MEQUON, Wis. — Farmers in southeast Wisconsin who don’t own land are able to grow fruits, vegetables and plants on about 40 acres of land at the Mequon Nature Preserve.
Then, they can then sell what they grow for a profit.
On a summer afternoon, farmer Vang Lee was packing the cucumbers he grew. He normally sells them at farmers’ markets through the area, but this batch is going to his first wholesale customer.
“When I first got this wholesale customer, I was very excited about it,” he said. “It’s another opportunity for income to support my family.”
Lee said this is all possible thanks to the Fondy Farm Project. Lee is one of dozens of farmers who are part of the project. They get affordable, long-term lease agreements to rent the land. It includes an irrigation system, as well as the use of greenhouses and tractors.
The Fondy Farm Project and Fondy Farmers Market are part of Milwaukee’s Fondy Food Center. The nonprofit’s mission is to improve fresh, local food access for Milwaukee-area residents while supporting small farmers.
“The Hmong Community, we’re a farming community back in Laos, and my parents have been farming all their lives, and then when we came to America, they brought their skills here,” Lee said.
But sometimes, farming families who immigrate to the U.S. are charged a high price to rent a small plot of land that is not in the best health for growing.
Stephen Petro, the director of the Fondy Farm Project, said many residents in the under-resourced parts of the city also do not get as much of an opportunity to grow or access fresh food. He’s working to change that.
“That’s how we’ve approached healthy food access is making sure people have a place to purchase it, it’s affordable, and also that the farmers who are growing the food have access to land and other resources that they need,” Petro said. “There are many vegetables and different crops being grown out here on the farm that you can’t buy at the grocery store.”
The Fondy Food Center hosts the Fondy Farmer’s Market at 2200 W Fond du Lac Avenue in Milwaukee mid-May through mid-November. Participating farmers then sell their products at Milwaukee’s Winter Farmers Market mid-November through April.
This upcoming 2024 season, Fondy is launching the Milwaukee Market Match where it will match up to $60 of FoodShare (commonly known as food stamps) at participating Milwaukee County farmers markets.