The Foundation
Our Story
Farm Table Foundation supports soil quality, local farms, healthy food and rural communities. We believe that quality of life is directly impacted by the quality of local soil and an abundance of small farms. We make the connection between farm health and community well-being apparent. Our classes, events, and local food in downtown Amery all serve to highlight a central tenet: how we feed ourselves matters. The Foundation believes local food is fresher, carries more nutrients, keeps us working positively with nature, and provides an endless set of possibilities. The creativity drawn forth to farm and cook well is our eternal engine of ingenuity and culture. Join us in this adventure.
Farm Table Mission
Research
With recent insights into food quality, microbial life in soil and the human body, bio-availability of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, and the health profile of pastured animals and their products – there is clearly no end to research and discoveries regarding farm practice, food production, and human well-being. The Farm Table Foundation seeks to contribute to this body of research by working in the field and in the kitchen to pull together practices and trials that enhance small farms and their viability as businesses, as well as promoting habitat sustainability and community resilience.
Heritage Breeds
The value of genetic material in heritage breeds is of profound importance. Animals that have lived for hundreds of years supporting our ancestors, building soil, and becoming integral to the landscape are being lost in the current rush toward industrial farming practices. The Farm Table Foundation is undertaking a series of research projects to place, protect, and grow heritage breeds on small farms, where they have historically thrived along with the families that tend them. Come and visit us soon to take a tour of our research farm and learn more about how heritage animals are central to healthy farm ecology.
Seed Initiative
Seeds are one of the most compact treasure chests on earth, capable of transforming landscapes, culture, and human history while needing only a little care, soil, and water. Yet seeds are under threat from laboratory alterations, corporate control, and government regulation. The Farm Table Foundation works in the field every season growing, selecting, harvesting, and storing seed of ancient varieties that exhibit vigor, productiveness, and flavor. By doing so, the Foundation is driving our seed varieties toward regional specialties that are unique, resilient, and abundant. Join us soon for a visit to the Hungry Turtle Farm and see what a seed research project looks like up close.
Cluster Study
Recent decades have witnessed a decided change in how America produces, distributes, and consumes food by divorcing communities from their local food roots. The Farm Table Foundation believes using local food production as an economic driver in farming communities is more efficient and synergetic. To demonstrate this belief, the Foundation is currently compiling data about communities transitioning toward local farms as a coherent strategy for impacting the local economy. This is a multi-year study measuring the economic value of eating locally and revitalizing the landscape by bringing food production back to small farms.
Farm Table Foundation Training Program
Instructors
Terry Kelzer
Bob Wuellner & Earl Duckett
Kathleen Plunkett-Black
Sylvia Burgos Toftness
COOKING & BAKING
Bonnie Warndahl
FLOWER ARRANGEMENT & PLANT CARE
Marty & Darrold Glanville
Mike Schut
SPIRITUALITY & CARING FOR THE EARTH
Sue Katt
VICTORY GARDENS
Carolyn Smith
Katy Ellefson
NUTRITION & COOKING FOR KIDS
Nancy Graden
Erin Link
Sal Daggett
VICTORY GARDENS & BACKYARD CHICKENS
Our Team
Laura Phoenix
Lynn Blomstrand
Sarah Mittelstadt
RESTAURANT MANAGER & HEAD CHEF
Mike Schut
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS & COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Jill Norton
SERVER CO-LEAD
Megan Olson
Jill Ivey
Jessica Place
SERVER CO-LEAD & RETAIL MANAGER
Sal Daggett
PURCHASING MANAGER
Board of Directors
Sylvia Burgos Toftness
Michelle Wuellner
Michel Tigan
Kari Wenger
David Toftness
Peter Henry
Tours
To schedule a tour or arrange a group visit, please contact our Program Director at programdirector@farmtablefoundation.org.
