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Land Stewardship Letter, No. 2, 2022
Policy & Organizing
State Policy:
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MN Food & Farm Campaign Launched
Initiative Takes Holistic Approach to Statewide Challenges
By Amanda Koehler
Over the past 40
years, Land
Stewardship Project members have organized to win major policy changes, from establishing the Conservation Stewardship Program to stopping 40 proposed factory farms and factory farm expansions.
At the same time, members have made it clear that we urgently need holistic solutions that match the scale of the compounding challenges that our farmers, farm and food system workers, processors, marketers, and rural community members are facing.
That’s why Land Stewardship Project members have begun building a comprehensive “Minnesota Food and Farm Campaign” from the ground up that:
➔ Greatly increases access to land and secures land tenure for small and mid-sized farmers and people who want to start farming.
➔ Builds the infrastructure needed by small and mid-sized farms and by rural and urban communities to
During the launch of LSP’s 2023 federal Farm Bill Platform (see page 8), the organization’s members and allies discussed the challenges beginning farmers and farmers of color face in accessing land. The Minnesota Food and Farm Campaign’s goal is to address this and other issues on a statewide level as well. (LSP photo)
create functioning local and regional food systems.
➔ Provides farmers with the resources they need to build resiliency from and fight climate change, while moving our society away from a reliance on
fossil fuels and false climate solutions.
➔ Holds factory farms and megacropping operations accountable for polluting our water and air, exacerbating the climate crisis, and monopolizing land, water, and capital.
➔ Directly addresses the consolidation that drives small and mid-sized farms and related entities out of business.
➔ Protects and cares for farm and food system workers.
➔ Ensures all Minnesotans have the affordable healthcare they need when and where they need it.
➔ Makes our rural, urban, and suburban communities robust, vibrant, and thriving.
This fall, LSP conducted a survey and held listening sessions to gather details on what our members would like to see emphasized in the Minnesota Food and Farm Campaign. We will be using this input to determine what to focus on during the 2023 Minnesota legislative session and beyond.
For more information, contact me at 612-400- 6355 or akoehler @landstewardshipproject. org. For details on upcoming LSP meetings where the Minnesota Food and Farm Platform will be discussed, see landstewardshipproject.org/upcoming-events. p
Amanda Koehler is LSP’s policy manager.
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Participate in the U.S. Census of Ag Today
The latest U.S. Census of Agriculture was launched this fall, and farm operations of all sizes, urban and rural, are encouraged to participate. Any farm operations which produced and sold, or normally would have sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural product in 2022 are eligible to be included in the census.
Results from the census, which is taken every five years, are used to inform decisions about policy and how farm programs are designed and implemented. In the past, farmers using regenerative practices, women, and people of color have been underrepresented in the Census of Agriculture.
The census will be mailed in phases, starting with an invitation to respond online in November, followed by paper questionnaires in December. Details are at www.nass.usda. gov/agcensus.
No. 2, 2022
LSP’s Long Range Plan
The Land Stewardship Project outlined its long range goals and how we will go about achieving them in Vision for the Future: 5 Year Plan 2019-2024. A pdf of the plan can be downloaded at landstewardshipproject.org/long-range-plan. For a paper copy, call LSP’s Twin Cities office at 612-722-6377. p
The Land Stewardship Letter
