Special Section

Trust the alchemists

alchemy family farm can feed your guests and free your conscience

Halfway between Bloomer and Colfax lies a three-acre farm that strives to feed your wedding party. Dean Parent, along with his wife Kate, incorporates homegrown vegetables and herbs into savory hors d’oeuvres, sandwiches, and sides. Though it’s unreasonable to expect every ingredient to come from their homestead soil and greenhouse, they believe in the “concentric sourcing” scheme. Basically, if you can’t grow it yourself, look for it in the Chippewa Valley, and if that doesn’t pan out, widen your scope to Wisconsin—and then the Midwest, and so on. Parent was motivated to bring local, sustainable agriculture to his family’s table as well as to his clients because, as he says, “trucking lettuce from California in July is just obscene.” As an executive chef (at Foster Cheese Haus), Parent offers versatility—in food choice, serving style, and dietary requirements. He specializes in many types of ethnic cuisine and has even provided an all-vegan wedding banquet. Food from Alchemy Family Farm is considered “certified naturally grown,” which means that while the farmers observe the same requirements as those that grow “organic,” the title is simply not administered by the FDA. If you’re dedicated to the sustainable farming movement, show your wedding guests how important it is to you by incorporating this local catering business.