The next Salfa meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, March 7, at 6 PM at the Weather Center Cafe. Please be present if you wish this organization to continue. If you can’t attend but wish to contribute, please reply to the Salfa website.
After months and months of no more than 5-6 participants at meetings, and sometimes less, several of us have expressed the opinion that we no longer care to attend either. It may be time to let Salfa dissolve, to devote ourselves individually to local food issues we care about, whether the farmer’s market or Goodside Grocery or whatever. Perhaps when the time is right another organization will rise to take its place. We have about $100 or so in our treasury and have talked about donating it to Fred Depies to continue his good work with the Farm Fresh Atlas.
Sheboygan Area Local Food Alliance 
Sad that this group would consider disolving when there is so much to do, from a policy and networking perspective. Here is some inspiration:
urbanfoodpolicy.com
It would be sad to see your group dissolve. Personally, I think your group represents a lot of what I feel is important to our society. My few attendances of your events have been enjoyable and thought-provoking. In my particular case, I find that our farm has been highly “consuming” of my time and energy. This has been quite limiting for me and my participation of things off the farm.
I hope that you continue the group. Anything that you can do to enroll the larger public would be a positive to keep the group active and vibrant. Some ideas:
* Have some themed school-based events, where a particular high school class or a few students from a class would create some kind of cooking demonstration or meal display. Examples: Top ten most colorful ways of eating spinach. Top 5 ways of creating the ultimate salad that uses no sweetened salad dressings. How to make the coolest, most-unique and healthiest home-made pizzas. How to make the best tasting creamed soups using heart-healthy & cancer-preventive spinach, broccoli or??? Of course, you can tie this in with all the great local places to get the ingredients.
* Have a themed invention or concoction night. At the Harry Potter & Hogwarts theme park they serve “pumpkin juice” which is nothing more than an apple juice base, with pumpkin puree, and a strong dose of cinnamon. It is great tasting! Wisconsin has apples, pumpkins and access to spices. We also have cherries, some peaches (in Door County), lots of pears, strawberries, etc., and can access many spices. Have contests for the best local mix & best names of the mixes. Can you serve these hot? Cold?
* If you can, enroll people outside the group to participate in or LEAD the particular event. A well-known teacher? Health-nut physician (aren’t they all supposed to be this?)? Chiropracter/dietician? Athlete? Well-known local chef?
* The cafe owners where you hold the event may have ideas on how they can participate in and benefit from the events, and how they can support the events.
Your best days are still coming, IF you can attract greater numbers from the general public. At the Farmers’ Markets, Marie is hearing more and more people express concerns of health, of where things are produced, of how things are produced, etc. This is all part of social awareness and responsibility, the very foundations of your group. Society is changing. I hope that you can hang in there and be the stimulus and guiding force for the changes that we see, as part of the “kinder, more gentle nation.” (This is not exactly what we see in Washington or in Madison, but that is another topic for another time and another place.)
Best wishes, Steve Deibele