Nick Wharton (front) of Good Nature Farms and Woody Gilk, put up strings for tomato plants in a high tunnel on the farm last spring. Good Nature Farms is one of the CSAs in Cook County providing fresh produce to their subscribers.
The Northwoods Food Project is conducting a survey in Cook County to pinpoint the amount of money spent on foods in the community each year.
Households in the county spend an estimated $14 million on food every year, but there is no data on exactly how many food dollars are brought into the county by tourism, said Diane Booth, Cook County Extension.
The Green Dollars Survey will be used to determine the amount of food produced and sold in the county, as well as the amount of food purchased from elsewhere and sold here, she said. “We want to find out where these dollars are being spent, and whether we can capture more of them through local food production in the future.”
Cook County Extension partners with the Northwoods Food Project to support food sustainability in the county. The Food Project was formed about eight years ago to increase local food production and support local producers.
So far, it has started two community gardens, a GardenShare program, and held a number of different workshops to educate local farmers and gardeners in the community.
Sam Johnson, a graduate student from the University of Minnesota, is working on the survey with the Food Project and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, thanks to a grant from the Northland Foundation and support from the Cook County Chamber, the Whole Foods Co-op, the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA), the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic and Extension.
Over the next two weeks, Johnson will be contacting all Cook County restaurants, grocery stores and local producers as he gathers information about how our food dollars are spent here.
Pat Campanaro of the EDA said local foods can command price premiums for the businesses that offer them. Fostering local food producers will help keep more dollars in the area, which will diversify and strengthen the economy.
“There is a real interest within the local restaurant industry for locally grown and processed foods,” she said. “This is a win-win situation for restaurants and producers here.”
The Green Dollars Survey is expected to be completed in May. For more information, call Booth at (218) 387-3015.
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