July 2019
Profiles | Events | Partners | Resources | Reading | Trivia
Now in the depths of summer, we're excited to spend this high point of our region's growing season with you. Swing by the Minnesota State Fair EcoExperience building again this year to visit our Healthy Local Food Exhibit running August 22 - September 2, 2019. We have so many great tastes, demos, and details to share with you! Learn more below.
partner spotlight: Peace Coffee
Over the last 18 months, our partners at Peace Coffee have been working on a brand refresh that includes new packaging for their 12 oz. and 5 lb. coffee. The new branding is bright, fun, and engages their expanded reach into areas outside of the Twin Cities.
Their presence again at the Minnesota State Fair inside our Healthy Local Foods area will be a coming-out party for their new cast of characters! Expect the same great coffee, but with a modern look and a simple message.
As a Certified B Corporation roasting organic, fair trade coffee in the heart of Minneapolis since 1996, they are looking forward to spreading their delicious coffee further to reflect their motto of being 'in it for good' for their farmer-partners and community, even doing some of that from their new mobile coffee truck!
where we're going: Healthy Local Food Exhibit at the MN State Fair
For over a decade, Renewing the Countryside and our partners have curated a food-related, interactive educational exhibit at the Eco Experience.
This year's Healthy Local Food Exhibit's theme is about the artisan grains of Minnesota. When we think about local foods, we often think tomatoes, or apples, or eggs.
Yet the one food group that graces almost every meal, and potentially can make the biggest impact on our landscape, is grain. Bread, pasta, granola, beer - all of these are grain-based foods.
In this exhibit, we’ll share stories, from seed to loaf, of these delicious foods. Please join us in inspiring support for local, regenerative agriculture.
Join us August 22 - September 2nd. And consider volunteering to dig in deeper!
look who's renewing the countryside: Beth Dooley
If you've visited our Healthy Local Food Exhibit in the EcoExperience building at the Minnesota State Fair before, you know the mouth watering goodness that can be found throughout each day during our cooking demos.
We're excited to welcome a friend of the organization - as well as friend of farmers and eaters across the region - for a special appearance at the exhibit this year.
Beth Dooley, James Beard Award winning cookbook author, will demo recipes from her forthcoming book, The Perennial Kitchen: A Field Guide for the Conscientious Cook, featuring delicious local ingredients. Join us and sample Kernza -Grain- Apple Salad with Hazelnuts. Beth's demos will be on 8/28 at 11am 1pm & 3pm.
Make sure you swing by!
resource pick of the month: Rural Energy for America Grants & Loans
This program, of the USDA's Rural Development office, helps increase American energy independence by increasing the private sector supply of renewable energy and decreasing the demand for energy through energy efficiency improvements. Over time, these investments can also help lower energy costs for small businesses and agricultural producers.
They provide guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements.
Apply by October 31, 2019 - visit their website to learn more!
what we're listening to: NYFC Podcast
This podcast - hosted by our friends at the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) - provides a fresh, farmer-centric take on food and farming policy.
Farmers grow your food and manage nearly half of all land on Earth. In the United Sates, the dynamics are shifting around in who owns, who has access to, and how farmland is used in the United States in large ways that will impact how our food is grown and whether or not our communities thrive in the future.
From the intersection of farming and climate, to the challenges faced by beginning farmers, this is a great place to dig into the details behind our favorite vegetables at the food co-op or in our CSA box.
trivia of the month
Q: About how many samples of organic fair-trade and shade grown coffee did Peace Coffee hand out last year at our Healthy Local Food Exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair?
The answer to last month's question about whether small towns in Minnesota were generally experiencing a growth or decline in population among those aged 30-49 currently was GROWTH. Researcher Ben Winchester found that "while small towns do experience a loss of young adults age 18-25 — commonly known as the "brain drain" — there is also an in-migration of adults aged 30-49 and their 10-14-year-old children. In fact, from 1990-2000, nearly every rural county in Minnesota experienced growth in the 35-44-year-old group." Learn more here.
Renewing the Countryside community member Emily Reno (pictured), of Minneapolis, was our winner last month. Here's a bit more about what Emily thinks about the work of Renewing the Countryside.
"I believe that we need more people working at the nexus of rural and food systems! It's important that we highlight the amazing work being done by local leaders in these parts of Minnesota, and the entire country."
E-mail your response to [email protected] for a chance to win a local foods T-shirt.
