Guest Chef to Roast the Whole Hog for
LSP Celebration July 20 Near Canton

CONTACT: Caroline van Schaik, LSP, 507-523-3366
caroline@landstewardshipproject.org
PHOTO AVAILABLE: For a digital photo of Vance & Bonnie Haugen, e-mail Caroline van Schaik at caroline@landstewardshipproject.org

7/9/08
CANTON, Minn. — A guest chef will bring his carving knives to Springside Farm near Canton Sunday, July 20, when members and friends of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) convene for their annual “Celebration of Food, Family and Farming.” The hog roast/ potluck begins at 12:30 p.m., when chef Justin Scardina of La Rana Bistro in Decorah, Iowa, will carve up the spit-roasted hog at the dairy farm of Bonnie and Vance Haugen. The public is invited to enjoy the farm and this family-friendly event, which will include farm tours, an ice cream social, “critters” for petting, a silent auction and a beginning farmer graduation ceremony beginning at 11:30 a.m.

The cost is $10 per person or $30 maximum per family for LSP members. Non-members pay $20 per person or $50 maximum per family. Kids ages 6-12 are $5; 5 and under are free. Reservations are requested; to reserve a spot and for directions, call LSP’s Lewiston, Minn., office at 507-523-3366, or e-mail lspse@landstewardshipproject.org. The farm is located about a mile north of the H52 and H44 intersection near Decorah and Canton. Watch for event signs. In the spirit of sustainability, participants are encouraged to bring a dish to share, lawn chairs and something homemade for the silent auction. Attendees are asked to bring their own plates and utensils, although limited extras will be available.

Bonnie, Vance and their daughter Inga Haugen will lead tours of their 230-acre all-grass farm, where they have operated the family dairy since 1993. The Haugens are widely recognized for their innovative farming methods that allow them to graze a milking herd of 140 mix-breed cows on pastures at least eight months of the year.

Most Springside Farm cows freshen in the spring, and calves are left with their mothers for up to seven weeks after birth. The farm was among the first in the nation to qualify for the USDA’s Conservation Security Program (recently renamed the Conservation Stewardship Program) in 2005 because of the Haugens’ close attention to environmental sustainability, as well as to sound pasture and herd management. During the farm tours, Haugen family members will cover such topics as bird counts, grass management, the impact of recent floods and daughter Inga’s return to the farm, because, as she has said, “This is where I have to be.”

The farm tour will incorporate updates by LSP staff on the new Farm Bill, results from the southeast Minnesota well water testing project, LSP’s new “Affordable Health Care for All” campaign and the organization’s food systems work involving the Mayo Clinic and food product transportation.

Following the farm tour, ice cream cones will be served up featuring Sibby’s Homestead Organic Ice Cream, made by owner Sue Huber in a creamery on her family’s homestead farm near Viroqua, Wis., and sold internationally.

During the beginning farmer graduation ceremony, the public is invited to hear the stories of the 2007-2008 Farm Beginnings graduating class. These students have spent the past 10 months studying low-cost methods of sustainable farming through classes, farm tours, on-farm skills sessions and mentoring. LSP’s Farm Beginnings program has graduated over 360 students since the program’s inception in Wabasha County, Minn., 11 years ago. New classes begin this October in the Minnesota towns of Goodhue and Paynesville.

Proceeds from this event benefit LSP’s work in the region. LSP (www.landstewardshipproject.org) was launched in 1982 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the ethic and practice of stewardship on America’s farms. From its inception, LSP has sought practical solutions to achieving stewardship while building public support for an agricultural system in which family farms, small towns and a healthy environment can thrive. The advancement of social justice for people who produce food and care for the land is a guiding principle for LSP’s membership base of farmers and non-farmers alike.

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