Land Stewardship Project

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Community-Based Food Systems

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The U.S. agricultural system is good at churning out record harvests of commodities that are sent all over the world or turned into industrial products like fuel, but this extractive system often does not benefit farmers or the communities they live in, and has produced environmental and human health costs that we all pay for. When we build robust community-based food systems, we are creating strong, resilient, and interconnected communities. Community-based food systems, or “community food webs,” as food systems analyst Ken Meter calls them, are collective hubs of food production, processing, distribution, and consumption that strengthen regional environmental, economic, and social health.

Building community-based food systems extends beyond food procurement and processing; this work strives to build connection and community among all food system stakeholders — from food chain workers and consumers to farmers and our public officials who make decisions that dictate the contours of our region’s economy and landscape. The Land Stewardship Project is committed to helping rural communities build food systems that are by people and for people.

Want to Get Involved?

Want to stay connected with the latest community-based food systems work? Sign up for specialized updates!

Report: Building the Farm to School Network in West Central Minnesota

This 2025 report, compiled by University of Minnesota-Morris student Elsa Eaves, summarizes research and findings from the Land Stewardship Project’s “Farm to Institution Network in West Central Minnesota” project. Beginning in July 2024 and wrapping up in August 2025, the project supports LSP’s mission to connect local food producers with schools and institutions. The goal of this project was to analyze existing data for local food procurement by schools in western Minnesota, to enhance this data by interviewing food service directors, and to assist institutions in adopting more locally sourced options by identifying the top 10-20 in-demand products that could be sourced from local producers. A pdf version of the report is available here.

Building Community Food Webs Learning Circles: March 2023

Building strong community food networks where we live can move us powerfully toward our vision for functioning local and regional systems that support regenerative farming and provide all people with the nourishing foods they want and need. To explore how communities around the country are making this happen, in March 2023 LSP is hosting three learning circles focused on the book Building Community Food Webs, by Ken Meter.

Join us for just one session, or all three! Each session we’ll gather on Zoom for two hours — beginning at 7 p.m. — to discuss major themes from the book and generate ideas for our own communities.

For details and to register, click here.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Directory

Want to participate in a community-based food model that connects you directly with farmers? For the past three
decades, LSP has published a directory of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms that serve eaters in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Check out the latest edition here.

Community-Based Food Systems Resources

• Grant Opportunity: The Minnesota Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Program

• LSP Myth Buster #62: Commodity Ag is Rural America’s Cash Cow

• LSP Myth Buster #32: Using crops to produce biofuels does not raise food prices

• LSP Myth Buster #24: Country of Origin Labeling will make it impossible for farmers to market their products through local stores and restaurants.

• LSP Myth Buster #22: Buying locally produced food will automatically reduce your ecological footprint.

• LSP Myth Buster #18: Federal law makes it illegal to favor local farmers when purchasing food for public schools.

• LSP Myth Buster #10: It will be prohibitively expensive to tell consumers what country their food comes from.

• LSP Fact Sheet: How U.S. Cities are Using Zoning to Support Urban Ag

• LSP Fact Sheet: Buying Directly From a Farmer: Consumers can bypass the corporate bottleneck.

• LSP Fact Sheet: Rural Development & Local Foods: Rural communities are finding that production and consumption of local foods can feed main street economies.

Check Out LSP's Direct Marketing Videos

• Direct Marketing: How to Market to Your Ideal Customer & Manage Your Limited Time

• Grass Based Meat Marketing: Fostering Connection in a Digital World, with Leslie Svacina of Cylon Rolling Acres

• Grass Based Meat Marketing: Building Relationships and Running a Business, with Rachelle Meyer of Wholesome Family Farms

• Grass Based Meat Marketing: Raising and Selling an Exceptionally Good Product, with Mike Rupprecht of Earth-Be-Glad Farm

Community Food Asset Mapping

In 2022, the Land Stewardship Project held a series of meetings in western Minnesota where farmers, business owners, local government officials, and consumers shared their insights on what’s needed to create a community-based food system that’s good for the land, our communities, and local economies. During these meetings, “asset mapping” exercises were undertaken to determine where we are currently at in terms of accessibility to community-based foods. Check out the input that emerged from these listening sessions here.

LSP Community-Based Food Podcasts

• Ear to the Ground 362: Regenerative Return

• Ear to the Ground 361: Additive Vs. Extractive

• Ear to the Ground 360: Food Bank Booster

• Ear to the Ground 347: Bite-by-Bite

• Ear to the Ground 335: Bumping Elbows

• Ear to the Ground 332: Real Food, Real Impact

• Ear to Ground 331: Reality Check

• Ear to the Ground 282: Kitchen Table Economics

• Ear to the Ground 283: Ending the Extractive Economy

• Ear to the Ground 284: Hive of Healthy Activity

• Ear to the Ground 322: Lunchroom Stewardship

Related Posts

  • LSP Awarded $305,000 by USDA to Build Community-Led Local Food Systems in West Central Minnesota

    November 13, 2024

    MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) has been awarded a $305,000 Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) grant by the USDA to support building…

    News Releases
    direct maketing, farm-to-school, local food systems, rural economic development
    LSP Awarded $305,000 by USDA to Build Community-Led Local Food Systems in West Central Minnesota
  • MN Ag Bill Supports Market Access, Land Access & Soil Health 

    May 21, 2025

    SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Although the Minnesota Legislature wrapped up its 2025 session on May 19 with some unfinished business, the Agriculture Bill passed before…

    News Releases
    AGRI Farm to School and Early Care Programs, community based food systems, emerging farmers, farmland access, Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, Minnesota Legislature, nitrate pollution, Olmsted County Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program, soil health, state policy
    MN Ag Bill Supports Market Access, Land Access & Soil Health 
  • Ear to the Ground 335: Bumping Elbows

    From raising produce and working in a restaurant to teaching food safety and managing a farmers’ market, Sara George has experienced “farm-to-fork” from just about…

    Ear to the Ground 335: Bumping Elbows

Contact

• Amy Bacigalupo, e-mail, 320-269-2105
• Scott DeMuth, e-mail, 612-767-9487

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Upcoming Events

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September 2025

Monday September 8

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Anne Biklé in conversation with Ross Evelsizer: What Your Food Ate
Monday September 8
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Anne Biklé in conversation with Ross Evelsizer: What Your Food Ate
Pulpit Rock Brewing Company, 207 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

Join Anne Biklé (co-author, What Your Food Ate: How to Restore Our Land and Reclaim Our Health) and NEIA RC & D Natural Resource Projects Director, Ross Evelsizer, for a conversation and Q & A session followed by a book signing. Everyone is invited to this free event sponsored by the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation, with support from Pulpit Rock Brewing and Dragonfly Books.
 
Details on the Sept. 8 event are here.

Tuesday September 9

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
'Growing Resilience' Field Day at Churchill Reserve Grass-Fed Beef
Tuesday September 9
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
'Growing Resilience' Field Day at Churchill Reserve Grass-Fed Beef
36001 63rd Avenue Way Cannon Falls, MN, 55009

Spend a day with Clean River Partners and farmers discussing their experiences with different conservation management practices as they navigate the challenges of making a livelihood, accessing land and markets, and dealing with unpredictable weather conditions.

Join farmers Bryan Lips (BT Farms), Wendy Johnson (Jóia Food & Fiber Farm), Todd Churchill (Churchill Reserve), Helen Forsythe (Feed the People Farm Cooperative), and more, to discuss topics like wide-row corn and cover crops, the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program, agroforestry, growing small grains, and prescribed grazing. 

For more information and to register, click here. 

Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/sft-zqyb-qkm

Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720

6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Ground We Share: Conversations on Soil, Food, and Health
Tuesday September 9
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Ground We Share: Conversations on Soil, Food, and Health
Center for Faith and Life, 555 Luther Dr, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.: Pre-Event: Doors open for interactive exhibits to experience soil, food, and human health:

  • Engage with soil health & water quality demonstrations (Regenerating Soil and Community Student/Faculty team)
  • Learn about regenerative agriculture practices (Winneshiek County Soil and Water Conservation District)
  • Experience and taste healthy food produced from the Driftless (Oneota Food Co-op)
  • Peruse and check out gardening, cooking, and health books (Decorah Public Library)
  • Connect with expertise elevating that food is health (Erin Meyer, MSFS RD)

7:30 p.m.: Presentation by Anne Biklé: Linking Soil Health to Human Health

Prelude: Dance performance by Luther College Orchesis Dance Group & faculty guests

Is it true that you are what you eat? Not entirely. The full story lies in how we grow the crops and raise animals that make their way into our bodies. Biklé will draw on her most recent book, “What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health“, co-authored with her husband David Montgomery. 

8:30 pm: Soil, Food, and Health Conversation and Q & A with an award-winning panel of local/regional soil and human health care providers

A panel of local regenerative farmers will present and take questions.

Details on the Sept. 9 event are here. 

Wednesday September 10

All Day
Deadline: Comment on MN Nutrient Reduction Strategy
Wednesday September 10
Deadline: Comment on MN Nutrient Reduction Strategy
Online

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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is accepting comments on updating its Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy 2025 (full draft document found here), which establishes a roadmap for reaching both phosphorus and nitrate reduction goals. 

Please take a moment to review LSP’s comments and rationale for actionable items for this plan and submit your comments via the MPCA’s online form before Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 11:59 p.m.

LSP is asking MPCA to:

  • Strengthen data collection and reporting requirements for fertilizer retailers by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and documentation of nitrogen fertilizer application rates by responsible parties (e.g. crop retailers).
  • Build a Small Grain Initiative and a safety net for farmers who want to reduce their nitrogen fertilizer applications by transitioning into more diverse cropping systems.
  • Grow farmer power, farmer networks, and locally led, flexible and outcome-based approaches like the Olmsted County Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program.

 For details on how to comment, check out LSP’s action alert.

10:00 am – 2:00 pm
LSP Lewiston Office Lunch & Discussion
Wednesday September 10
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
LSP Lewiston Office Lunch & Discussion
180 E Main St, Lewiston, MN 55952, USA

The Land Stewardship Project is hosting lunch for you before harvest time makes us all busy!

Our Lewiston September Potluck will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 10, from noon to 2 p.m., at our office in downtown Lewiston, Minn. (180 E. Main Street). This will be an opportunity to build community, hear from other farmers, socialize, and enjoy a great meal together. We also invite everyone to take a self-guided tour of the newly renovated spaces in our office that we have been working on over the winter. As a member-driven organization, this is your space too. 

 LSP will be providing the main dish (meat and vegetarian options) and we invite you to bring a dish to pass. This event is open to all, so please bring a friend or two as well. Let’s celebrate the joy of summer through good food and good company!

 RSVP’s are encouraged, but not required. Hope to see you there — you can RSVP by e-mailing LSP’s Kate Rowe directly.

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  • Land Line: MAHA, Bumper Corn Crop, Oats, Defining Regenerative Ag, Feeding the World, CAFO Hotspots August 28, 2025
  • Farmers to AG: Take Action to Counteract Community-Killing Consolidation August 27, 2025
  • Tell the MPCA by Sept. 10 to Focus on Clean Water, New Crops & Living Cover August 22, 2025
  • Land Line: Farm Finance Crisis, Mental Health, Inflated Inputs, Crop-Livestock Synergy, Bread Bloat, Pesticides in Water, Soil Health & MAHA August 9, 2025
  • Farmers Gather in Madison to Discuss ‘Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota’ August 6, 2025

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