sustainable agriculture

A typical pre-dinner conversation in our household might go something like this:

  Me: What do cows eat?

Four year old: Grass!

Me: Are you sure it’s not corn?  

Four year old: No!  Cows eat grass!

  Father: Where does this meat come from?

Four year old son: It was a cow

Father: Where did we get it?

Four year old son: The farmer grew it and then the butcher killed it

The place: Acorn Ridge Farm of Mel and Lorna Wiens in Staples, Minnesota. The weather: steamy and sticky. The event: the 3rd annual Festival of Farms, hosted by Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) Central Chapter. Drop the title and formalities and you have a gathering that felt more like a beloved family reunion than an event open to the public.

Last week, I attended a Farm Bill listening session held by the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) in Minneapolis. The organization was looking for input about what should be its 2012 Farm Bill policy priorities, but what it got instead was smorgasbord of ideas that would be difficult -- if not impossible -- to put into the Farm Bill as it is now. Because the Farm Bill directly affects the lives and livelihoods of all Americans (and many around the world), there are many stakeholders. But because it is both so broad and so complex, it’s hard to please everyone. It's even harder to get entrenched interests to agree to anything but incremental change.

As the coordinator for the Minnesota Cooks™ program at the Minnesota State Fair, I'm writing today's post to give you a preview of this event, which features Minnesota chefs and cooks, local farmers, and consumers with a full day of cooking demonstrations, discussions, and sampling of delicious cuisine.

The big day begins at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 31, (with samples of scones and French toast!) and will continue with eight hourly presentations, featuring 16 restaurants and 16 farms. The Minnesota Cooks Stage proudly sits in Carousel Park, just south of the Grandstand, and is the place to be on the Tuesday of the Great Minnesota Get Together for one of Minnesota’s most admired and longstanding sustainable foods events.