There is considerable artistry behind our food before we even begin to prepare it. No matter how good of a cook you are, you can't make bad ingredients taste good; conversely, it's pretty easy to make great ingredients taste fantastic. The main reason our food tastes as good as it does is because of the farmers we buy from. When people ask us for recipes, we first tell them about our farmers. Below we have some information on local food in the Madison area and beyond.

Mike Moon, one of Just Coffee’s founding partners, first exposed me to local food and fair trade. JC is a great example of a good company. They are respectful and thoughtful, making a difference in the Fair Trade movement I mean market.

the following is from their web site justcoffee.net

"Just Coffee Co-op's mission is to work with small and disadvantaged grower cooperatives in order to source the finest green coffee on earth, air-roast it to perfection, and to deliver the highest quality beans to our customers. We aim for total transparency, sustainable business practices, and long-term relationships with all of our partners while providing our workers with fun and meaningful employment. Oh, and we also seek to change global social and economic inequality by practicing REAL fair trade in direct opposition to gluttonous "free trade".

We love when Jon and Virginia come over for dinner. Their always super enthusiastic and stay way too late considering their 3 hour drive home. The best Shittakee i have ever had, the most amazing stone fruit. Amazing products, great people

Naure Wool -- Rainbow Homestead is a sustainable, vio-diversefarm offering handspun yars, handkits, knitting and spinning supplies, along with heirloom vegetables, fruits, honey and grass fed meats. We sell 100% grass-fed beef and lamb and our pastured pork, along with our yarn at the DCFM year round. Our farming methods exceed the FDA's organic standards. We are intentionally human scale. We choose to husband our land to promote harmony and synergy using Nature's patterns and rhythms. We are creatinga sustainable farm ecosystem where herbal meadows, prairies, hederows, heirloom gardens, orchards, woodlands, and rare breeds or livestock and wildlife flourish.
At Rainbown Homestead, we practice sustainable and humane animal husbandry on 65 bio-diverse acres. Beyond Organic, our holistic approach means farming within nature's pattersn, with natures rhythms. A place where wildlife flourish along side rare breeds of livestock, where heirloom gardensa nd orchards nourish us even as hederows, woodlands andprairies provide haven for all manner of life. Our herbalmeadows provide the ideal diet for our livestock while providing nesting sites, beneficial habitat and sweetnectar for our honeybees. Intentionally "human scale" we choose to homestead and husband our land in a way that promotes harmony and synergy. Our organic, rotationally grazed pastures burst with an edible riot of colors and flavors including sunny dandelions, sky blue chicory, lacy yarrow, sweet scented clovers, and tangy sorrel among the green grasses. Cold hardy forages like turnips and canola extend the forage feastinto winter. Humane treatment is important to us, with our lambs keeping the beautiful long tailes when they were born with. Our lamb and beef are raised 100%pasture forages with no grains ever! Our pastured pork is raised on high quality pasture in addition to certified organic grains. Our wool is treated gently, from start to finish. Our sheep graze lush pastures on our rolling ridetop farm in Vernon County where rare breeds of livestock, wildlife, orchards, woodland, hederows, prairie and herbal meadows co-exist in harmony and synergy. Our entire 65 acresis treatedorganically, with the goal of creating a healthy, bio-diverse farm ecosystem. The sheep are sheared eachspring, the wool is hand sorted and washed using biodegradable soap. The wool is then carded into batts ready to be spun into soft, lofty yarn. Unlike commercial wools, our wool is never treated with chemicals, acids or chemical moth treatments. We also sell wool for spinners, Brittany knitting needles, books, patterns, sheepskins, grass-fed lamb, beef, pork and poultry. Quality Breeding Stock is available.

Josh Engel and some potatoes from Driftless OrganicsBetter know as the potato boys, Josh and Noah have been going to the market since the were barely ten. They do a great job providing amazing produce at affordable prices. The pictures of tomatoes on this site are all from them. We use allot of their potatoes at the winter market.

Leroy and Cindy have been working back in the kitchen at the senior center for as long as we have. Last week at the market Leroy comes into the kitchen with a quart mason jar full of some clear liquid. Now i am up for a little shine in the morning, but with 300 people to serve breakfast to I was glad it was pure maple tap. I, waiting for a call from leroy and 5-10 of us will hop in a car go up north and start cooking the sap down to syrup.

Cherokee Bison Farms is a small family-owned and operated farm located in the heart of Central Wisconsin. Since 1989, Leroy and Cindy, together with Leroy's parents, have been concentrating on raising American Bison. Currently, the herd size stands at about 250 animals. All our Bison are naturally raised. No chemicals, hormones, bone or blood-meal areused. We raise all of our own feed. We implement rotational grazing practices, no feedlots. Bison is naturally lower in fat, calories and cholesterol than beef, por, chidken or turkey! It's just as versatile as beef, but tastier and considerably more lean, and is never dry if it's not overcook.

John and Dorothy are the producers whom we get most of our beef from. They have been instrumental in teaching us of new cuts of beef and showing us ethical ways to raise cattle. I have always been impressed with their view of the complexity of sustainable systems. They often invite us out to their Inn to have dinner or spend the evening with them. Most time the libations are kept in check. From their website:

Our registered Highland cattle are raised naturally, without growth hormones or antibiotics in their feed. The cattle are free to roam our lush pastures, directly harvesting the sun's energy to produce lean, flavorful beef. Small amounts of grain are added to the steers' diet to increase marbling in the meat. As members of the Quality Highland Beef Program, our steers are processed at the age of 14 - 36 months, and the meat is allowed to age for a minimum of 14 days (we prefer 21 days). Our meat is available by individual cuts.

This is a bio from Local Harvest about Bill Warner and Judy Hageman. These guys have been super supportive to us getting us the kind of product that we need, and also pushing product to us when they have excess.

Snug Haven farm is just that- a farm nestled in a snug valley in southwestern Dane County. Our specialty is spinach grown in hoophouses over the winter, and is unique because it's incredibly sweet due to the freezing/thawing process (we do not heat).