The Story of the Farm

Hunger Task Force has been operating the Farm and Fish Hatchery since 2004, but the history of the facilities extends even further back.

The original work farm was established in 1946 to feed inmates at the Milwaukee County House of Correction. The County Board of Supervisors believed that an agricultural program would do a better job of rehabilitating the men by requiring work that built moral character. The principle mission of the work farm was to produce food for use at both the correctional facility and other county institutions. Work on the farm including breeding and raising livestock, dairy farming, and maintaining the vegetable gardens and fruit orchards.

In 1980, a major fire brought an end to all farm operations until 1993, when work on the farm was re-established using 30 acres comprised of six community gardens. Once again, inmate labor was used to plant and cultivate produce which was used to feed the inmate population at the correctional facility.

In 1984, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Great Lakes Studies converted the old creamery facility on the farm grounds into a small scale hatchery. Final construction of the indoor hatchery was completed in 1989, along with four quarter-acre outdoor ponds for rearing fish. By the early 1990s, the pond was stocking Milwaukee County Park lagoons and creating a recreational fishing experience for local youth. The Fish Hatchery is unique in the nation and in 1993 won the National Association of Counties Award for Innovative Programs.

In 2004, Hunger Task Force took over operation of the farm and facilities in partnership with Milwaukee County, and today, we are farming 130 acres of land to produce over 300,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables for Milwaukee’s hungry.

“This is a program that everyone in Milwaukee County can get excited about—a program that provides food for the poor and keeps in operation one of the county’s last sustainable urban farms,” said Sherrie Tussler, Hunger Task Force Executive Director. “A beautiful farm has been preserved for feeding the poor. What’s more Wisconsin than a well-run, productive farm?”

The impact of the farm extends all across Hunger Task Force’s network of charities, providing fresh produce to those who normally would not have access to these healthy and nutritious foods.

According to Sister Donna Gazzana, former coordinator of St. John Cathedral’s Open Door Café Meal Program, Hunger Task Force’s fresh produce provides meal options to the Café’s chef and, perhaps more importantly, to its 175 daily guests, many of whom are homeless.

“A lot of the time our guests are locked into the psychology of ‘You get what we give you’ from agencies who serve the homeless, but Hunger Task Force allows us to present them with the ability to choose for themselves which foods they prefer,” said Gazzana. “When you offer someone a choice of healthy, fresh foods to eat, you not only feed their body but their spirit as well.”