KAUKAUNA, Wis. — With several weeks left in winter, finding fresh local fruits, vegetables and meats can be difficult.

A northeastern Wisconsin business owner is looking to change that while also helping to eliminate food waste.

Rick Slager has always had his hands wrapped around some type of potato. He said his passion for farming started when he was just a kid.

Slager turned his love of fruits and vegetables into a market called Produce with Purpose.

What You Need To Know

  • Produce with Purpose provides organic, locally sourced produce, premium meats, dairy, eggs, breads and pantry goods year-round

  • Produce with cosmetic imperfections is turned into healthy to-go meals in the Produce with Purpose kitchen

  • This market showcases different vendors every week

  • Produce with Purpose is the Fox Valley's only indoor pop-up market

“We really believe that the main heartbeat of Produce with Purpose is to provide good food for people here in the Valley and around the surrounding areas,” Slager said.

It’s the only year-round indoor farmer’s market in the Fox Valley. Slager said finding produce can be easier when it’s warm out.

In the colder months, Slager said he wants people to still enjoy locally grown fruits and vegetables.

“We have to eat in the winter as well as the summer and I look for storage crops, so like sweet potatoes, potatoes, root crops and so I feel that’s an opportunity for people to if they want to stay local, and during the winter months, they have that opportunity,” Slager said.

Seven days a week, dozens of local growers set up shop inside the market. LedgeCrest Family Farm owner Monique Herzog is one of those vendors.

“We sell grass-fed beef, pastured pork, organic fed and pastured chicken. We also keep bees, so we’re selling raw honey,” Herzog said.

For those at the market, providing quality locally grown food to the community is important. 

Herzog said it's a great place for people to meet the local farmers helping to put food on their tables. 

“This business is really well known in the community, so it’s a way for us to connect with people who are interested in the kinds of products that we’re selling,” Herzog said.

Some of the unsold food is also repurposed. Produce with cosmetic imperfections is turned into savory sustenance in the Produce with Purpose kitchen.

“If we have a sweet potato that is not quite perfect, but it’s fine to make soup out of, we’re trying to make things out of things that would get thrown away. We try to provide a little bit of everything, but with the heartbeat is usually what’s in season,” Slager said. 

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