Series: Local Food Science

Jim (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Series: Local Food Science

Local food generates both widespread interest and economic activity around Wisconsin. Many residents purchase food at farmers' markets, receive community-supported agriculture shares and/or grow their own produce in personal and community gardens. Restaurants and grocery stores are increasingly sourcing homegrown foods as well, and marketing them to consumers seeking local flavors. Scientists and educators are likewise turning their attention to the concept of local food, exploring its benefits and challenges — and Wisconsinites' complex attitudes about it.

Distinctive Hybrid Grapes Shape The Wild Midwest Of Winemaking

Samantha Nash

PBS Wisconsin

In places where the common grape vine recoils from the cold, old and new hybrid varieties are supporting a growing commitment to viticulture in the Midwest.

Series: Local Food Science

Learning To Love The Earthy Flavors Of Table Beets

Michelle Johnson

Wisconsin Public Radio

Beets have come a long way to fields and vegetable gardens from their roots as a leafy green growing wild in the sandy soil of the Mediterranean.

Series: Local Food Science

How Discoveries And Accidents Led To Winemaking In Wisconsin

Samantha Nash

PBS Wisconsin

The wines produced in Wisconsin's unlikely climate are the result of centuries of selection, cultivation and hybridization of many grape varieties.

Series: Local Food Science

Clean Hop Program Seeks To Beat Disease And Better Bitter Beer

Kristian Knutsen

WisContext

The flowering of craft beer over the past decade was accompanied and aided by an arms race to scale new heights of bitter flavors.

Series: Local Food Science

Series: Civic Science In Wisconsin

La Crosse's Public Library Has Added Seeds To Its Collection

Video:

Andy Soth

PBS Wisconsin

Cindy Mischnick was a driving force behind the La Crosse Seed Library, the state's first that allows patrons to "check out" seeds to plant in their gardens.

Series: Local Food Science

A Brief Introduction To Fermentation In Wisconsin

Scott Gordon

WisContext

Food scientists around Wisconsin are building on a growing interest in fermentation to help both craft brewers and multinational mega-breweries improve their beers. But their work isn't just about the state's alcoholic beverage producers.

Series: Local Food Science

Biologist Devotes Life To Wild Rice

Audio:

Erika Janik

Wisconsin Public Radio

Peter David knew little about wild rice when he began his job as a biologist for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Series: Local Food Science

Fermentation Is Serious Food Science In Wisconsin

Scott Gordon

WisContext

Fermentation — the process by which microorganisms metabolize sugar into alcohol and other byproducts — has been an important part of the human diet for thousands of years. But the art and science of this practice is undergoing a bit of a renaissance.

Series: Local Food Science

Seed To Kitchen Collaborative Seeks More Flavors For Local Produce

Kristian Knutsen

WisContext

While local food can be viewed as both an eternal and contemporary concept, a basic way-of-life present throughout humanity's history and a fashionable type of grocery purchase, the science behind what it is and means is still taking shape.

Series: Local Food Science

For Wisconsin's Consumers, 'Local' Food Means Produced Within The State

Bret Shaw

UW-Madison

Laura Witzling

UW-Madison

David Trechter

UW-Extension

Wisconsin consumers widely agree that "local" food means food grown within the state. However, most Wisconsin shoppers do not consider food grown in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota to be "local," a new statewide survey shows.