HUTCHINSON, Minn. — How can we get more beginning farmers established on the land and in our communities? That will be the subject of a special Land Stewardship Project (LSP) meeting on Monday, July 24, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Zellas Restaurant (14 Main Street South) in Hutchinson. For more information, contact Nick Olson at nicko@landstewardshipproject.org or 320-269-1057.

“This meeting is intended for anyone in the community who is interested in deepening their understanding of the needs of beginning farmers and identifying ways in which our communities can better support them, especially around the issue of land access,” said Olson, a Litchfield, Minn., farmer and LSP organizer.

LSP’s work training beginning farmers and developing local food system initiatives has revealed there are many opportunities available for those who want to farm. As a result, more young people than ever are showing an interest in getting started farming. But beginning farmers are struggling because the current agricultural system is set up to benefit corporations and industrial production, according to Olson.

“Diverse, sustainable family farms have to operate with that disadvantage every day, and until that system is accountable to them, we will not see sustainable agriculture on the scale that is needed,” he said. “This meeting will bring members of the community together to discuss ways of developing a movement involving family farmers and other rural and urban people who want to build resilient agricultural systems.”

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