Down on The Farm
Conservation alum
Sarah Wisniewski has a lot of mouths to help feed – about 50,000 in any given month. In her office is a map of all of her fields with notations written in dry-erase marker: This field will grow green beans; this one is for cabbage; zucchinis will be here. It’s the middle of winter, but she’s already planning ahead for spring planting. Southeastern Wisconsin is counting on her to deliver a healthy crop. Wisniewski is the produce manger of the Hunger Task Force’s farm in Franklin, Wisconsin. The Hunger Task Force is a nonprofit that collects and organizes food donations to supply shelters, soup kitchens, senior centers, and food pantries with groceries for people experiencing food insecurity. About 10 percent of the food they distribute to 183 program sites includes fresh produce from The Farm. That produce is crucial.
conservation and environmental science when she began attending UWM. Initially, she thought she was interested in river restoration. “But then I started volunteering at a local farm and I was hooked. That was it,” Wisniewski said. She began volunteering with some of her friends at Growing Power, a nonprofit that, at the time, ran an urban farm in Milwaukee. She graduated from UWM in 2010 and rose in the ranks at Growing Power before starting her own mushroom farm, Sugar Bee Farm, in 2013. But the long hours on the farm began taking a toll, so Wisniewski decided to make a career switch to find more balance. A friend told her about a farming position with the Hunger Task Force. She started as an intern and rose through those ranks too, eventually ending in her current position as a farm manager.
“To help with malnutrition and hunger, the most important thing is access to healthy food,” Wisniewski said.
Now, she’s responsible for cultivating 75 acres’ worth of food production each year.
Families struggling with food insecurity frequently rely on inexpensive, processed meals like pasta, which have little nutritional value. Fresh fruits and vegetables add vitamins back into their diet.
“Right now, we’re crop-planning,” Wisniewski said. “I put together an average of our (previous years’) yields and project what we’re going to yield next season. … I figure out when we’re going to be planting or when we’re going to be weeding or when we’re going to be harvesting.”
Though she’s a pro at produce these days, Wisniewski had no background in farming growing up. Instead, she and her family were outdoors-y types, passionate about fishing, hiking and camping. That inspired Wisniewski to pursue a major in
The Farm, run by The Hunger Task Force, includes 75 acres of land for farming, including 12 acres of orchards like the one shown here. Photo by Sarah Vickery.
4 • IN FOCUS • January, 2020
The Farm has numerous fields, 12 acres’ worth of fruit orchards, an enormous greenhouse, hoop houses, and even a fish hatchery on the premise. Come growing season, she’ll be marshalling an army of about 5,000 volunteers to help her in each area. Like any farm, the work is labor-intensive and extensive.
