‘Economic Benefits of Local Foods’
Nov. 25 in Appleton & Hector

CONTACT: Terry VanDerPol, LSP, 320-269-2105

11/5/08
MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — Elected officials, farmers, consumers, retailers and those involved in the food processing business are invited to two special presentations on “Growing Food in Farm County—The Economic Benefits of Local Foods” Tuesday, Nov. 25, in the western Minnesota communities of Appleton and Hector. There is no charge for these presentations, but donations will be accepted to cover the cost of food. To register or for more information, call the Land Stewardship Project’s Montevideo office at 320-269-2105.

The presentation in Appleton will be from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Appleton Civic Center, 323 W. Schliemen Avenue. A breakfast will be served at the Civic Center, beginning at 7 a.m. The Hector presentation will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hector Community Center, 130 Main Street South. A lunch of locally produced food will be served at the Hector meeting.

The main presenters will be Ken Meter, one of the region’s leading experts on the role food production plays in economic development, and Melvyn Houser, a supervisor from a southwest Iowa county that has recently passed a “Local Food Policy.”

Meter is the President of the Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis and has spent the past three decades helping local communities build their capacity to generate and keep local homegrown wealth. His pioneering economic analyses have helped spark local development in rural and urban locales across the U.S. Meter’s analyses show, for example, that consumers in western Minnesota spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually to buy food, mostly from outside the region. Meanwhile, farmers produce raw commodities that are shipped out of the area, taking millions of dollars of economic development with them.

Houser is a crop and livestock farmer in Pottawattamie County and for the past eight years has served on the Board of Supervisors there. He is currently the vice-president of the Iowa State Association of Counties Supervisors. On Aug. 18, the Pottawattamie County Board passed a resolution creating a “Local Food Policy Council” and committed to funding it for five years. The Food Council will work to address food system issues in the county by developing educational programs, gathering data, conducting research and developing policies that encourage production and consumption of local products.

These presentations are sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project, Ag/Renewable Energy Committee of the Renville County Housing and Economic Development Authority, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Swift County Rural Development Authority and West Central Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnership.

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