.5% of agricultural lands were lost between 2005 and 2015 (2016).
The city is growing very quickly and the county is urbanizing. Farmland is expensive and urban development encroaches.
Type of agriculture
The county has four main watersheds. To the west (Driftless region) are two watersheds where diversified agriculture is common. To the east, commodity row cropping is common in the other two watersheds. Groundwater drawdown exceeds recharge rates.
Row crop and livestock agriculture are intensifying, further endangering water quality (fertilizer runoff). Despite 40+ years of watershed projects, farmland preservation, and technical standards, these efforts have proved necessary and insufficient. Several NGO-led urban agriculture projects are underway; also efforts to support wholesale markets and direct markets.
Short circuits (and anteriority)
23 farmers markets in Dane County; 8 in Madison; Community Groundworks and Rooted manage a network of 4000 gardens on 47 acres of land in Dane County. About eighty FairShare CSAs make about 170 weekly stops in Madison. 1200 farms participate in farmland preservation,
There is a rich food scene in Madison – local food is available from many grocery stores, restaurants. Consumers know the names of farms and farmers that serve their city. The common practice of attending farmers market made possible the protests against Act 10 in 2011. (ppl knew where to park, etc..)
Main social issues
Madison poverty rate 16.4%; Dane county 9.6%.
Poverty, hunger, racism. Lack of affordable, ownable housing. Labor rights struggles.
Presence of agroecologial systems
2% (50) organic farms (2017). 750a of prairie restored (2021). Reduced phosphorus load by almost 22,000# from 2008-2021 with conservation practices/tech standards.
There could be more. Leadership for agroecology on farm comes from other counties in the state (Marathon, Sauk, Vernon, etc.)
Specific agri-food system dynamics and initiatives (and anteriority)
Participatory neighborhood efforts; urban gardens; food pantries; food marketing coalition ; project of a public indoor year round market
Agrifood transition
Main stakes for the transition : Relieving hunger and inequality; achieving carbon neutrality; flood control
Key obstacles to AE transition
No public wholesale market. Lack of refrigerated storage. Hollowing out of local processing capacity. Lack of data at the county level. Closing of neighborhood groceries. Lack of affordable housing. Failing labor market. Cost to entry high. No coherent statewide commitment. Low access to capital.
Leading actors in the transition
City and county through the 2 FPCs, county Extension; UW-Extension, CIAS, Kaufman Lab; Wisconsin Food Systems Collaborative,
Institutionalisation of the agrifood transition
FPC, with representatives of a diversity of stakeholders and residents, Dane County Extension Community Food Systems, UW research, curricula, participatory action research.
Key initiatives
Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability
The Farm Incubator program cultivates BIPOC farm businesses. Currently, a dozen businesses are working sixteen acres and selling direct and wholesale.
Silverwood Park
This Dane County park serves as a working farm and outdoor classroom. Five farmers are growing for market and six are growing for personal consumption.
Wisconsin Food Systems Collaborative (newly formed)
A coalition of food systems organizations work together to support and develop emerging supply chains and wholesale market collaboration
Our approach
At UW-Madison and at the CIAS, several ATTER participants have been involved for many years in the local agrifood dynamics, through action research projects, students dissertations, as well as direct involvement in key instances and with local organizations (such as the Madison Food Policy Council, food and housing coops, Troy Gardens, FHKing, etc.). The ATTER Madison Case Study particularly focuses on the Madison area food system as well as on the Madison Food Policy Council, in view of a larger cross-case studies reflexion and comparison about Food Councils and the construction of agrifood territorial policies at large
Trajectory
Method
The trajectory analysis relied on previous studies achieved in the area over a 40 years period, documentary analysis, meetings, visits of initatives and interviews carried out during ATTER secondments (C. Lamine, Inrae, and E. Mattheisen, FIAN, in July 2022). The Madison Food Policy Council has carried out a series of studies and published several reports that allowed to identify some key elements for this analysis. Meetings with key informers and local actors have allowed drawing a first mapping of the initiatives and a first trajectory timeline, later on enriched by M. Miller (UW-Madison). A workshop is going to be organized with local actors in 2023 in order to both complete the identification of the key programs and initiatives (detailed trajectory) and refine the interpretation of this trajectory and of the key dynamics at stake. Supply chain governance is an issue identified by interviewees as a bottleneck in further food systems development and a possible workshop topic.
Detailed timeline
The detailed timeline (1980-2020) shows the richness of initiatives launched by diverse organisations and networks involved in agricultural development, food access and food culture, and civil society, that have played a significant role in the transformation of Madison area agri-food system over these 4 decades. Madison has long been a progressive city with the confluence of government, the university, and the private asector creating partnerships for food systems transformation.
In the late 1960s/early 1970s, many pioneer initiatives emerged, providing alternative marketing options for natural foods (farmers’ market, consumers cooperatives etc.). Others addressed hunger and food access issues and developed community gardens in the area. At the University of Wisconsin, a student organization for sustainable agriculture was funded in 1979.
In the 1980s, government and university programs began to emerge. A first report about the state’s food system in 1982 led to form Wisconsin Rural Development Center (which carried out Demonstration Programs and funded university and farmer-led research projects) and then in 1989 the University of Wisconsin Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. Outside the university, organic networks were also very active (Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Marbleseed).
In the 1990s, new forms of marketing initiatives developed such as Community Supported Agriculture groups, while University programs laid important groundwork for grazing and food systems research, especially to support the transition from grazing to organic dairy production – which was facilitated by the proximity of Organic Valley.
Since the 2000s, several multi-actor groups emerged, bringing together academics, elected officials, and citizens; they organize events and develop school gardens and Farm to School programs. Food justice and accessibility issues became more present both in the civil society initiatives and in the public programs. The City of Madison also got more involved and launched a Food Policy Council (2012) and various initiatives such as a Healthy Access Retail Program to support local retailers in underserved communities; grants for communities’ initiatives etc.
