Food and Sustainable Agriculture
-
The Fight for Local Control Goes Local; Anti-Local Control Bill Passes off MN House Floor
By Bobby King, Land Stewardship Project Some lawmakers in St. Paul are turning a deaf ear to an important fact: local control is a key tool for Minnesota cities, townships and counties…
-
It’s Mostly Good News for Mpls. Urban Ag, But…
By Anna Cioffi, Land Stewardship Project Overall, the results of yesterday’s Minneapolis Zoning and Planning Committee hearing were good news for urban agriculture in the city. That’s especially true considering that going…
-
Urban Ag Needs Your Support by March 22
Additional changes have been proposed to the current Minneapolis Urban Agriculture Zoning Text Amendments that won’t work for urban farmers. LSP opposes incorporating these changes into the current language, as they create…
-
Cashing in on Soil Quality
Talk of how agriculture can improve soil quality seems to be popping up more frequently these days. Perhaps the most exciting recent mention was in an issue of Successful Farming magazine, which…
-
Anti-Local Control Bill Goes to House Floor Vote This Afternoon—Call Reps. Now
Surprise and intimidation can be powerful tools when backers of major development seek to build a large facility in a small, rural township. For a town board used to dealing with mundane…
-
Local Control & the Capitol’s Dangerous Double Standard
Nice irony: when a key committee passed House File 389 last Wednesday, it was by a 9 to 5 vote, which is less than the two-thirds majority the bill imposes on local…
-
It’s CSA Time
Okay, maybe winter hasn’t quite given up the ghost yet, but spring really will be upon us before we know it. A sure sign of that is CSA farms are firing up…
-
Tell Mpls. City Council by March 1 to Support Market Gardens
By Anna Cioffi, Land Stewardship Project The Minneapolis City Council will be voting on the complete Urban Ag Text Amendments on March 1 during the Zoning and Planning Committee meeting. As we’ve…
-
Loving the Land Enough to Let it Go
While recording a recent LSP podcast interview with southwest Minnesota farmer Carmen Fernholz, I was reminded of how important it is that farmers identify closely with the land they’re producing a livelihood…
-
First on the Agenda Thursday: Weaken Local Control
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…