Someone's in the Kitchen ...

Reporter Craig Reber of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald wrote a thoughtful overview of the Innovation Kitchen, our collaboration with the new Sharing Spaces Kitchen in Prairie du Chien and our emerging regional network of processing facilities in their Sunday (7/3/11) editions.

Here are a few excerpts:

Someone's in the Kitchen ...

Shared-use kitchens emphasize distributing locally grown produce.

"Rick Terrien sees food as an economic development opportunity. And there's no better place than the Midwest, specifically Illinois, Iowa, Minesota and Wisconsin."

"In November, the Prairie du Chien (Wis.) Opportunity Center broke ground for its shared-use kitchen project, continuing a rapidly growing trend: bringing locally grown food to consumers through a Midwest-based distribution network."

"Construction is under way this month and the Opportunity Center expects Sharing Spaces Kitchen, similar to the Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen, to open in late October."

"The two entities are part of a trend. According to Terrien, the executive director of the Iowa County Economic Development Corp., the facilities, which typically employ workers with developmental disabilities, would be run independently but work together sharing ideas, processes and marketing."

"The idea is to take what we grow here and make it shelf stable so it can be used year-round," he (Terrien) said. "That's the goal, and you can't do it without legal, safe, state-inspected kitchens."

"There are 35 million people a half day's drive from Iowa County in Southwest Wisconsin, Terrien said. And every one of them eats."


Dubuque Telegraph Herald story written by Craig Reber. Photo credit to Jessica Reilly and THonline.com Thank You!

Sharing Spaces Kitchen blog, written by Dan Moris

Innovation Kitchen intro video and web site.