Advertise on podcast: Nourish by MN350

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, Sarah Riedl, Cassie Hagen, and Lisa Chou talk about how partnerships between small businesses, non-profits, and government entities have been successful at reducing food waste in Minnesota. Amazing leaders like Dan Swenson-Klatt from Butter Bakery and Leslie Duling-McCollam from Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy discuss inspiring examples of the kinds of partnership we need more of, how they’ve been part of MN350’s Clean Plate Club campaign, and the challenges we still face towards achieving a waste-free future, plus lots of ways listeners like you can take action. Learn more about MN350’s Clean Plate Club campaign at https://mn350.org/clean-plate-club/. You can find Dan’s Butter Bakery blog at https://butterbakerycafe.com/blog. The R&E BizRecycling Program info can be found at https://bizrecycling.com See these resources to find out more about the federal legislation discussed in the episode: Food Date Labeling ActFood Donation Improvement ActIf you’d like to get involved in the Food Waste team, email [email protected]. You can find a full transcript here.

SUNDAY, MAY 22: Join the East Phillips Neighborhood for a community meeting from 1-3pm on Sunday May 22 at 2307 17th Ave S, Minneapolis, to find out how you can get involved! In this episode, MN350 volunteer Jeff Diamond is back with an update on our friends at the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) and their ongoing fight against the City of Minneapolis to preserve the community's vision for the future of their neighborhood: a model of health, sustainability, and a good life for all in generations to come. What Can You Do? VIEW Information Flyer HERE. Print and share with neighbors and friends! SIGN the Change.org petition supporting the East Phillips Urban Farm at http://chng.it/nmKXM5Vkfx PRINT and send postcards to Minneapolis City Council:  click here. VOLUNTEER! We host meetings every Wednesday evening open to all! Contact [email protected] to get involved and visit epnifarm.org for more information. DONATE to our legal fund stopping environmental racism in East Phillips at gf.me/u/y65d87  FOLLOW US on Instagram: @eastphillipsurbanfarm, Facebook: @eastphillipsneighborhood, our website: epnifarm.org, and our mailing list to stay informed! POST on social media to raise awareness! Tag your local officials and tag #EPNIUrbanFarm .

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, Sarah Riedl, Lisa Chou, and Aaron Dreyling explore the intersections of plant-rich diets and public schools. Hear from Kate Seybold, Regional Marketing Specialist with the MN Dept of Ag (and former Minneapolis Public Schools Farm to School Coordinator), and Jodi Gruhn, Wholesome Minnesota Coordinator with Compassionate Action for Animals, as they balance the struggles schools have faced through the pandemic alongside the solutions that sourcing locally and focusing on plant-rich menu items offer for a better future for our children. See these resources to learn more: MN350’s Advancing DefaultVeg pledgeUMN Extension Farm to School website

In urban and rural communities, a variety of local food initiatives emerged in response to the absence of a just, responsive, and sustainable food economy. In this episode, Nourish by MN350 introduces one of the gems in that collection. Urban Roots is a community-based youth leadership initiative located on St. Paul’s Eastside. In this conversation, Urban Roots’ staff members Saba Andualem and Skyler Hawkins join Marita Bujold, founder of Just Food and Water, to share memorable stories from the gardens, kitchens, and markets where Urban Roots creates a vital role for youth to play in their community. Since 1997,Urban Roots has provided year-round paid internships for youth ages 14-24 to participate in their Market Garden, Cook Fresh, and Conservation Programs.  Together, these programs offer a learning environment in every season designed to nurture leadership, entrepreneurial and life skills. Working in partnership with the diverse community, Urban Roots is nurturing tomorrow’s leaders for the just, responsive, and sustainable food economy we need to create together.  References:  UrbanRootsMN.org CLUES -Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (Communities United in Service) Headwaters Community Food & Water Bill (HF1332/SF1580) Lachelle Cunningham twitter.com/urbanrootsmn instagram.com/urbanrootsmn

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, architect of the  Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill (HF1332/SF1580), Marita Bujold interviews community and food justice organizer, Zoe Holloman to learn about the leadership role that the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective (MFCC) is playing to shape the just, responsive, and sustainable food and farming system we need as a foundation for resilient regional economies.  The Midwest Farmers of Color Collective emerged in early 2020 from conversations beginning in 2018 when a group of BIPOC famers gathered to discern their needs and the role they could play together. During their brief existence, Zoe and her colleagues at MFCC have organized many social, economic, and political opportunities for BIPOC farmers to meet the challenges of the time.  In this conversation it becomes clear that the Collective’s work of nurturing community and healing the land is grounded in the understanding that our path forward must be defined by racial, economic, and environmental justice. Listeners will find themselves accepting Zoe’s gracious invitation to share the work to make that future possible.  Find the full transcript here.

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, we dive into the story of Frogtown Farm, a food hub in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. This five-and-a-half-acre urban regenerative farm is uniquely located on a public park. MN350 volunteer Mary Clare McAleer interviews Chris Mann, the farm manager at Frogtown Farm, to discuss how the farm came to be, their conservation practices, and how the non-profit is deeply rooted in the community.  In 2013, residents of the Frogtown neighborhood recognized the lack of green space compared to the rest of St. Paul and the lack of access to healthy, nutritious food. The community members lobbied to get a privately-owned 13-acre lot turned into a public park, including this farm. Since its inception, Frogtown Farm has utilized best management practices to revitalize the urban soil. Today, there is still a great emphasis on regenerating the soil and protecting natural resources. The farm is a space for knowledge sharing and fostering community, from the crops they produce to the partnerships they build as they expand access to fresh produce. For more information on Frogtown Farm check them out on instagram @frogtownfarm or their website https://www.frogtownfarm.org/.

In this episode of Nourish by MN350,  volunteers Shannon Lippke and Jeff Diamond share their interview with three board members of the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) - Dean Dovolis, Karen Clark, and Cassandra Holmes. For years, EPNI has fought on behalf of the East Phillips neighborhood, a majority BIPOC community with a history of rampant air and soil pollution. EPNI has proposed converting a dormant 7.6 acre warehouse into an Indoor Urban Farm facility, featuring hydroponic and aquaponic food production spaces, as well as affordable housing units, a job training center, a solar array, and more. However, the City has proposed to demolish the building and use the site for a new water yard facility. Our guests discuss life in East Phillips, the history of environmental racism the neighborhood has endured, and the benefits the Indoor Urban Farm project could bring.  Efforts are underway within the Minneapolis City Council to pause the city’s water yard project in East Phillips, known as the Hiawatha Expansion Project. All supporters of EPNI should contact the members of the Minneapolis City Council and the mayor and ask them to support East Phillips and the Indoor Urban Farm Project as soon as possible. Here’s a message prompt with City Council contact info to help! To learn more about EPNI, visit their website at https://www.eastphillipsneighborhoodinstitute.org/, or find them on facebook at www.facebook.com/eastphillipsneighborhood.  To support EPNI in their legal efforts, you can donate to their GoFundMe campaign.  Find the full transcript here. Support the show (https://mn350action.org/become-a-member/?sourceid=1021363)

In the Season 3 opener of Nourish, host Sarah Riedl sits down with Lisa Chou and Marita Bujold to learn about their conversation with Minnesota Representative Kaohly Her. They discuss the road that led Representative Her to run for office, from immigrating to the US as a child to helping other parents in her kids' school get politically active. Agriculture has always been something near and dear to Representative Her as a Hmong immigrant, making her a natural fit to co-author the Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill (HF1332 / SF1580). They also discuss the many committees that Representative Her sits on, as well as the difficulties of working in the split legislature landscape of Minnesota. For more information on all of the work that Representative Her is doing, you can visit her website, or send an email at [email protected]. Find the full transcript here. Support the show (https://mn350action.org/become-a-member/?sourceid=1021363)

For our final episode of Season 2, we take a look back at the stories we’ve shared over the past 15 episodes. Host Sarah Riedl sits down with episode creators Marita Bujold, Lisa Chou, and Eli Crain to discuss the lessons learned from listening to the leaders of Minnesota’s transition to a just food future.  Featured Guests: Our MN350 Volunteers!  Marita Bujold - Creator of The Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill  Lisa Chou - Lead Organizer for MN350’s Food Systems Team Eli Crain - Assistant Producer of Nourish by MN350

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, host Jeff Diamond explores the future of agriculture with Mhonpaj Lee, an organic farmer, real estate agent, and food advocate within the Hmong community in Minnesota. Mhonpaj and her mother run “Mhonpaj’s Garden," a family organic farm focused on instruction, collaboration, and community support. Mhonpaj talks about her family’s journey into the world of regenerative agriculture, as well as her own journey. Mhonpaj shares her perspectives on the challenges faced by young farmers and farmers of color, as well as her reasons for hope. Part of the solution lies in programs such as Big River Farms, an incubator run by The Food Group that teaches organic farming to people from historically underrepresented communities, and food hubs such as The Good Acre, which connects local food producers to the Twin Cities food system. Mhonpaj believes replicating these types of programs with resources from the Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill (HF1332 / SF1580) should be a priority for our state legislators. Full transcript available here.

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, host Eli Crain talks with Matt Maier, owner/founder of Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed, and Laura Schreiber of The Land Stewardship Project. Matt founded Thousand Hills with the vision of rescuing the U.S. food system from collapse by implementing regenerative agriculture practices on family farms nationwide. Using practices that increase soil fertility, biodiversity, water retention, and soil carbon sequestration, Thousand Hills has a goal of converting 1,000,000 acres from extractive conventional ag practices to holistic regenerative grazing practices by 2025. Laura is a policy organizer with The Land Stewardship Project, mobilizing around a collective vision that includes a just food and farm system, a healthy landscape, thriving small and mid-sized farms, just and prosperous communities, and a flourishing democracy. LSP is celebrating recent wins at the Capitol, including $5.35 million to get more soil-healthy farming practices onto the landscape - effectively taking soil health from non-existent to a top issue in the 2021 Minnesota legislative agenda. This conversation with writer, producer, and host Eli Crain is redolent with information to aid farmers and eaters at all stages with how to take care of the land for better climate health.

A major problem with expanding regenerative agriculture in Minnesota is the lack of infrastructure to support farmers who want to opt-out of the industrial food chain. And despite a lot of buzzwords to make consumers think they’re buying a quality product, the truth is that finding food that meets our health and ethical standards is a challenge.  This episode of Nourish by MN350  was written, produced, and hosted by Food Systems activist Eli Crain. “An Irreplaceable Treasure” features Jack McCann of TC Farm, whose cooperative-style food group connects local producers directly to consumers who value transparency in their food system. Elizabeth O'Sullivan of Auntie Annie’s Fields shares how working in partnership with TC Farm allows her to produce food in a way that reflects her values and still focuses on what she loves about the job: tending to the land and the animals she treasures. Support the show (https://mn350action.org/become-a-member/?sourceid=1021363)