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Rolling Out the Welcome Mat for New Neighbors

LSP Members Use 'May Day Baskets' to Show Support for Immigrants in their Communities

By Clara Sanders
May 30, 2025

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The Land Stewardship Project is an organization that believes we will not have a truly sustainable farm and food system until it is sustainable for everyone. That point was reinforced recently when we gathered input from our members and allies while putting together our current long range plan. That’s one reason LSP is working closely with partners who are on the ground in immigrant communities. One way we’re doing this is by being a member of the Immigrant Defense Network (IDN), a coalition of more than 90 Minnesota groups formed to protect the rights of immigrants and to make sure accurate information is being circulated in those communities. This work includes co-facilitating the Greater Minnesota caucus of IDN with COPAL-Minnesota.

In a socio-political landscape of false, harmful narratives about immigrants and brazen arrests with no due process conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, LSP members are joining with our allies to speak up for those who are often scapegoated and targeted.

For example, at the beginning of the month LSP members participated in May Day gatherings in Montevideo, Mankato, and Rochester, organized by the Immigrant Defense Network. Volunteers packed “May Day Baskets” full of information about immigrant rights and what to do if ICE approaches a place of work. Participants then delivered the baskets to local businesses with immigrant employees, engaging managers in conversations about how they can care for their workers.

Theresa Zeman, Kathy Florin, and James Kanne were among the LSP members who attended a May Day action, and a highlight for each of them was connecting with lots of other people from their regions who care about immigrant rights and want to make their communities welcoming and thriving.

 

LSP members in Montevideo, Minn., distributed “May Day baskets” to immigrants in the community recently.

 

“Immigrants of any ‘status’ are keeping small towns in southwest Minnesota alive,” says Theresa, who grew up on a small diversified farm and has lived in towns across southern Minnesota, from Winona to Saint James to Madison. “They keep the schools open, and many of them work on farms or in the food processing plants that farmers need in order to get their products to market.”

As Ryan Perez, the director of organizing for COPAL, explains in a recent LSP Ear to the Ground podcast, immigrants have long been a vital part of the food system in the Upper Midwest. The early sugar beet industry started employing many Latino immigrants in the 1920s, and in the 1940s, Mexican laborers came to the region under the “Bracero” program to ease the shortage of agricultural workers. Immigrants from Latin America and beyond make up a high percentage of employees at meatpacking and food processing plants in rural Midwestern communities.

Many rural and small-town people are excited to welcome newcomers to their communities and want to support their transition, and they have the motivation and resourcefulness to find ways to support their new neighbors. For example, the volunteer-run Afghan Support Network in Winona is based on a community-supported model pioneered in Canada, designed when traditional refugee resettlement agencies were overwhelmed.

Kathy, who attended the May Day event in Rochester and grew up in the Driftless Region, is a volunteer with the Afghan Support Network, helping to connect recently resettled refugees from Afghanistan with resources and community.

“It’s important for LSP to be involved with this work because everything is connected,” she says. “Climate change, access to land, and clean water, armed conflicts, movement of people — these aren’t isolated issues!”

James has been involved with Land Stewardship Project for decades, and now that he has retired from dairy farming, he works as an LSP organizer.

“I am really happy to see that LSP is reaching into this space,” he says. “We are now getting to the point where we are establishing relationships, getting those ideas out there, working with people as allies. If all we are doing is trying to keep what European settlers took, that isn’t sustainable. The farm and food system of the future is about being together on the land, not perpetuating the white establishment.”

Through their volunteer work and connections via farm mentorship, Kathy, James, and Theresa each personally know new Americans who are affected by the increased threat of deportation without due process as well as false narratives around issues like race, crime, and the role they play in the job market and the economy. So they were grateful for the opportunity to talk with businesses and employers about how they could care for their workers and clients.

“I talked to a manager at an assisted living home that employs a lot of student or first-generation immigrants,” says James, “and he was really grateful for the resources and wanted to learn more.”

A couple years ago, Kathy went on a trip to Brownsville, Texas, to support new arrivals to the U.S., talk with those in Mexico waiting for their asylum appointments, and learn from the stories of people immigrating across the southern border.

“There’s this ‘free and easy’ narrative, but just getting to the southern border is an intense and harrowing experience,” she says. “What strikes me most from the stories I heard is the incredible resilience of these people and the commitment to their families and communities.”

“The time is now,” says Theresa, who is a retired nurse and passionate about healthy communities. “We see what is happening, and we know what we want and need. When there is a threat to our neighbors, those of us who aren’t under threat should show up.”

While gathering with so many other people committed to supporting new Americans was heartening for all three of these LSP members, they know that there is still work to do when it comes to shifting the narrative about immigration in their communities.

“Most of my neighbors will always defend the people who work for them,” says James. “But one person’s worker is another person’s ‘illegal immigrant.’ We have to help folks overcome this disconnect and see that we are stronger together.”

“They are our neighbors,” says Theresa.

“These are the people I want for my neighbors,” affirms James. “These are the people I want for my friends.”

“Everything is connected,” says Kathy. “If we are going to take care of the land, we have to take care of the people.”

LSP membership organizer Clara Sanders can be reached via e-mail. LSP’s Immigrant Community Care Resource Page has links to information on supporting the immigrant community.

Category: Blog
Tags: Afghan Support Network • COPAL Minnesota • Immigrant Defense Network • immigration • racial justice • rural economic development

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May 2025

Saturday May 31

10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
Saturday May 31
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
872 320th Ave, Frederic, WI 54837, USA

The NW Wisconsin Graziers Network, River Country RC&Dand UW-Madison Extension invite you to a multi-species pasture walk hosted by JohnsonFamily Pastures LLC. The farm is located five miles east of Frederic in PolkCounty. This educational event willemphasize direct marketing, multi-species grazing, part-time family agricultureand silvopasture development. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

TheJohnson Family Pastures farm is home to Chris and Tamara Johnson and their twochildren. They raise grass-fed beef, silvopastured goats, and recently raised anumber of other species. The farm consists of about 160 acres of gently rollingpastures, silvopasture, and forest. Use of both temporary polybraid fencing andhigh tensile permanent fences allow for rotational grazing of small ruminants andout-wintering of beef cattle. Use of long-term farm transition strategies, cost-shareprograms, silvopasture development with goats, regenerative grazing, cattlehandling facility and bale grazing will be discussed along with answering anyand all questions from pasture walk participants.

An extensive and diversified direct marketing programhas been developed by Tamara and Chris that has included farmer markets, e-maillists, newsletters, website ordering, on-farm freezer storage, and other strategiesand tools to support direct sales and services for their customers.  Come and learn all about their successfulapproach.

For more information,contact Chris Johnson at 920-960-4475 or Lynn Johnson 715-225-9882 at NW Graziers.

June 2025

Saturday June 21

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Farm-Scale Deep Winter Greenhouse Tour
Saturday June 21
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Farm-Scale Deep Winter Greenhouse Tour
Owl Bluff Farm, 12314 County Road 4 Houston, MN 55943

The University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) and Owl Bluff Farm will co-host an open house to celebrate the completion of the state’s first farm-scale deep winter greenhouse. The event, held on the farm about 45 minutes east of Rochester, is free and open to the public. RSVPs are required at z.umn.edu/OwlBluffOpenHouse.

Wednesday June 25

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Wednesday June 25
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Hoosier Ridge Ranch, 15998 Wabasha County Rd 26, Altura, MN 55910, USA

Over the last 50 years, livestock have left many farms. Eric Heins is doing the reverse: bringing cattle – and their poop, pee and hooves – back to his land. Come see how Eric is using his Normande-shorthorn crosses in a variety of grazing situations. During this Land Stewardship Project-Practical Farmers of Iowa field day, you can view permanent pasture, where Eric (like everyone) is battling the cool-season grass takeover. You’ll also learn how Eric is using his cattle in cover crop mixes, prairie and woodlands.

Since purchasing the farm in 2020, Eric has converted the cropland to pasture. He also custom-farms a diverse rotation of crops, covers and small grains on neighboring farms, including an established prairie on Iowa Department of Natural Resources land. A possible bonus: Eric is hoping to have virtual fence collars by the time of the field day, but no guarantees!

A meal featuring Hoosier Ridge Ranch burgers will follow the field day.

See & Discuss

  • Cash-flowing the conversion to pasture on owned versus rented cropland
  • Stockpiling pasture for winter grazing
  • Mechanical buckthorn clearing for silvopasture
  • Grazing agreements on DNR prairie and neighboring cropland
  • A sudangrass mix after a canning pea crop
  • An extended rotation with oats, barley and Kernza

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday June 28

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Saturday June 28
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Dream Acres, Co Hwy 8, Spring Valley, MN 55975, USA

Join Land Stewardship Project members and supporters to kick-start the Driftless summer with an evening of good food, good music, and good times. We’ll have activities for all ages that will get you out in nature, exploring the connection between our region’s farms and your community’s food, land, and water. Bring a side or dessert to share for dinner, and the Dream Acres wood-fired oven will provide locally-sourced pizzas and flat breads. Dinner will be followed by live music and contra dancing by the Crater City String Band.  

To reserve a spot, click here.

Camping sites are available at nearby Masonic Park and Forestville Mystery Cave and Lake Louise State Parks. Camping at Masonic is rustic,first-come-first-serve, free, and does not require a reservation. Fillmore County, who manages the park, only asks that you call the dispatchers at507-765-3874 when you arrive with your vehicle information and phone number in case of emergency. State Park reservations cost $25 a night and can be made online.

July 2025

Tuesday July 15

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
Tuesday July 15
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
1805 Dudley Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113, USA

Join U of M researchers and Extension for updates on organic fruit and vegetable research and tour the Student Organic Farm and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in Saint Paul. Topics include: organic insect management, integrating livestock into vegetable farms, new crops for Minnesota, irrigation strategies, and more. Free to the public.
 
For details and to register, click here.

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