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Searched for: regional food system

Ear to the Ground 224: Living on Stolen Ground

This is the first in a three-part series titled “Farming on Stolen Land.” These three episodes were developed by LSP staff member Elizabeth Makarewicz as a guide to exploring issues of native justice and equity in Minnesota’s food system. This first episode seeks to answer the question, “What does it mean to be a non-indigenous person living on native land?” Elizabeth’s interviewee, Nora Murphy, attempts to answer this question in her book, White Birch, Red Hawthorn.

MN Farmer Calls for Racial Justice in Rural Communities During Rural Progressive Strategy Summit in DC

April 24, 2018

Minnesota Part of 10-State Rural & Small Town Organizing Strategy WASHINGTON, D.C.—Racial justice is an essential element in developing a food and farming system that supports healthy and prosperous rural communities, said central Minnesota farmer Laura Frerichs today during a national rural progressive strategy summit at the National Press Club in Washington. Frerichs, a member…  Read More →

Feed the Plant, Starve the Soil

By Brian DeVore
January 4, 2016

There are lots of reminders out there that we have a long ways to go before building soil health becomes a mainstay of our food and farming system. Some reminders are subtle, while others are about as blunt as a baseball bat to the head. A reminder of the latter variety is featured in the…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 332: Real Food, Real Impact

Beverly Dougherty’s Real Food Hub is out to prove that connecting local farmers and local eaters makes sense nutritionally and financially — and is just plain fun. More Information • Read Food Hub • Minnesota Farmers’ Market Hubs • LSP’s Community-Based Food Systems Web Page • Ear to the Ground 322: Lunchroom Stewardship • MDA Farm-to-School &…  Read More →

Land Line: Crop Diversity, Hmong Farmers, Ag Secretary Rumors, Ag Policy Changes, Meatpacker Abuse

By Brian DeVore
November 13, 2020

Nov. 13 : An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Crop Diversification Can Help Environment Without Sacrificing Yields (11/12/20) A new study shows diversifying agricultural systems beyond a narrow selection of crops leads to a range of ecosystem improvements while also maintaining or improving yields, reports Morning Ag Clips. But an Iowa…  Read More →

Shifting the Story About Family Farming & Food

By George Boody
October 1, 2014

There is a widely-circulated public story, or narrative, that growing enough food for the world’s future population will require doubling production by relying on technologies such as nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides tied to traits in genetically modified crops. The narrative is that family farmers, consumers and governments must rely on corporate-controlled technology from multi-national agricultural…  Read More →

Homegrown Homeland Security

By Brian DeVore
July 15, 2011

While sitting in a western Wisconsin high school auditorium listening to farmers and other rural residents discussing urban sprawl the other evening, I was struck by an epiphany of sorts: the argument for saving farmland near our cities and suburbs has evolved beyond the “let’s save our pretty viewscapes” phase. Protecting prime farmland from the…  Read More →

Renting It Out Right: A Hilltop View of the Land’s Potential

Mark Erickson’s Relationship with Landowners is Rooted in Healthy Soil

By Brian DeVore
June 20, 2019

When considering significant changes to the way one farms, there’s nothing like a couple acres of convincer, a template for the potential offered up by tapping into the land’s ability to build soil health in an economically viable manner utilizing livestock and perennial plants. Mark Erickson points out just such a personal proving ground on…  Read More →

Farm Transitions Profile: Odd Acres of Opportunity

January 2, 2018

Sometimes a Farm Transition is Done at a Distance On a brilliantly bright October afternoon, Chris Mosel makes his way over a clear-running brook and through a stand of basswood, oak and maple on his central Minnesota farm. As he approaches the edge of the woodlot, he steps over a strand of temporarily erected electric…  Read More →