Food and Sustainable Agriculture

A Chance to Advance Urban Ag in Mpls. on Jan. 23

January 20, 2012
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
bacy yard gardens, Land Stewardship Project, LSP, market gardens, Minneapolis Urban Agriculture Policy Plan, urban ag zoning, urban agriculture, urban farms

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…
Eating Our Own Farm Financial Cooking

January 7, 2012
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
banks, beginning farmers, Dean Harrington, diverse agriculture, Farm Beginnings, farm credit, Farm Service Agency, First National Bank of Plainview, grass-based livestock, Land Stewardship Project, lenders, organic agriculture, organic dairy, organic vegetables, Plainview Minnesota, rural banks, sustainable agriculture

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…
Denying the Science, Derailing the Solutions

December 23, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture, Water
commodity groups, crop rotations, cross-compliance, Lake Pepin, Land Stewardship Letter, Land Stewardship Project, Minnesota River, Mississippi River, MPCA, no-till farming, Norm Senjem, row crops, sedimentation, snirt, soil erosion, tile drainage, water quality

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…
CSA Farmers: Deadline for 2012 Directory Listing is Jan. 17

December 20, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
Community Supported Agriculture, CSA, CSA Directory, CSA farms, Land Stewardship Project CSA Directory, local food, LSP, sustainable food

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…
Conversations with the Land

December 12, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
Conversations with the Land, diverse agriculture, Graze magazine, Jim Van Der Pol, Land Stewardship Letter, Land Stewardship Project, No Bull Press, Pastures A Plenty farm, sustainable agriculture

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,…
Why ‘Middleman’ Doesn’t Have to be a Dirty Word for Farmers

December 5, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
CSA, direct-to-consumer, farmers' markets, Greg and Nancy Rasmussen, intermediated marketing channels, Ken Meter, Land Stewardship Project, local food, Minnesota 2010, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, rural economic development, supply chains

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…
Help Make Urban Ag a Vibrant Part of Our Community Next Week

November 23, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
community gardens, farmers' markets, Homegrown Minneapolis, Land Stewardship Project, local food, Minneapolis Urban Agriculture Policy Plan, urban agriculture, zoning code text amendments

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…
D.C. Takes a Dive on Livestock Market Reform

November 11, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
AMI, GIPSA, Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration, Land Stewardship Project, livestock farmers, livestock markets, meat markets, meat packers, Packers and Stockyards Act

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…
What if you could eat all the fish you caught?

November 8, 2011
Minnesota Environmental Partnership
Civic Engagement, Food and Sustainable Agriculture, Funding for the Environment, Health, Water

What if you could eat all the fish you caught?
The Food Desert’s Hidden Oasis

October 28, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
Big Stone County, Clinton Kitchen, collaborative marketing, community based food, food deserts, food transportation, Land Stewardship Project, local food transportation, Rebecca Terk, rural economic development, Terry VanDerPol

While spending time in western Minnesota’s Big Stone County recently, I came across a lot of talk about food deserts—those places where people don’t have good access to healthy, affordable food. But…