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June 7, 2020
From the racial inequities laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic to murders of Black community members by police, these have been frightening and troubling months. But the problems that have come to the fore of America’s collective consciousness in the past weeks are nothing new, a reality especially true in the food system. The story of American agriculture is one of stolen land, slavery, continued reliance on an often underpaid and unprotected labor force, all in the name of power, efficiency, and cheap food. In our work of cultivating and sustaining a localized regenerative grainshed, we cannot separate ourselves from the realities of the systems in which we all have lived and eaten for generations. 

Internally, AGC members have been invited to participate in racial equity trainings throughout the remainder of the year. Further, we will continue talking, thinking, and engaging to enact meaningful change, striving to make our grainshed equitable and just for all. For others who care about grain and the delicious and nourishing products that can be made from it, I encourage you to challenge yourselves, too. Wheat, rye, and other staple crops enabled the colonization of this country and in the process, pushed aside Native foods and ways of living. As we are raising the voice of local agriculture and striving for grainshed revitalization, we cannot forget these stories and truths. 

We will endeavor to help tell those stories through our newsletter and social media. Contributions are welcome—together, let's amplify Black, brown and Indigenous farmers, bakers, chefs, brewers, and distillers throughout the region and country, along with resources and support for how to dismantle racism within our own lives and communities. 

Black Lives Matter. In solidarity, and onward together.

 
—Alyssa Hartman, AGC Executive Director

Our member feature this week highlights Bang Brewing in St. Paul, MN, AGC’s first brewery-member since August 2019. Bang co-owner and brewer Sandy Boss Febbo says, “Ingredient sourcing is absolutely central to our mission of sustainability. The goal with our sourcing is to foster environmental stewardship and champion farmworker health and rights.”


Sandy and Jay Boss Febbo pose with their first delivery of malted grain grown by Doubting Thomas Farms and malted by Vertical Malt. 
Photo: Noreen Thomas


When Sandy and her husband Jay started brewing in 2013, it was difficult to dictate sourcing. Now, seven years in, they’re a long way from relying on large brokers for raw grain and malt. Their first commitment to environmental sustainability was to use all organic ingredients in their beers. Beyond a commitment to organic agriculture, Sandy and Jay always intended to have personal relationships with the farmers they purchase grain from. Both graduates of the University of Minnesota, they felt it was fitting that the Forever Green Initiative provided the first Minnesota grown grain they brewed with—Kernza®. Bang still features organically-grown Kernza in their beers, now from A-Frame Farm in Madison, MN. In the past year, Bang has also begun working with Doubting Thomas Farms in Moorehead, MN who partners with Crookston-based Vertical Malt to process their organically-grown barley and oats.

Sandy and Jay look forward to continuing to work with new and different organic grains grown by local farms. And after spending years supporting the development of a local organic supply chain, they have begun to lay the groundwork for cooperative purchasing through the establishment of an Organic Brewers Alliance. “Ultimately we want to make it easier for other brewers and producers that are interested in organics and regenerative farming to opt in. We’re so excited about the work of AGC and the regional network it is fostering."

Of course, 2020 has been a challenging year. Bang closed the taproom of their award-winning pre-fab ‘grain bin’ facility mid-March and have since increased distribution of returnable 750-mL bottles to retail partners and bars and restaurants offering curbside pick up. These pivots have kept them brewing, albeit at a slower pace and missing their taproom staff.


Bang Brewing’s sustainability efforts center around their iconic, minimally-sized facility and pollinator-friendly native prairie beer garden. Photo: Ashley Sullivan



Sandy and Jay say they’re committed to their beautifully diverse and strong community, and are adding their voices to demand justice for George Floyd.“While our primary focus is on farming, food systems, and creating a business environment for and of our community where all are welcome - we have long been advocates for progressive change in many realms and will be looking for opportunities to continue to contribute with intent, focus, emphasis and purpose.”

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Black Voices in Food and Farming

This year's digits, 2020, stand for perfect vision, and the pandemic, plus multiple instances of White violence are focusing our collective sights and awareness keenly on the presence of racism in America. Injustices in our food and farm systems have been laid bare, but these facts are not news to many. African American and Black leaders have been addressing racial divides in food and agriculture for some time, creating literature that fits like corrective lenses on our impressions of what it means to farm, cook and eat in America. 

Farming organizations invited such voices to lead their conferences this year. Leah Penniman, author of Farming While Black (2018), was a keynote speaker at the MOSES Organic Farming Conference, and Michael Twitty, author of The Cooking Gene (2018) was a keynote at Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA).  

Penniman, Twitty, and another author, Toni Tipton-Martin, center their work on people who have been working invisibly in food and farming, creating change from the margins, for hundreds of years. The significance of their work has been acknowledged with awards from the James Beard Foundation. Penniman traces innovations like CSAs and cooperatives -- often credited to the recent good food movement -- to Black farmers organizing for financial survival. Twitty is a chef and culinary historian who names the African roots of American foods and foodways. Watch him discuss his book here.  

Toni Tipton-Martin wrote The Jemima Code (2015) and Jubilee (2019), books that address the exclusion of African Americans’ contributions from the ideas and canon of American cuisine. These two books cover 200 years of African American cookbooks and cooks; the first is a catalog of the cookbooks themselves, and the second is a cookbook that presents a selection of recipes as-is, and also has Tipton-Martin’s interpretations of them for contemporary cooks. This recent interview from Saveur describes the books and the process of making them, identifies the broader goals she has for food media, and offers a lovely lemon cake recipe, too.
—Contributed by Amy Halloran

Many businesses in South Minneapolis have been devastated by riots, including that of Safia Munye, a Somali immigrant who was just preparing to re-open following closure due to COVID. In an interview with NPR, she said her heart was broken but that “George’s life was more important.”   

Photo: GoFundMe

Du Nord Craft Spirits responded with love when their South Minneapolis facility was damaged during the riots. Immediately, owners Chris and Shenelle Montana began working to raise funds to help rebuild Black and brown businesses around the Twin Cities affected by the riots. In addition, the site has become a donation center for food and essentials. See descriptions of Du Nord and other Black-owned whisky makers in this list from Whisky Advocate

Photo: Facebook

See you in two weeks!
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