Purpose
The Dane County Food System Action Plan is a community-centered initiative to develop a comprehensive regional blueprint for a more equitable, healthy, vibrant, resilient, sustainable, and collaborative local food system. The plan was developed through a USDA Regional Food System Partnership (RFSP) grant awarded to REAP Food Group and partners, with additional support from Dane County. It builds on prior planning efforts including the 2013 Healthy Food for All Children Community Plan, the 2018 City of Madison Comprehensive Plan, and the 2023 Pandemic Food System Study.
The plan is intended for a broad range of stakeholders including elected officials, local government staff, nonprofits, educational institutions, food businesses, and everyday residents and serves both as a policy tool and an educational resource.
The State of Our Local Food System
Dane County has deep agricultural roots and a strong culture of local food, home to the nation’s largest producer-only farmers’ market, dozens of farm-to-table restaurants, and a network of CSAs and community gardens. Yet alongside these assets, the food system faces serious and growing challenges. Community engagement and data review identified six critical themes:
1. Rise in Food Insecurity
Over 10% of Dane County residents, over 58,000 people, struggle to access consistent nutrition. Critically, 42% of that population earns too much to qualify for federal SNAP benefits, leaving them without a reliable safety net. Cumulative U.S. food prices have risen roughly 28% since 2021, placing further strain on household budgets. Pantry demand has reached record levels even as pandemic-era grants and federal programs have declined.
2. Consolidation
The rapid consolidation of food businesses is eroding local control across every level of the food system. Since this project began, major local and regionally owned retailers including Metcalfe’s, Festival Foods and Fresh Market were acquired by national corporations. In agriculture, Wisconsin has lost 26.4% of its farms over the past 25 years. Large distributors and corporate chains increasingly dictate shelf space, pricing, and sourcing decisions, sidelining local producers and reducing consumer choice.
3. Lack of Emergency Preparedness
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant vulnerabilities in regional supply chains. Many emergency food providers still lack the refrigeration infrastructure, staffing, and coordination needed for sustained crises. Gleaning networks have become unstable following changes at key organizations. Most recently, we are seeing drastic cuts in government funding that are putting additional strain on emergency food systems that are not designed to address chronic food insecurity which has become the norm. As the county’s population grows (projected to increase by 25–50% over the next 25–30 years) the emergency food system will face even greater strain without proactive investment and planning.
4. Large Amounts of Waste
In 2020, Wisconsin disposed of approximately 615,500 tons of food and 238,500 tons of food scraps in landfills. Organic waste is the largest single component of Dane County’s landfill. While recovery partnerships and composting programs exist, they are insufficient to meet commercial and residential demand. Without effective planning and coordination contamination, logistical barriers, and unstable gleaning networks continue to limit progress in diverting food from disposal. Large amounts of waste put a strain on resources best exemplified by the county’s landfill expansion.
5. Large Disparities in Access
Access to healthy food in Dane County is deeply unequal. Physical access is shaped by a retail gap that creates food apartheid neighborhoods where fresh produce is geographically out of reach in both low-income neighborhoods and rural Dane County. Black and Hispanic households experience food insecurity at significantly higher rates than state and national averages. Meanwhile, BIPOC farmers and food entrepreneurs face disproportionate barriers to land, capital, and language-appropriate technical assistance. Over 99% of Wisconsin farms are owned by White individuals. This has led to a reality where we have lost significant community control of our food system, which in turn leads to downstream effects like food price inflation, and chronic health issues.
6. Demand Not Meeting Supply
Despite strong local food culture and growing institutional interest in local sourcing from anchor institutions like UW-Madison, UW Health, and Epic Systems, significant structural barriers prevent supply from meeting demand. Over 95% of Dane County’s agricultural acreage is planted in commodity corn and soybeans rather than food for human consumption. A “missing middle” gap in processing, cold storage, and distribution infrastructure prevents small and mid-sized farms from scaling to meet wholesale institutional needs. Rising farm production expenses (up 32% between 2017 and 2022) and a shortage of skilled labor further constrain capacity.
