CHEESE AND TAXIDERMY

    This was my second visit to Northern Wisconsin in ten years. In 1991 I visited University of Wisconsin River Falls which had received a grant from my program at Apple. Etched in my memory was a stop I made somewhere between Minneapolis and River Falls. A sign by the two lane highway said it all: Cheese and Taxidermy. The owner had a cooler full of aged cheddar and on tables away from the dairy products were stuffed animals from the region. A wonderful convergence of local offerings.

Value-added food production is a theme that runs through much of rural American economic development circles. ACEnet in Athens, Ohio; projects in Virginia, Colorado, Hawaii, and other states are partial answers to the low commodity prices that are causing economic hardship for farmers and ranchers across the nation. Kellogg supported another CSO at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls campus. The Agricultural Resource Center set up a marketing information Web site with summaries of the most important points from numerous journal articles on market information, how to sell ("When in doubt, dress more conservatively, than less.") and where to advertise. It seemed odd this guide did not include the World Wide Web as a tool since that was their own medium of choice. While the information is useful, the presentation is not interactive, and appears to a long linear document rendered into html format.