Wow, great summer, 2025!
Also, very quick summer.
Yet, full of good food, great people, and plenty inspirational events.
This summer, FoxRAP celebrated our Upper Fox Food & Farm Network and the amazing farms, local food businesses, and markets we have in the area.
Building a local food & farm system is hard work; our world is built for commodity crops and global supply chains, not small, family farms. Yet, local networks are so important; their lovingly-grown products are healthier for us, for our land and water, and for our economy.
If we want strong communities, strong farms are the place to start.
Towards that end, we went all out this summer to promote what’s happening on our farms, how it benefits all of us, and how each of us plays a part.
Watch our Summer Celebration Finale video below and read on for highlights.
***(We also made a blooper reel just for laughs)***
Upper Fox FOod & Farm Guides
Have you seen our Upper Fox Local Food & Farm Guides around town? In 2025, we printed 1,000 copies (after our printing of 350 in 2024 fell woefully short of demand), and distributed them throughout the Upper Fox region. Check your local library, chamber of commerce, or community center. Or peruse online!
This work was made possible by a grant from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.
Community education gardens
Teaming up with Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County Area, we started the first Education Gardens, where 40+ young farmers got a chance to plant seeds, nurture crops, and harvest and eat their very own veggies at the Ripon and Berlin club sites. These weekly, hands-on workshops were a big hit that we hope to grow next season.
Community Health Roundtable
August brought the Green Lake Community Health Roundtable, a gathering of 15 local stakeholders, including farmers, residents, government officials, and community leaders to assess the current state of our community and to develop a shared vision for the future. This collaborative planning process aimed to identify our area’s strengths, challenges, and pathways forward for sustainable growth, while preserving the unique character we all love.
Thanks to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Surface Water grant for supporting this work.
Building Relationships
We loved meeting old friends and new at field days, events, and luncheons, plus sharing all-you-can-read info on local food and farm events via blog posts and on the Upper Fox Food & Farms Facebook group.
We were also thrilled to take part in the return of the Freeland Film Festival which spotlighted regenerative agriculture as one of their themes this year.
Regenerative Food & Farm Short films
Did you ever wonder what regenerative agriculture looks like in action? This summer we got into the field with two local farmers who are putting regenerative methods into practice. See the impact they’re having on our land, water, soil, and communities.
FoxRAP veg pledge
And the final duck in the row was our Veg Pledge Campaign in September to highlight the delicious, nutritious food flowing from farms during the harvest season.
This was a community health campaign – local farms produce food that brings us physical health, their farming methods bring soil and water health, and spending our dollars on the farm rather than at national grocery chains brings economic health.
Thanks to our donors and sponsors for supporting this community effort: Horicon Bank, J’s BBQ, Hy-vee of Ripon, Wisconsin Farmers Union Foundation, and Craig Culver. We raised almost $5K to support food & farming programs at FoxRAP.
Thanks for being a part of our community!
We had a wonderful summer with you and look forward to growing together through the seasons to come.
Foxhead Regenerative Agriculture Project 