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LSP Seeking Western MN Groups That Want to
Improve Local Food Availability
CONTACT: Tom Taylor, Land Stewardship Project, 320-269-2105; ttaylor@landstewardshipproject.org
4/6/09
MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — Are you part of a west central Minnesota group of active citizens—a church, civic or neighborhood group concerned about the availability of good, nutritious food for the children, families and elderly people in your community? If so, a new initiative in the region would like to help make that happen and its organizers want to hear from you. If you are interested in getting involved with this effort to make a difference in your community, contact Tom Taylor in the Land Stewardship Project's Montevideo office at 320-269-2105 or ttaylor@landstewardshipproject.org.
During the next few months, a collaboration of four organizations will be seeking two communities that are interested in:
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Taking a look at the availability and cost of nutritious food in the communities.
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Developing the capacity for providing more good food locally through
existing farms, new farms, community gardens and urban agriculture efforts.
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Examining the extent of hunger in our communities and how creative new approaches to our food system might be able to address this challenge.
LSP's staff in Montevideo, in partnership with the University of Minnesota's Extension Service, the West Central Sustainable Development Partnership and the Crossroads Resource Center, with support from Blue Cross Blue Shield Prevention Minnesota, would like to partner with communities to plan how access to good food can be improved. This can be done through a variety of methods, including community gardening, improving produce preservation skills, and building markets and venues for locally produced food, said Terry VanDerPol, Director of LSP's Community Based Food Systems and Economic Development Program.
'We really want to work with communities that have an interest in improving their access to good, local food," she said. "This project will be shaped by the community group that knows its community and its assets and strengths the best."
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