Turns out that this week is the Wisconsin Eat Local Challenge. But the real question is, “is this really a challenge?”
It is pretty much peak season for all things growing. The summer crops are in, the fall crops are due any second now and so the farmers’ markets are just bursting with produce of all shapes, sizes and colors. Wausau now has three farmers markets each week, so there is no excuse for missing one. You can come down to the square tomorrow or down on River Drive Saturdays or Wednesdays.
If you can’t make it to the famers markets, how about Downtown Grocery? Or maybe check out any number of local eateries that feature local foods, such as Alistair Deacon’s, The Wright Place on 6th, Sy-am Gardens on Thomas Street or many others you can find here on our sidebar.
Eating locally this week is a piece of cake!
It is the grandmother of all mixed blessings and one that we can not get away from in our modern society — the “Big Discount.”
We all love a bargain and pretty much all of us shop at the big box stores to “benefit” from their “everyday low prices.”
But do those benefits have a cost? They must, a classical form of economics analysis, the TAANSTAAFL school, tells us. That is to say, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” To make something lower priced, something has to give. We would hope that it would be tremendous profit margins and over inflated executive pay, but as the book Cheap: The high cost of discount culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell points out over and over again, that is just not the case.
What suffers is product quality, worker pay, and even human dignity.
Low price doesn’t have to mean low quality, but most often it does, and not just the quality of the goods produced, but also the quality of life that results. And not just in those foreign lands where low wage workers crank out goods meant for shipping containers to fill our discount and dollar stores. As wages have stagnated in the US, even as productivity continues to climb, our happiness levels seem to have dropped, even as we have more and more to fill our shopping carts.
The book does not necessarily provide grand solutions, but it is clear that buying quality products from quality people is part of that solution.
P.S. Yes, I realize how ironic it is to link to Amazon for this book!
P.S.S. I’m sure Janke Book Store would either have it in stock for would be happy to order it for you!
The concept is simple (and so good) at Allister Deacon’s: artisanal eat-in or take away sandwiches, salads and soups with ingredients sourced from Moonshadow Farms, Stoney Acres Farms and the butchers at Country Fresh Meats. The atmosphere is uptown comforatble with salvaged architectural elements and original artwork.
Try their chili or soup of the day or opt for updated classics like the A.D. Reuben (Corned Beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and Russian Dressing with Baked Fries). Frittata (Oven-roasted champignon mushrooms, parsley and parmesean cheese with toast and local greens) or the Balsamic Roasted Portabello Sandwich (Grilled Moonshadow Farms summer squash, pesto amd mozzerella on housemade foccacia with local mixed greens). The food is hearty and flavorful. The menu may change based on seasonal availability of ingredients.
While you’re waiting for your grub, take a seat on the comfy leather furniture and people watch. Or feast your eyes on their dessert and drink selection. Also serving an expanded breakfast menu including authenic New York bagels.
For more information:
Allister Deacon’s
300-3rd Street, Suite 103
Wausau, WI 54403
715/845-5888
The Peace Sculpture project is offering t-shirts to help fund Wausau’s own Peace Sculpture. T-Shirts can be purchased at Janke’s Book Store, Evolutions in Design, NTC Bookstore and the Farmer’s Market at Market Place Thursdays on the 400 Block in Downtown Wausau.
The minimum donation per shirt is $12.
For more information:
Tax-deductible donations for this project can be sent to:
Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin
500 First Street, Suite 2600
Wausau, WI 54403
Please note “Peace Sculpture Fund” in the memo portion of your check.
Every animal owner has an adorable picture of their pet. Now’s the time to share it with the community and make your pet a star!
The Humane Society of Marathon County is holding a photo contest to select the Cover Critters for their 2010 Pawtraits Calendar.
All submitted photos will be displayed and judged through a bid-process with the top twelve winners selected as “Pets of the Month”. Additional winners will be used throughout the calendar. The photos will be displayed and the community will be able to vote for their favorites with a donation of $1.00 per vote.
To enter, submit your pet photo, entry/order form and entry fee of $25.00 (each entry includes one free calendar) to: Calendar Contest, Humane Society of Marathon County, 7001 Packer Drive, Wausau, WI. 54401.
Complete entry requirements are posted on their website at www.catsndogs.org
Entry deadline is August 1, 2009.
Sale price of the calendars will be $15.00 each and can be pre-ordered until September 1st. Pre-ordered calendars will receive free shipping.
For more information contact:
The Humane Society of Marathon County
Shannon Thomas, Marketing Coordinator
(715) 845-2810
www.catsndogs.com
Here is a sentiment I think we can all agree with from Chalkfest today…
Wausau IS Good!
Chalk drawing by Megan Sichterman and Allie Reif.
Wausau’s Big Weekend is off and running, but it may be even bigger than you might think.
Balloon glowing on the 400 Block
It is hard to miss the Balloon Rally which has been underway since Thursday, even if the mid-summer nights winds have held down the festivities just a little bit. There was an abbreviated glow on the square last night with 2 balloons inflating and Balloon glowing on the 400 Block, and the balloons launched from the airport this morning. And there is plenty more to come with another launch and glow this evening, fireworks, Pigs in the Sky ribfest and more. You can check out the complete schedule at the Wausau Area Events website.
But wait, as they say, there’s more!
If you need something to do while you are waiting for the balloons to launch late this afternoon, head downtown. On the 400 block Chalkfest is underway, public art at its best. And a number of downtown merchants are having sidewalk sales. Get everything you need, get inspired and meet new people. Another great day downtown.
Now how much would you pay? Don’t answer yet! There’s more. If athletics is more your thing, there is a recreational release for kayaks and canoes down at the Wausau Whitewater Park on Sunday. You can get more information here.
If after all that you need some peace and quiet, the First Universalist Unitarian Church of Wausau has a weekend of teachings by nationally known Tibetan teacher. More information on that can be found here.
Inside or outside there is more to do this weekend than you can shake a stick at — get out there and enjoy all that is Camp Wausau!
When you look around Wausau, it seems that the East side gets short shrift, especially when it comes to eateries.
Dining room of the 6th Street Filling Station
If you exclude downtown, there is not much in the way of food places on the East side. Yes, you can head down Grand Avenue, but you are pretty much in Schofield before finding something other than chain food.
So, I really appreciate the 6th Street Filling Station. Not only is it on my way home from most places, but they offer a very nice combination of local cafe with very nice upgrades that make them well worth the visit.
Not your ordinary fish fry!
On the local cafe side, yes they have a complete selection of burgers, shakes and soft serve ice cream, perfect for any summer day.
Every so often they will go even more homestyle and grill those burgers outside for perfect barbeque taste. But they have so much more.
How about an egg, cheese and spinach sandwich served on inch thick whole wheat toast? Very yummy. Salads that include exotic lettuces and touches found usually only in upscale restaurants. Or a lucious pan fried haddock filet, one that had lots of rye bread crumbs in the breading that gave it a real flavor snap.
Chef Peter McGreck add his personal touches to the dishes at the Filling Station, like this pan fried haddock.
And that does not even begin to mention the wonderful baked specialties, including the pecan carmel rolls, which are to die for. The dining room of the Sixth Street Filling station with their automotive theme.
You can’t miss the Filling Station on 6th right across the street from Saint Michael’s Church.
Check out their daily specials and be happy to be an Eastsider!
6th Street Filling Station
1314-6th Street
Wausau, WI 54403
715/848-3000
Sweets on Third is hosting a special demo tonight (Thursday, June 11, 2009), presented by Theresa Ford, the East Coast Sales Representative for Moonstruck Chocolate Co.
Even if you are watching your figure, a few chocolates now and then can’t hurt. Did you know that cocoa contains flavonoids (naturally occurring antioxidants), which are shown to prevent heart attacks and strokes. So see, chocolate is a health food!
About Moonstruck Chocolate Co.:
In 1993, a simple concept took root in Portland, Oregon. That concept was to handcraft superior chocolates that would taste exquisite and look exceptional. Each piece is handcrafted using only the finest ingredients and then hand-decorated with care.
Online at: www.sweetsonthird.com and www.moonstruckchocolate.com
Sweets on 3rd
615 N 3rd Street
Wausau, WI
tel: 715/842-7171
sweetson3rd@mac.com
By Brian Reisinger • Wausau Daily Herald • May 30, 2009
If you’ve bought shoes
at Baeseman’s Shoe and Clothing, co-owner Tom Rossi can tell you exactly what brand, style and size you wear. He’ll need a moment, though, to sift through the thousands of index cards sitting alphabetized in small filing cabinets in the back, his glasses perched on the end of his nose.
“We know what works in our store,” Rossi, 51, said at the establishment on Wausau’s west side. “I got cards up the ying-yang.”
His establishment and other locally owned central Wisconsin businesses exhibit that personal touch, but their resources are limited in markets that include national chains and extend as far as a Google search.
The result is a “buy-local” movement that is reaching a fever pitch in central Wisconsin and beyond as the economy struggles — mobilizing businesses, activists, the agricultural community, lobbyists and even large chain stores. Consumers face a decision that’s intensifying in the national recession: whether, when and how to buy local.
The question pits what small-business advocates present as greater local impact, more character and value against the job creation, lower prices and convenience of large chain stores.
Buy-local advocates argue that spending your dollars locally is key to economic recovery, because that money will recycle through the community. In Grand Rapids, Mich., about $68 out of every $100 spent at local businesses remained in the local economy, compared with $43 for nonlocal businesses, according to a 2008 study by the research firm Civic Economics.
Then again, large chain stores employ hundreds of people whose wages circulate locally. Wal-Mart employs about 400 workers at its Rib Mountain store, spokesman Daniel Morales said. Target’s Weston store employs about 185, spokeswoman Michaela Gleason said.
By themselves, small, locally owned establishments don’t employ nearly as many people, but they still create jobs. Rossi and his sister, co-owner Mary Nordstrom, run Baeseman’s with help from four part-time workers. Taken together, employees of small businesses make up about 54 percent of Wisconsin’s work force, said Bill Smith, director of the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business.
Although the buy-local movement is gaining momentum, it means different things to different people.
It spans many sectors of the economy, with businesses of all shapes and sizes latching on. In general, though, buying local means shopping for locally produced goods or at locally owned businesses.
Wausau’s buy-local push comes in the form of business promotions and gatherings such as farmers markets, but also through a growing online presence.
Bill and Lisa Coady of Wausau encourage people to buy local by writing about purchasing opportunities on a blog they began this year, Buy Local Central Wisconsin.
“I guess we see ourselves kind of as scouts and guides,” Bill Coady said.
The movement has long included home-grown produce and agriculture — Wausau’s farmers market on downtown River Drive opened for the season May 16 — but it’s become more intense this year. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, which promotes Wisconsin dairy products, has made the theme of June Dairy Month “Eat Local. Eat Dairy.” The campaign includes recipe brochures, more than 60 breakfasts at farms across the state, and a range of traditional and online efforts, spokesman Patrick Geoghegan said.
Buying local also is an issue in the state Legislature. Smith’s National Federation of Independent Business is pushing a bill asking state government to try to do 25 percent of its purchasing from local businesses, including specific requirements for businesses owned by women, veterans and minorities.
In the past three years, just 16 percent of Wisconsin’s small businesses, generally employing fewer than 25 people, submitted bids to the state, even though a majority offer something the state could purchase, according to testimony provided by Smith in January testimony before an Assembly committee. The bill has passed the Assembly and awaits action by a Senate committee, Smith said.
Even chain stores — which buy-local advocates consider the enemy — are trying to meet consumer demand for local products. Although Wal-Mart won’t disclose its specific goals, Morales said stores in 2008 began an effort to carry a range of locally grown produce at various times during the year. Having produce available year-round, meanwhile, often requires nationwide purchasing.
Despite those efforts, the contrast between local businesses and chain stores is stark.
Local vs. chain
Craig Carlson’s sales pitch for the beef, chicken and turkey he raises on his farm north of Athens is simple.
“Well, the advantage is you can look me in the face when you buy it,” Carlson, 52, said as a soft rain pattered on the roof of his town of Hamburg farmhouse and sprinkled the lush green pastures outside.
With that intimacy comes a range of benefits, he said. His beef cattle are mainly grass-fed, with grain for the birds, all virtually free of any chemicals. He says his natural process yields food that is healthier and of higher quality, and he takes pride in working the land with three children still at home.
He concedes, though, that he can’t produce it as cheaply as the large farms that supply stores nationwide. If you want his products, you have to pay a premium.
Carlson’s situation exemplifies the tough choice consumers face. While local business people argue that they offer a personal touch and great value, they sometimes lack the convenience and affordability that large corporations have achieved.
Baeseman’s, for example, has footwear ranging in price from about $10 to $250. They’ll measure your foot, discuss brands and quality and provide some local color while they’re at it. Neither Rossi nor Nordstrom go long without making fun of the other — a dynamic they say draws customers as much as their shoes do.
“She’s a woman, and she’s always right,” Rossi said of his sister.
“Tom will insult anyone,” Nordstrom retorted later.
Wal-Mart, meanwhile, carries sandals as cheap as $2.50, according to its Web site, and shoppers can shop for almost everything else they need at the same time. Morales of Wal-Mart and Gleason of Target both emphasized that their stores are designed to deliver a wide range of affordable products.
“We ensure that our guests have choices,” Gleason said. For example, Target carries various versions of the same product at different levels of quality and cost, allowing consumers to decide how much they want to spend.
Large chain stores also make millions of dollars in charitable contributions to communities in Wisconsin, which spokesmen say is a sign of their commitment to the local residents with whom they do business.The result is an increasingly daunting world for many local business owners, even if they remain successful. Business at Baeseman’s has increased 14 percent over last year, for example, a fact that pleases but baffles its owners.
But some things are available only locally, like the beer at Wausau’s Bull Falls Brewery. Brewmaster Mike Zamzow runs the brewery with his father and six other employees and clearly takes pride in his range of hand-crafted brews, describing the meaning of their names and discussing Wausau’s craft-beer history as he enjoys a glass.
Other beers are more widely available and sometimes cheaper, but Zamzow, like other small business owners, says it’s about value, not price.
But buying local, he said, is a choice consumers have to make on a case-by-case basis.
“My feeling on that is, only buy local if it’s worth buying local,” Zamzow, 50, said.
Clearly, in the case of his beer, he thinks it is.
Large chain stores also make millions of dollars in charitable contributions to communities in Wisconsin, which spokesmen say is a sign of their commitment to the local residents with whom they do business.
The Internet, while offering a resource to buy-local advocates, also offers options, with consumers able to research and purchase virtually anything online.
The result is an increasingly daunting world for many local business owners, even if they remain successful. Business at Baeseman’s has increased 14 percent over last year, for example, a fact that pleases but baffles its owners.
But some things are available only locally, like the beer at Wausau’s Bull Falls Brewery. Brewmaster Mike Zamzow runs the brewery with his father and six other employees and clearly takes pride in his range of hand-crafted brews, describing the meaning of their names and discussing Wausau’s craft-beer history as he enjoys a glass.
Other beers are more widely available and sometimes cheaper, but Zamzow, like other small business owners, says it’s about value, not price.
But buying local, he said, is a choice consumers have to make on a case-by-case basis.
“My feeling on that is, only buy local if it’s worth buying local,” Zamzow, 50, said.
Clearly, in the case of his beer, he thinks it is.Other helpful links:
• Buy Local Central Wisconsin, a local Web site and blog on opportunities to buy local goods, www.buylocalcentralwisconsin.com
• Information on Wisconsin’s Eat Local Challenge, www.eatlocalwisconsin.com
• Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce, for information on area businesses, www.wausauchamber.com
