LSP Programs - Linking Farmers and Consumers

Community Based Food & Economic Development

Creating a Regional Food System that benefits farmers, consumers and the land

"When people make a buying choice they are casting a ballot for the type of food system they want. That sends a tremendously powerful message back to rural America about what sort of farming is valued."
- LSP member farmer Tom Frantzen

Farmers using sustainable methods cannot prosper without the help of urban and rural consumers. As farmers explore creative new ways to market their carefully grown products, Land Stewardship Project is helping link them to consumers who can support their choice to farm sustainably by purchasing these products. Addtional resouces can also be found on the Food and Farm Connection section of this website.

Stewardship Food Directory
Land Stewardship Project's Stewardship Food Directory (viewable as an Adobe PDF document) lists over 100 direct-marketing farmers and food co-ops, restaurants and food processors that carry their products. This listing is open to LSP members and distributed widely through our newsletter and on our Website. LSP also produces a directory of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms that serve the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro area. The Pride of the Prairie Local Foods Guide lists farmers in Western Minnesota.

Local Foods Dinners
Land Stewardship Project occasionally holds local foods dinners to celebrate the bounty of our local stewardship farmers and educate others on how their food purchases make a difference. Visit the 2001 Local Food Banquet to find details about a local food banquet held on September 29, 2001 including recipes, brief interviews from farmers who provided food ingredients, excerpts from Bonnie and Vance Haugen's presentation, links to recent reports about regional food system issues, and a check list of ways you can take action.

Land Stewardship Project sponsors a variety of other events to help connect stewardship farmers with consumers. In the Spring, LSP sponsors the Community Food and Farm Festival in conjunction with the Living Green Expo.

LSP has also sponsored informal discussions to bring together local farmers and Twin Cities chefs. Summaries of those discussions are available in the Land Stewardship Letter.
April/May/June 2003 - Chewing the fat over farmer-chef relations (pdf document)
December 2003 (pdf document)

Become a member of the Land Stewardship Project

Community Food & Farm Festival
The Community Food and Farm Festival is an annual event co-sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project and Minnesota Grown. This event provides an opportunity for consumers to network with local farmers who are producing food using sustainable methods. Click here to find out more.

Voices of Minnesota Farm Women
A 30 minute film documentary produced by Cynthia Vagnetti
Voices of Minnesota Farm Women presents a positive, hopeful story about family farming based upon good land stewardship and the production of healthful food that farmers direct market to people locally or in their region. The ten contemporary women farmers interviewed in this film are reaping the benefits of the sustainable farming movement and the local foods movement that have evolved in the last ten years. As they go about their work - attaching an implement to a tractor, gathering eggs, delivering a CSA box, building fence, selling meat at a farmers market - they speak about their goals to be good stewards of families, their communities and the land.

An interest in fresh, local and organic foods is spreading among consumers across the country. Supermarkets have begun selling organic produce. Restaurants that serve farm fresh vegetables and meats from animals raised humanely on pasture attract loyal customers. New Farmers Markets open every year. Food cooperatives are growing and expanding. Are there enough farmers in your region to satisfy this demand? How can consumers support farmers who are good stewards of the land and encourage young people to go into sustainable farming? Three presentation options are available for your group:

• Schedule a showing and discussion of this film for your group or club led by a specially-trained LSP member volunteer. Call Dana Jackson at 651-653-0618.

• Purchase an Educational Packet containing a Voices DVD, background material, introduction, discussion guide, hand-outs, Take Action Guide, and more. Use these materials to do multiple Voices programs for your group or church. ($25)

If you are interested in purchasing the DVD with educational packet or the DVD on its own, please complete and mail the form below. If you are interested in having a trained volunteer presenter visit your group for a showing and discussion, please call Dana Jackson at 651-653-0618.

• Your gift, will put healthy, local foods on more kitchen tables in more communities. Donate today."

• Buy food directly from local farmers and encourage friends and family to do the same. Ask your grocer, local restaurants, or local institutions (hospital, school, etc.) to carry or serve local sustainably raised food. Contact LSP's Metro office for the most recent paper copy of the Stewardship Food Network.

• Join the Stewardship Food Network. If you are an LSP member who has sustainably-raised products for sale, contact Brian DeVore in the Metro office office to be added to the list.

• Distribute the Buy Local brochure in your community, at your favorite coffee shop, with your congregation, or to your coworkers. It contains information on certification labels such as the Food Alliance Midwest (FAMW), resources for buying direct and tips on other ways to support a local food system. This brief fact sheet is perfect for local foods dinners, farmers’ markets and other similar venues. For information on obtaining the “Buy Local” brochure in print, call LSP at 651-653-0618.

• Hold your own Local Foods Dinner. Contact LSP's Metro office for information on setting up your own local foods banquet, potluck, cook-out, lunch, or brunch. A Local Foods Dinner Planning Guide is available to help you plan your own dinner.