Local Fair Trade Network - Farmers

Growing locally, legislating nationally

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:07:14 -0700

Article:

Consumers want more fruits and vegetables from nearby, but Congress has limited Midwest expansion. Local Fair Trade farmer Jack Hedin highlighted the negative effects of federal policy on local production in his New York Times editorial. Now the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune goes deeper.

Not from Sweden any more: A new generation of immigrant farmers in Minnesota

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:38:39 -0700

Article:

Check out this interesting new story in the African News Journal about the growing number of immigrant farmers in Minnesota and their attempts to move beyond the farmers market. And Local Fair Trade farmer Rufus Hauke talks about CSA's in the Capital Times.

Hipsters to Farmers

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:59:37 -0700

The new generation of farmers is popping up everywhere, including the Style & Fashion section of the New York Times! An interesting new article explains how the trend towards local foods is creating opportunities for young people to make it as farmers, and how cheese makers are the new rock stars.

The 100 Year Flood

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:15:33 -0800

Article:

by Heidi Olstad, Seward Co-op Meat & Dairy Buyer and LFTN steering committee member

People are calling it the Hundred-Year Flood. The rain that fell in southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin the third weekend of August 2007 was unprecedented in the memory of anyone alive today. Along the Kickapoo Valley, in the area called the Driftless Region, somewhere in the vicinity of twelve to twenty-plus inches fell straight out of the sky in one great gully-washer which raged across farms and fields. Jack Hedin of Featherstone Farm had thirty inches of water standing in his office and coolers. Lakes formed in the fields.

Co-op to Co-op Fair Trade: Equal Exchange Introduces Fair Trade Snacks

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:35:43 -0700

By Barth Anderson, Wedge Community Co-op, Minneapolis, MN

Equal Exchange, known for Fairly Traded coffee, tea and chocolate, has introduced a line of packaged snacks in partnership with grocery co-operatives across the country. These “Domestic Fair Trade�? products, including Organic Dried Cranberries, Roasted Pecans, and Organic Tamari-Roasted Almonds, are sourced from family farmers and farmer co-operatives right here in the US.

“Our relationships with these producers are guided by our mission and 20 years experience as a Co-operative Fair Trade Organization,�? said Erbin Crowell, Domestic Fair Trade Program Manager for Equal Exchange.

The Price of Fair Wages

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 20:31:29 -0700

How much would it cost to pay everyone on the farm a living wage?

One of Local Fair Trade Network’s primary goals is living wages for farmers and farm workers. Many new farmers have trouble figuring out what to charge for their produce, so the nuts and bolts of achieving a living wage are hard to sort out. At this year’s Upper Midwest Organic Food Conference, Greg Reynolds, the farmer behind Riverbend Farm’s luscious eggplants and sweet Russian kale, shared his perspective on the practicalities of paying, and being paid, a living wage.

“To pay $10 per hour, I would have to charge [customers] about 9% more, and to pay $12 per hour (the theoretical living wage in Minneapolis), I would have to charge about 22% more. Of course, if I am paying my farm workers $10 or $12 per hour, I would like to get paid that much too" says Reynolds. When you add in workers’ compensation and unemployment, the price tag could rise 24% at the higher wage.

Winona Area Farmers Push Local, Organic Food for Hospitals

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:06:59 -0700

by Britt Johnsen, Winona Daily News

Hospital food doesn’t usually bring to mind good eating. As in school cafeterias, the food often comes from national distributors and can lack flavor and nutrition.

Some Winona area farmers hope to change that.

They are pushing to get organic and locally-grown food into health care institutions like Rochester’s Mayo Clinic and Winona Health, as well as nursing homes and schools. They see southeast Minnesota following in the footsteps of other institutions in the state and the country doing the same thing.