MPR News How communities are facing the future

Local Food

8 stray Minnesota facts from the new farm census

Dave Peters May 2, 2014, 4:00 PM May 2, 2014

Honey, horses, goats and other stray Minnesota facts from the 2012 ag census released Friday. Read more →

Local Food

Health facilities could use more local food than schools

Dave Peters March 5, 2014, 10:06 AM Mar 5, 2014

Two studies in northwestern Minnesota show the health care institutions can be a bigger market for local food than schools but that so far most producers of specialty crops prefer to stick with direct sales like farmers markets. Read more →

Local Food

Memorial honors Chuck Waibel, passionate about local food

Dave Peters October 25, 2013, 2:49 PM Oct 25, 2013

Admirers of Chuck Waibel, of Milan in western Minnesota, are gathering Saturday to honor the man. Waibel, who died this summer at the age of 55, was a strong proponent of local foods and of building greenhouses that could extend the growing season for producers. Read more →

Economic Development · Local Food

Pork, sauerkraut and leadership

Dave Peters July 15, 2013, 11:21 AM Jul 15, 2013

Probably not a lot of restaurants serve a pork and sauerkraut rice plate, but that was the special one recent day at Solar’s Real Food Cafe in Springfield, a southern Minnesota town with a strong German heritage. Read more →

Economic Development · Local Food

Slow food, slow travel could build rural tourism

Jennifer Vogel June 6, 2013, 4:03 PM Jun 6, 2013

MORRIS, Minn – Lucky for small towns, many of the things they do best, like growing local food and wine and making things by hand, are now in vogue. That was the message at a filled-to-the-brim seminar on tourism and rural economies during the final day of the two-day Rural Arts and Culture Summit at Read more →

Local Food

Biking Minnesota’s countryside to show innovation

Jennifer Vogel May 10, 2013, 8:04 AM May 10, 2013

A group of University of Minnesota graduate students and professors will run and bike across Minnesota in order to show farming innovations to school kids.

Local Food

Research: If local growers extend season they might double market

Dave Peters April 23, 2013, 9:55 AM Apr 23, 2013

A University of Minnesota Extension researcher surveyed health institutions in western Minnesota and found considerable interest in using local food in their meals. He also determined that if producers extend their season with greenhouses and better storage technology they can double their market.

Local Food

Whole Farm Co-op, early local foods innovator, changes to survive

Jennifer Vogel April 16, 2013, 9:53 AM Apr 16, 2013

The Whole Farm Co-op in Long Prairie, around since 1997, is changing the way it provides local farm produce and meats to customers, mainly in the Twin Cities. The changes are driven by competition from other local food sources.

Local Food

Subscription farms boom in Minnesota

Jennifer Vogel April 2, 2013, 9:45 AM Apr 2, 2013

The number of CSA farms has grown dramatically in Minnesota, from just eight in 2004 to at least 100 today.

Local Food

Seeking a better way to sell a sustainable farm

Jennifer Vogel February 14, 2013, 10:00 AM Feb 14, 2013

Given high farm land prices and a large number of farmers reaching retirement age, John Mesko of the Sustainable Farming Association has started a counseling program to keep farms organic and sustainable.