Brancel adds there are hundreds of farmers, processors and others who’ve been involved in Wisconsin’s buy local movement without ever receiving a taxpayer-funded grant.

Indeed. While Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin is a specific food program run through DATCP, there are other buy local efforts going on around the state.

In Madison, for example, Dane Buy Local was founded in 2004 as a program of Wisconsin Partners for Sustainability. Today, the organization has more than 440 members and works to educate both consumers and business on the value of circulating their respective dollars locally.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has also been involved in the Farm to School effort and has received $2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for that program in 2011.

“I see an opportunity there to supplement our local foods in school programs,” says Brancel.

Brandon Scholz, president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association, has floated the idea of a private, nonprofit Wisconsin Food Council that could work with small businesses while raising dollars from investors with an interest in helping local economies.