Farm-to-Table Frozen Dinners

Locavores in Wisconsin who have little time to cook need not worry. Renaissance Dinners has introduced ready-to-heat meals made from locally grown and produced Wisconsin ingredients. Currently available in the frozen section of stores in Wisconsin and Minneapolis, they retail for less than $8 and are expected to go national this spring. Mark Olson, president of Renaissance Farms in Spring Green, Wisc., turned to Chef Joel Girard of Madison to develop the line of four dinners. The ingredients are chosen based on their flavor, rather than cost or availability. Dinners range from Stuffed Sweet Peppers with Wild Rice and Carr Valley Feta to Lemon Basil Pesto Ravioli with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce & Wisconsin Parmesan. They integrate local ingredients like bottled milk and cream produced at Sassy Cow Creamery in Columbus, Wisc., and Butternut Squash from Sutter Farm, Mt. Horeb, Wisc., to name a few.

“We know more families want to buy local foods to support their neighboring farms and strengthen their communities. This line of dishes is a great way for folks to savor Wisconsin’s growing season,” says Olson, who began farming in the early 1980s as a means to express his two largest passions: good food and the outdoors. These dinners join his shelf-stable line of pestos, herb-infused olive oils, vinaigrettes and marinade and pasta salad dressings.

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