Waushara Food Connections Meeting Notes – June 9, 2016
Waushara County Courthouse, Room 25
Present: Patrick Nehring, Trevor Cooper, Zina Soltis, Everett Eckstein
Call to order at 10:40.
Approval of Notes From Prior Meetings
Notes from April 21 and May 6, 2016 were approved by consensus.
Wautoma and Redgranite Community Garden
There was no new news about the Wautoma Community Garden at Grace United Methodist Church. Eleven of the fourteen garden boxes at the Redgranite Community Garden are rented, some by people outside of the Saint Mark Parish. The community gardens need to be promoted earlier in the year. Donor acknowledgement was discussed. Name plaques that say “Gifted by …” will be added to the boxes and look at the possibility of a separate thank you sign.
Farm stand promotion and accessibility, including using EBT/Quest Card
Marty Lee and Zina contacted farm stands in the county about the opportunity to obtain equipment to allow individuals to use their EBT cards at a farm stand. Responses were received from Flyte Family Farm and Decker Family Vegetable Farms. Decker Family Vegetable Farms are not interest at this time because they do not electronic equipment at their stands. Carrie Flyte is interested and was directed to Renee Ladewig-Lathrop at United Healthcare (UHC). There was a misunderstanding of what assistance UHC would provide. UHC could help with a sponsorship to help pay for the POS Machine to use an EBT Card. They could help with marketing to promote EBT use at locations in the county. They could possibly sponsor a Double Your Bucks program. They could provide information on how to get started with accepting EBT cards. They are not able to apply for and purchase a POS Machine, staff the machine, and do the related accounting or bookkeeping. This EBT project has been put on hold for this summer. The committee will look at this project again in the fall/winter.
Patrick is continuing to work on an option to show the location of food stands in the county on an internet based map. Committee members are asked to help identify farm stand locations in the county that are not on the current list that was included in the Waushara County Guide.
Other projects
Zina reported on her experience facilitating a Community Food Challenge Simulation, an interactive program developed by UW-Extension to help people relate to the struggles associated with obtaining nutritious food on a budget.
Zina relayed a message from Marty Lee that they are pursuing the acquisition of a new truck for the food pantry. There is a Federal Budget proposal to reduce the funding of the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by 30%. If this proposal passes, food pantry use is anticipated to increase. County senior meal sites were discussed as a place for struggling seniors and veterans to receive for free or with a donation.
Trevor provided a draft report for a survey of how low low-income households in the county obtain the food they need that was conducted last year. Trevor will be completing a county health needs assessment document in August.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be in the fall or as needed.
Everett/Zina Motion to adjourn. Motion Carried.
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