Well, that didn’t take long. Tomorrow, at the very first meeting of the Minnesota House Government Operations and Elections Committee, lawmakers will take up House File 389, which weakens township, county and city local control. This legislation needs to be stopped before it even gets out of the starting gate. For details on how to send a clear message to the Capitol that weakening local democracy should be off the table, click here. (more…)

By Anna Cioffi, Land Stewardship Project
On Monday, Jan. 23, there will be a public hearing of the Minneapolis Planning Commission to discuss proposed draft changes to the zoning code as it pertains to urban agriculture. LSP supports the passage of these draft changes as a first step. However, there are still improvements that could be included to make urban farming economically viable for a wider range of more people. (more…)

One winter evening in 1999 I was sitting in on a Farm Beginnings class being held in the southeast Minnesota community of Plainview when a local banker stood up and made a statement that about knocked me out of my chair. “We need to eat our own cooking,” said the banker, Dean Harrington. The statement wasn’t about food, at least not directly. It was about how we look to ourselves instead of Wall Street when investing in the future of our rural communities. A few weeks ago, I had a chance to chat with Harrington at another  LSP meeting. As the podcast that came out of that conversation demonstrates, he’s still banging the same “home cooking” drum. Radical economic theory? Actually, it’s as no-nonsense as a banker’s gray three-piece suit. (more…)

I talked to a Todd County farmer yesterday who uses 100 percent no-till  and other conservation measures to raise his crops. Conserving soil is important to him, and so he’s quite upset at how mobile humus has been on neighboring farms this fall/early winter. “You know that little skiff of snow we got the other day? Well, eroded soil was already mixing with it and blowing around,” the farmer told me. A Minnesota landscape full of Christmas snirt is a rude reminder that we need to stop arguing over if soil erosion is a problem. It is, and the time for action is upon us. (more…)

If you are a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmer who delivers to the Twin Cities, outstate Minnesota or western Wisconsin, you have until Tuesday, Jan. 17, to get listed in LSP’s 2012 CSA Directory. For details on getting listed, click here.

Many good arguments can be made for supporting a type of agriculture less reliant on energy, technology and Wall Street, and more on soil, communities and people: it’s better for the environment, produces good food and keeps more Main Street businesses open, to name a few. But after reading Jim Van Der Pol’s just-published collection of essays, Conversations with the Land, another benefit of sustainable farming occurred to me: it allows for the kind of observation, contemplation and human relationship building that makes for good reading. (more…)

At a time when we’re all scanning the dark horizon of recession land for any economic spark, local food systems look to be a flare-up that’s got some staying power. The past several weeks have been full of signs that both in  Minnesota and nationally producing and consuming food in our own collective backyard isn’t just good for our palates — it’s good for the bottom line. But there are also indications that if local foods is to graduate from fringe status, it’s going to take a team effort. (more…)

By Anna Cioffi
If implemented correctly, the proposed city zoning code text amendments recommended by the Urban Agriculture Policy Plan for Minneapolis could play a key role in supporting urban farms, community gardens, farmers’ markets, farm stands and other elements of a vibrant urban agriculture economy. But to create a good final plan, we need input from growers and eaters, and the week of Nov. 28 provides a key opportunity to provide this input. (more…)

Happy 90th Birthday Packers and Stockyards Act. One present you won’t be getting is a new set of teeth. This week, decision makers in Washington let down family farmers, rural communities and the free market when the USDA announced it intends to publish only limited portions of the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule that was mandated by Congress as part of the 2008 Farm Bill. The new rule framework is a far cry from what livestock farmers and ranchers expected and needed. Even worse, this watered down rule is a clear sign of who’s calling the shots in D.C. (more…)

Give to the Max Countdown: 8 days to go!

We Minnesotans sure love to fish: Dropping a line in our favorite lake, river or stream is part of our way of life.

But a whopping 40% of our state’s lakes and rivers are seriously polluted – contaminating the fish, making them harmful to our health.

So let’s do something about it. (more…)