In Search of the Food Less Traveled (II)

Since early June last year, residents of Paoli have added a grocery store to their list of local businesses.
Ken and Sherrie Ruegsegger, owners of Ruegsegger Farms Natural Meats in Blanchardville, opened Paoli Local Foods in the same location where Sam and Florence Storm used to run the Paoli Grocery Store.
The Storms started their grocery business in 1960 and rebuilt it in 1966 after the building burned. The building housed the grocery store, a tavern, and a hotel.
Former employee Dana Duppler remembers that Sam Storm promoted the different cheeses from cheese factories in southern Wisconsin, including Green and Lafayette counties:
“People from all over used to travel to Paoli to buy quality meats and cheeses.”
“Quality is always our number one priority,” says Ken Ruegsegger, who decided to open the store in March when he saw the ‘For Rent’-sign in the window.
If you are looking for high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil or processed sugar, however, you won’t find them in this store.
The Ruegseggers offer their customers meat from sustainably raised, grass-fed animals, milk, yogurt, cheese, organic produce, and a whole lot more.
For example, all of the meat is raised on family farms by farmers who care about the animals and the environment in which they live. The animals are closely monitored with strict animal welfare and food safety quality standards. They are raised without added hormones or antibiotics. The animals are never fed animal by-products. And they are raised with plenty of sunshine.
“We sell our natural meats by the pound, sample boxes, quarters, and halves,” says Ken Ruegsegger. “All of the meat and poultry is Wisconsin State-inspected and sold deep frozen, ready for your freezer.”
Located in South Central Wisconsin, in the rolling hills just outside of Blanchardville, the Ruegsegger Farm has been in their family since 1958 when Ken's father Albert purchased it and farmed it as a dairy, pork, and egg business. Ken and Sherrie have operated the farm since 1980.
Now the Ruegseggers are raising and direct-marketing beef, pork, veal, bison, lamb, goat, eggs, chicken, turkey, and ostrich.
Ken Ruegsegger explains that the family raises their livestock as he learned from his father, with patience. Because there are no hormones or antibiotics used, the animals are healthier, but take a little longer to mature.
At the store in Paoli, the Ruegseggers market other meats than those produced on their farm in Blanchardville. These include ostrich, which is produced at Golden Dreams Ostrich Farms in Almond, owned and operated by Joe and Donna Dernbach and sons. Some buffalo, which is produced at Catnip Hollow Bison, LLC, in Mount Horeb, owned and operated by Dr. Mark A. Koeppl, a local veterinarian, and his wife Sheryl. Most of the lamb is produced by the Ruegseggers, but some is produced at Two Shepherds Farm in New Glarus, owned and operated by Rollie and Peg Schmidt, and some is produced on Kinkoona Farm in Brodhead, owned and operated by Suellen Thomson-Link.
High quality, lean sausages made from natural farm raised meats are also available and include pork, beef, veal, ostrich, and bison bratwurst, ring bologna, summer-, pork-, liver-, breakfast- and pizza-sausage, kalberwurst, breakfast links and all-beef hot dogs with natural casing.
“Our sausages contain no filler and are high on flavor!” says Ken Ruegsegger.
Along with the variety of meats, milk and milk products are available.
Blue Marble Family Farm in Barneveld, owned and operated by Nick Kirch, who is Ken Ruegsegger’s cousin, supplies the milk from grass-fed cows.
The cows live on lush green pasture day and night. After they have been milked in the morning, the milk is “pasteurized to only 150 degrees, which allows the healthy enzymes to survive and makes a much healthier product for you to consume,” explains Ken Ruegsegger. “The milk is non-homogenized, which allows the cream to separate, helps seal the glass bottle and gives you a more digestible, nutritious and the best-tasting milk that you have ever had.”
Sugar River Dairy in Albany, which is a Grade-A processing plant owned and operated by Chris and Ron Paris, provides Paoli Local Foods with all-natural, fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt. Vanilla and plain flavors are available in 24-ounce containers, while flavors in the six-ounce single-serving cups include raspberry, strawberry, peach and blueberry.
Cheese anyone? The Ruegseggers carry fresh goat cheese from Dream Farm in Cross Plains, owned and operated by Jim and Diana Murphy. Cedar Grove Cheese factory from Plain provides a variety of cheese, as does Brunkow Cheese Factory in Darlington.
Edelweiss Cheese Co-op just outside of Monticello, owned by Bert and Trish Paris of Belleville, Bill and Roz Gausman of the Town of Dunn, and Dan and Shelly Truttmann of New Glarus, provides a variety of cheeses made from milk from grass-fed cows.
“Cedar Grove Cheese curds are fresh from the factory on Tuesdays and Fridays,” adds Ken Ruegsegger.
Wild Peace Bakery out of Mount Vernon supplies the store with a selection of organic, whole grain breads delivered fresh on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Baker Glen Chism also sells at the Mount Horeb and Stoughton farmers’ markets.
The New Glarus Bakery supplies Swiss Bread on Fridays.
In addition to other food items, the Ruegseggers carry a line of eco-friendly hand-, dish- and laundry-soaps, convenience items and pet food supplies.
They also offer some goat milk soap from Scotch Hill Farm in Brodhead. Owners Dela and Tony Ends also grow more than one hundred varieties of organic vegetables and herbs. Their farm is a traditional market- and CSA-farm (community supported agriculture farm).
With a certified kitchen in the back of Paoli Local Foods, several people roll out fresh baked pies to sell in the store. Daily pie flavors vary to what is in season, but may include rhubarb-strawberry, strawberry and lemon meringue.
“We are also famous for our lasagna, goulash, soups and sandwiches,” says Ken Ruegsegger.
Different samples are offered every day of the week. For example, customers are welcome to taste the milk from Blue Marble Farms and double-chocolate-oatmeal and gingersnap cookies.
“Everything is locally produced, high quality and nutritionally above what the consumer is used to,” says Ken Ruegsegger. “We call them valued-added products.”
The local aspect is the cornerstone of Paoli Local Foods:
“Our first goal is to get everything we can from local suppliers,” explains Ken Ruegsegger. “Our popcorn, for instance: Once we found a local variety, we stopped carrying national organic brands. We sell products from about eighty local producers and growers, and during the summer it is even a bit more because of the produce. Our customers appreciate to be able to buy locally produced, safe food.”
An interesting innovation is the Ruegseggers’ in-store CSA, through which members can pick items for their box from the articles in the store. Membership costs range from $285 to $2,200.
“It helped us raise capital for the store,” says Ken Ruegsegger. “We don’t have to pay interest to a bank, so we give ten percent back to our customers who support us through the CSA.”
The store is open 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Because Ruegsegger Farms is State of Wisconsin-inspected, the meats and other products are available for home delivery anywhere within the state. Free home and workplace delivery includes areas from Platteville to Milwaukee and Fond du Lac; and from Beloit to Portage.
Ken Ruegsegger also delivers to several customers from the greater Chicago area in Beloit, where they pick up their orders. They also deliver to the Chalet Landhaus Inn and My Friends’ Bed and Breakfast in New Glarus.

Paoli Local Foods
6895 Paoli Road
Paoli
Telephone: (608) 845-FOOD
www.naturalmeats.org