Economy Talk 5: Building a Local Economy
May 2, 2011 Agriculture, Economy, Jobs, News, Worker
This Wed. May 4, at 6pm listen to my conversation with Reginaldo (Regi) Haslett-Marroquin, Program Director, Rural Enterprise Center and founder of Hillside Farmers Cooperative.
Regi launched the Rural Enterprise Center program of Main Street Project in 2006, but has a long history of successful transnational entrepreneurial leadership. He began working on economic development projects with indigenous Guatemalan communities in 1988, and has served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program’s Bureau for Latin America and advisor to the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. He founded the Fair Trade Federation and co-created Peace Coffee, a successful fair-trade coffee company, and then went on to work with woodland owners in the Midwest and Guatemala where he organized several stewardship-certified cooperative forestry businesses.
Regi was recognized for his work in 1996 when he was named one of the Twin Cities International Citizens of the Year. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Northfield Area Foundation and is an active member of the Rotary Club of Northfield. A Guatemalan native, Regi received his agronomy degree from the Central National School of Agriculture and studied at the Universidad de San Carlos in Guatemala. He also received a bachelor’s degree in International Business Administration from Augsburg College, Minneapolis.
SFA’s Annual Conference
Feb 24, 2010 Agriculture, News
The Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota held its 19th annual conference at St. Olaf College on Saturday, February 20th. SFA’s mission is to support the development and enhancement of sustainable farming systems through innovation, demonstration, education, and farmer-to-farmer networking. Mark Richie, Minnesota Secretary of State gave the keynote address “Farming 2020, A Sustainable Vision.” The conference theme was Sustainable Farming 2020: What does it look like? How do we get there? I participated in the panel discussion entitled “Ten Years On: Climate Change, Peak Oil and the Sustainable Farm.”
More Info on Green Acres
Feb 12, 2009 Agriculture, News
For those of you unfamiliar with Green Acres, it is a program that has been in place for a long while to conserve agriculture land for family farmers and landowners by providing them a property tax rate that wouldn’t “price” them out of their land to developers. In efforts to modernize the program last session, the Legislature made several changes. Unfortunately, there were unintended consequences that negatively affected many Minnesota farmers and landowners throughout the state and in our area.
I’ve spent the last several months discussing the Green Acres changes with local officials and landowners who would be affected by these changes to figure out the best legislative course of action we need to take this session. I have co-authored a bill moving through the legislative process to resolve the problems created by the 2008 changes and it has already passed through the Agricultural and Rural Economies Committee. I’ll keep you updated as these bills move forward this session.
I encourage anyone with further questions to contact me and we can discuss it in more depth.
Minnesota Dept of Agriculture Grant Money
Jun 18, 2008 Agriculture, News
The MN Dept of Ag will award approximately $2.7 million in matching grants to qualified organizations for the purpose of helping MN develop energy sources that displace fossil fuels with renewable energy technologies. Grants are limited to 50% of the cost of research, technical assistance or equipment related to bioenergy production or up to $1 million, whichever is less. Grants to non-governmental entities for the development of business plans and structures related to community ownership of eligible bioenergy facilities together may not exceed $150,000.
Eligible organizations include:
Owners of MN facilities producing bioenergy;
Organizations that provide for on-station, on-farm field-scale research and outreach to develop and test the agronomic and economic requirements of diverse stands of prairie plants and other perennials for bioenergy systems; or
Certain non-governmental entities for development of business plans and structures related to community ownership.
The MN Dept of Ag will issue the grants, in consultation with the NextGen Energy Board. Proposals must be received no later than 4:00 PM, July 31, 2008. Proposals will not be accepted by e-mail or fax. For more information, contact:
Andrew Carter, MN Dept of Ag
625 Robert St. N, St. Paul, MN 55155-2538
Tele: 651-201-5699
email: Andrew.Carter@state.mn.us
You may go to the MN Dept of Agriculture website for more information on grant money.
Valuing Our Natural Resources
Jul 21, 2006 Agriculture, Environment, News
Sunday my church made its annual trek to the Valley Grove Church where we worshiped in the beautiful old church surrounded by ripening fields and restored prairie. I volunteered to take the Sunday school class of 16 mixed age (4 to 
students, which began with a song and a walk outside, looking for things that they found to be special.
We sat on a quilt and read a story about a father and son who
walked along the beach to discover the “little bits of heaven” all around them.Most of the children found flowers and leaves and held them up as we looked at the pictures in the story. The father and son stopped under an oak tree just like the one we sat under enjoying the shade and the breeze. We talked about the picture of the acorn and how something so small could grow into the big tree above us. A few children at the edge of the quilt found acorns they could share with us too. After the story they shared their flowers with us and told us why it was special to them. I shared a leaf from a grape vine and explained that it reminded me of the parable that says we are like a grape vine in our church because we are all fruit of the vine, all connected in community. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to elect legislators who fully appreciate the value of the natural resources with which we have been so richly blessed.
Corporate America Is Taxing Us to Death
May 9, 2006 Agriculture, News
My friend Richard Levins sent me a book he is publishing called, “Middle Class*Union Made.” It is an excellent analysis of our current economic situation. Dick used to be my neighbor on Lincoln Street but now lives in St. Paul. He is an Ag Economist at the University of Minnesota and wrote an excellent short biography of Willard Cochrane, renowned U of M Ag. Economist. I ran into Dick at the recent IATP (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy) 20 year 
anniversary dinner celebrating Mark Ritchie, IATP’s founder and a current candidate for the Secretary of State. (More about that and Mark in another blog) Dick explains that, “While price-gouging taxes us by over –charging for essential services, wage cuts caused by globalization act as a private income tax by reducing our take home pay.” Observations like this made clear for me some thoughts I have been struggling to articulate. A couple of years ago I was teaching history and economics to my alternative school students and curious to know what they thought I asked them what was wrong with our economy and with our country. Several would answer it’s taxes, the governments to blame. Everything costs so much.” Most of them work and they know what it means to try to get your pay check to stretch, and it seemed odd to me that they would equate their financial struggle with over taxation. I think they just didn’t really know how the system works. They associate power with the government. They were right if they thought the problem was taxes the powerful put on us. But they were wrong to assume that power was the government. From the rising cost of health insurance to the high cost to fossil fuels it is the rich and powerful who are benefiting and burdening us with their own kind of tax. If it was the government we might see some benefit in roads or service improvements but it is not a government tax. This is a tax that strictly makes millionaires into billionaires. From the Walton Family to the CEOs of Exxon to the head of health insurance companies our hard earned dollars goes to pay for their elaborate shower curtains or other showy trinkets of conspicuous consumption. But some how we are led to pull the wool over our eyes and think that some how they have earned or deserve this great wealth. In reality it is only because they have the power and influence to set policies that allow them to continue to tax us for what ever it is we might want or need.
Dick recently submitted the following OpEd piece to a metro paper but it was rejected, it gives you a sense of his message:
Unions are the solution, not the problem
By Richard A. Levins
The process of devolving from a middle class society into a banana republic is well under way. The signs are everywhere. Wages, even for college graduates, are falling behind inflation. The number of families in poverty is growing. The middle class debt load is off the charts and the personal savings rate is below zero. The costs of a college education, of health insurance, of energy for heating and driving, and of pharmaceuticals grow out of reach for ever more Americans with each passing day.
What economists call the “income distribution” is, from a middle class perspective, as bad as it has been since the Great Depression. During the Roaring 20’s, the split between rich and poor grew exceptionally large, leaving relatively few in the middle class. In the decades following the Depression, things began to change for the better as income and wealth became more evenly distributed. But now we are back to where we were as the nation stood on the brink of its greatest economic catastrophe ever. The very rich are richer than ever, but the rest of us are falling behind at an increasingly rapid pace.
What caused these changes in the balance between a middle class society and neo-Feudalism? The history of labor unions in America gives an important clue. Private-sector unionization was legislated during the Depression. Union membership grew into the mid-twentieth century, then began a slow decline that continues today. Remember the income distribution numbers: a weak middle class in the Depression, a strong middle class in the decades following, and a weakening middle class now. The way these income distribution numbers generally track those for union activity is no coincidence.
Unions equalize power in the market place between those who work for a living and those who own something for a living. Those who work for a living are the stuff of which the middle class is made. Those who own something for a living fill the ranks of the very wealthy. When the balance of power is with labor unions, the gains from production stay with the middle class. When the balance shifts as it has today, the very wealthy take an ever-larger share from economic activity.
As the very wealthy become even more so, they do not spend money in the way middle class people do. After all, how many houses and cars, no matter how fine, can one have? Once people have more money than they can possibly spend on goods and services, they no longer use it in ways that stimulate the economy. Instead, they use the power their money brings to get more tax breaks, less regulation, more support for globalization, and policies that favor capital over labor. The middle class continues to weaken.
In spite of all this, we are told not to worry, because the United States is becoming what some politicians call an “ownership society.” Instead of supporting unions that bring decent wages to working people, we are advised to buy shares in the corporations that profit when wages are falling. Meanwhile, we ignore the most important part of our economy—we are a great market for goods and services.
The trouble with all strategies that trade good jobs for cheap toasters is that they eventually erode the market for the goods and services being provided. A handful of hyper-wealthy individuals along with millions of people living on the economic edge are not the sound, stable market needed for growth. Only the middle class, with buying power widely distributed, can provide that. And that is what we are losing.
Rebalancing power in the economy is essential if the middle class is to thrive. Doing this, however, will require more than our government alone can reasonably be expected to deliver. We must act together in the market place as well. The way to do that is the way we have always done it—to join and support the unions that built the middle class in the first place.
Richard A. Levins is Professor Emeritus of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. His most recent book Middle Class * Union Made (June 2006) is available from Itasca Books at www.itascabooks.com or 1-800-901-3480.
FEEDLOTS AND EAW Requirements
Mar 6, 2005 Agriculture, Environment, News
I received earlier today an update from Charles Skinner concerning the importance of following the rules when it comes to EAW requirements for operation of feedlots over 1000 animal units. Gordon Cumming will present information to the County Board regarding the Boards consideration of a CUP (conditional use permit) request without an EAW (Environmental Assessment Worksheet). Gordon represents the Cannon River Watershed Partnership and therefore represents the interests of the people of Rice County. Some of you may remember this issue came up in the last legislative campaign. The concern here is not that the project should be prohibited but that the conditional use process be conducted in a way that the environment is protected.
It appears the proposed 3,300 finishing hog feedlot in Wheeling Township will be approved without an EAW being done for it. There is a discrepancy in animal unit (au)designation for a finishing hog feedlot between our county ordinance (.4 au per finishing hog equals 1320 au) and state (.3 au per finishing hog equals 990 au). The State says feedlots of 1000 au and up must have an EAW, so the producer is hoping the State (.3) will override the county ordinance. Federal designation, is .4. and if the project applies for a federal permit (NPDES for 1000 au and over)then perhaps that would override the State. But environmental review must come BEFORE any permit is given when there is still time to make changes to the plan.
The Planning Commission held a hearing (only near neighbors received a notice) on Feb. 17. The EAW should have been mandatory. It should still be done due to the problem that the proposed development is near a waterway that runs to the Zumbro River, which is impaired.
Here is Charley’s note:
Hi Friends,
Below is an important and urgent message about an imminent feedlot issue, regarding matters of concern to residents everywhere in Rice CountyGordon Cumming from CRWP (Cannon River Watershed Partnership) will be going to the County Board, Tuesday morning at 8:30, March 8, to present concerns about the consequences of a feedlot for the Cannon River Watershed, including the Cannon River itself. So this could have consequences for anyone interested in the health of the river and the watershed.
I encourage as many of you as possible to show up to show your support of Gordon and his presentation.
Thanks,Charley
Following is the information from: Gordon Cumming
Subject: EAW Requirements for operation over 1000 AUDear Commissioners,
It has recently been brought to the attention of CRWP that the Rice County Commissioners intend to grant/pass a CUP request allowing construction and operation of a 1,320 AU hog operation in Wheeling Township without requiring an Environmental Assessment Worksheet.
The intent of my email is not to halt the intended operator from constructing and running the intended operation. It is to inform the commissioners of the “triggers” in place that require proper review of the potential impacts and vetting of those impacts prior to awarding a permit.
In reviewing the Rice County Feedlot Ordinance, and other documents, I have provided the following excerpts:
SECTION 727 GENERAL PROVISIONS
– 727.001 Jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of this Ordinance shall apply to all the areas of Rice County outside the incorporated limits of municipalities.727.003 Application.
a. In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this Ordinance shall be held to be the minimum requirements to satisfy the Intent and Purpose of this Ordinance.
b. Where the conditions imposed by any provision of this Ordinance are either more restrictive or less restrictive than comparable conditions imposed by any other law, ordinance, statute, resolution, or regulation of any kind, the regulations which are more restrictive or which impose higher standards or requirements shall prevail.728.004 Animal Unit (AU). A unit of measure used to compare differences in the production of animal manures that employs as a standard the amount of manure produced on a regular basis by a slaughter steer or heifer. For purposes of this ordinance, the following equivalents shall apply:
– one swine 55 pounds or more .4 (which is equal to 250 animals)Here are some concerns about why Rice County MUST require an EAW
The most basic is Rice Ordinance, 727.003(b) requiring the county to use the more restrictive or higher standard regardless of other standards, and according to 728.004 Animal Units (AU) Rice county has a .4 multiplier.
Others include:
These are excerpts from the state “simple” feedlot ordinance book.The federal animal-unit values for several animal types are different than those listed in this Minnesota rule. If changes are needed to meet federal requirements, owners will be required to meet the requirements for the federal animal-unit values. For example, a swine finishing operation having 900 animal units (based on 0.3 animal units per swine, the Minnesota rule) would have to apply for and obtain an NPDES permit if federal requirements require Minnesota to apply the 0.4 animal unit value. If the change is required, the new animal-unit total for the site would be 1,200 animal units (REVISED FEEDLOT RULES AT A GLANCE, Minnesota Rules chapter 7020, pg. 2).
“A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit or State Disposal System (SDS) permit is required for all feedlots with 1,000 animal units or more” (REVISED FEEDLOT RULES AT A GLANCE, Minnesota Rules chapter 7020, pg. 5).
Reasons why and EAW may be required
“An Environmental Assessment Worksheet. (EAW) may be prepared for two reasons. Most are required by mandatory categories in the rules, which cover projects of a nature, size, or location which “may have the potential for significant environmental effects” Other EAWs are ordered by governmental units either on their own initiative or as a result of a citizen petition when the facts indicate the project “may have the potential for significant environmental effects.”While it is not determined, either 3,300 or 1,320 swine may have the potential to impact the air, and or water quality in Rice County.
Why we have/use Environmental Review:
“Environmental Review is intended to be used as an information source in the decision-making processes. In order to serve its purpose, Environmental Review must be built into decision-making processes at an early stage, before approvals are given for the project. For this reason, the rules prohibit governmental units from making a final decision to grant any permit or approval necessary until the Environmental Review is completed. However, decisions to deny permits can be made before Environmental Review is completed since these decisions stop the project and eliminate the need for Environmental Review.”Another note on why in this case an EAW is mandatory.
MN Rules, (reference Rule number pulled from Rice Ordinance)
4410.1000 PROJECTS REQUIRING AN EAW.
Subpart 1. Purpose of an EAW. The EAW is a brief document prepared in worksheet format which is designed to rapidly assess the environmental effects which may be associated with a proposed project. The EAW serves primarily to:A. aid in the determination of whether an EIS is needed for a proposed project; and
B. serve as a basis to begin the scoping process for an EIS.
Subp. 2. Mandatory EAW categories. An EAW shall be prepared for any project that meets or exceeds the thresholds of any of the EAW categories listed in part 4410.4300 or any of the EIS categories listed in part 4410.4400.
4410.4300 MANDATORY EAW CATEGORIES.
Subp. 29. Animal feedlots. The PCA is the RGU for the types of projects listed in items A and B unless the county will issue the feedlot permit, in which case the county is the RGU. However, the county is not the RGU prior to January 1, 2001.A. For the construction of an animal feedlot facility with a capacity of 1,000 animal units or more or the expansion of an existing facility by 1,000 animal units or more if the facility is not in an area listed in item B.
When reviewing and combining the above data and requirements, and information provided on your agenda the following seem clear:
– Rice County ordinance requires the use of the MORE restrictive standards (727.003 Application.), and that standard is .4 for swine over 55 lb (728.004 Animal Unit (AU)
– EQB documents Table 1 above indicates that a NEW operation with 1000 AU or more requires an EAW.
– In addition this operator MUST apply and obtain an NPDES, and possible and SDS permit to operate.
– State rules above require them as well.
Farmers Union County Convention
Nov 1, 2004 Agriculture, News
Thursday evening, after doorknocking, I went to the Farmers Union Rice County Convention. Farmers Union PAC has endorsed me in the 25B race. Some of their priorities last session were promotion of a “seed saver” bill, a lower percentage of permanent easements in the CREP program,ethanol and biodiesel manufacturing and use, restriction of alien ownership of dairy farms, elimination of the “Livestock Friendly Counties” designation. They’re very visible at the capitol and have some accomplishments to crow about, including legislative successes and broadening their outreach, all of which means a stronger voice for family farmers in St. Paul. I’m proud to have the Farmers Union – PAC endorsement.
I subscribe to the Center for Rural Affairs newsletter and was encouraged to see a number of the issues they promote coincide with the Farmers Union agenda. Both were represented at a Rural Legislative Forum I attended in Sioux Falls some time ago. In its October Newsletter, CRA says, “The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture is sponsoring a sign-on letter to urge Congress to make agricultural competition and market concentration top priorities as Congress crafts agricultural legislation next year.” The letter calls for enactment of:
* Prohibition on Packer-Owned Livestock
* Producer Protection Act
* Transparency/Minimum Open Market Bill
* Captive Supply Reform Act
* Clarification of “Undue Preferences”
* Closing Poultry Loopholes in the Packers & Stockyards Act
* Bargaining Rights for Contract Farmers
* Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling
CRA’s theme behind these measures is that “today, a small handful of corporations overwhelmingly dominate the nation’s food supply. The market control of the top four firms in food retailing, grain processing, red meat processing, poultry processing, milk processing, and nearly every category of food manufacturing is at an all time high.” The Center is assisting the Campaign to gather signatures. See the sign-on letter on their website or contact Traci Bruckner, tracib@cfra.org for more information. 
The Land Stewardship Project is also a signator of the letter and count me as a member, have been for decades.
At the Farmers Union meeting, 
Doug Peterson spoke about their accomplishments, both at the state and federal level. They’ve encouraged member participation and are seeing the results at the capitol, where legislators are asking on the floor “What does Farmers Union think about this” and where they’ve been asked to present testimony on important bills. When I spoke, last year’s retiring Rice County Farmers Union President, Gene Werner, said it was the best political speech he’d ever heard — I know from our doorknocking talk that we view things very differently, so I took this as a great complement (and we’ll both admit that I was graded on brevity, not content!). The group held its annual meeting, formatted much like a DFL convention, where they debated resolutions and elected the new year’s officers, so I left them to do their business. Stephanie Henricksen will replace Werner as the President, Dean Franzen is now the Vice President, and Paul and Mary Donkers remain Treasurer and Secretary, respectively. I look forward to working with them in the coming session – only one day of suspense to go!
FOOD, FARMING AND FAIRNESS
Jun 7, 2004 Agriculture, News
I subscribe to an excellent newsletter surveying national events that affect rural America from the Center for Rural Affairs 
, which focuses on the differing social dynamics in rural communities, problems of large corporate farming and how to improve the success of beginning farmers. But the latest edition also had an interesting piece about taxpayer subsidies given to Wal-Mart employees. 
The story quotes a study released by U.S. Rep. George Miller (D) of California, which estimates that Wal-Mart stores cost federal taxpayers $2,000 per employee to subsidize the low wages Wal-Mart pays them. For a store of 200 employees, the report estimates that each year taxpayers pay $36,000 for free and reduced school lunches, $42,000 for housing assistance, $125,000 for low-income tax credits and deductions, $100,000 for services to at-risk students, $108,000 for health care subsidies, $9,750 for low-income energy assistance – all of these expenses incurred because the wages are so low that employees qualify for these benefits and have no other way to make ends meet. To quote the article, “The significance of these findings is underscored by estimates that Wal-Mart will control over one-third of all food and drug sales in the United States by 2007. This report reflects one of the world’s most profitable and rapidly growing corporations in the emerging world economy.”
Wal-Mart Welfare
By David Sirota, Christy Harvey and Judd Legum, The Progress Report
May 28, 2004
A new report released from Good Jobs First this week shows that Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has received more than $1 billion in economic development subsidies from states for its stores and distribution centers. The subsidies have come as many states are forced by White House tax cuts and reductions in federal grants to make tough budget decisions. A report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows states are cutting subsidies for publicly funded health insurance, child care, federal employment, both higher and lower education, and programs aimed at public safety and people with disabilities – all this while ponying up taxpayer dollars to subsidize a retailer that took in more than $200 billion in revenue and netted nearly $9 billion in profits last year, even as it paid workers near-poverty wages, drove out local businesses and violated environmental regulations.
Major companies like Wal-Mart maintain a competitive edge and reap greater profits by keeping worker wages as low as they possibly can be. This hurts the rest of us, not only because the company forces these workers to seek public assistance to survive, but because suppressed wages hurts small business owners and retailers when customers have less money to spend and it becomes impossible for independent businesses to compete and survive against this unfair practice. This is not “letting the free market decide.” I can hear some Republicans now, saying, “No one is forcing them to take these jobs” but they do not face the difficult reality of a languishing economy with few skills. Yesterday’s blue collar jobs paid enough to support a family, but today, the full-time forklift operator at Wal-Mart qualifies for many types of public assistance.
Small farmers suffer the same fate going up against corporate agriculture, where the mantra is “bigger is better” and financial assistance is not available to foster sustainable farming practices to the extent that it is available for building large barns for leased animals where the corporation controls everything from the animals selected to the food they eat.. All communities suffer as they lose their middle class and profits are drained out of the community, but rural communities suffer most because there are so few options. Big box stores and agribusiness corporations are winning not because their products and services are better but because their size gives them tremendous economic power, from more benign advantages such as ability to reuse store plans for cookie-cutter development to the coercive tactics of market manipulation through vertical integration. Their power in communities as a large employer is magnified by their refusal to pay their workers what they are worth – a living wage. This demands a policy change. We must insist that the Wal-Marts of this world pay a living wage to their workers, and we must enforce anti-trust laws that protect small businesses from the unfair pricing and marketing practices that corporations use to defeat the competition.
While thinking about other ways to even the playing field, how to prod our economic system towards morally and ecologically defensible and sustainable means, I visited the literal “Open House” 
held by Northfield’s Just Food Coop, which hopes to open up next October, when it calculates it will have enough memberships and contributions to begin extensive remodeling work on their building at 516 Water Street. The open house was hosted by Kaaren Williamsen, of the “Founding Team,” and they’ve hired Stuart Reed, from the Seward Coop, to shape its growth. I am a coop member, it’s not something new to me, because decades ago, the Northfield coop’s cheese was stored in a refrigerator in my garage, and despite all the years and changes since, I strongly believe in the principles behind this organization and I encourage each of you to join. This will be a boon for local growers with produce, meat and dairy to sell and is a way for Northfield buyers to both get the food they want and contribute to making whole and natural foods available in Northfield through their purchasing power. 
I also attended the Living Green Symposium last month at the St. Paul Fairgrounds with many exhibits and booths offering information and examples of earth friendly products and services. I’ve needed to replace my furnace for some time, and I found information about geothermal furnaces, which would cut my heat bills dramatically – it runs air through large horizontal tubes (or vertical in a small yard, but more expensive) to warm it in the winter and cool it in the summer. Like many of these great inventions, the up-front costs are higher than conventional furnaces, which in my case means I’d have to stretch to be able to get it. The area was packed, and it’s encouraging to see so many people concerned about how to make life better on the planet we so often take for granted and going the next step that makes it happen. 
After a recent meeting in Belle Plaine, I stopped for the open house at Cedar Summit Farm in rural New Prague, where Florence and Dave Minar are busy reviving a rural tradition, i.e. “Staying local, staying small, supporting community” as their flyer says. We visited the creamery, 
saw new calves, some just a few days old, and the happiest milk fed piglets I’ve ever seen. 
Minar’s have a mix of cows in their herd, Holstein’s with a few Jersey and mixes, which they milk in their self-designed and constructed 16 cow milking parlor. We got to see the entire operation close up during the tour, with knowledgeable commentary provided by Ralph Lenz, a sustainable agriculture expert and advocate from rural Lake City (also an expert in nuclear waste from his membership on the Goodhue County Citizen’s Task Force). The Cedar Summit Farm is an excellent example of how a family-based operation can is feasible in our economy “where custumers who support them know they are supporting practices which are good for the animals, the environment, and their community.” Small farms using sustainable farming practices can be as profitable, if not more so, than large farms, because large farms are so capital intensive. This is the type of operation we need to support – they sell meat, ice cream, milk, cheese — I’ve started looking for Cedar Summit Farm Products where I shop, and I hope you will too. For other similar farms and products, check the Minnesota Grown Directory.
