FRIDAY SIGNPOST: Grassroots Groups We Love: GROWW

Building power in rural Western Wisconsin

Name: Grass Roots Organizing in Western Wisconsin (GROWW)

Website: gro-ww.org

Why we like them:

• Recognizing that their rural communities have been abandoned by the Powers That Be, these dedicated Western Wisconsinites came together in 2019 to start solving their communities’ issues.

• They deploy what’s called deep canvassing to build relationships with neighbors by listening and naming the real villains harming their communities, not by being political operatives who just show up at election time and telling locals who to vote for

• They’re currently fighting the expansion of a large agribusiness facility-- a “concentrated animal feeding operation,” or CAFO-- and have just won a county land committee’s support for a moratorium. 

• They know that this work isn’t instant, and they’re in it for the long haul. 

Hear how GROWW’s organizing director, Bill Hogseth, thinks about their project (and check out this recent op-ed from him).